Mr. Reed

How long have you been a teacher?
This is my sixth year. 

How long have you been at LCA?
This is my fifth year at LCA.

Why did you become a teacher?
I originally wanted to be an engineer but I did a lot of camp work while growing up. I was a Cabin Leader then a Camp Director and I realized that God was telling me to work with youth instead of machines. 

What do you enjoy most about teaching?
Helping a student learn something that gets them excited about learning and about God and the world that he created. 

What is your approach to teaching?
I like to use a variety of methods. I try to break the lesson down into about 15 – 20 minute segments. A regular class often has an activity that uses what we are learning that day, some notes that explain how something works, an application activity or questions that makes them use the new information, and possibly some reading from the textbook to reinforce the information. I also try to do a combination of assessment strategies. Some work at a lower cognitive level like daily vocabulary quizzes and other like lab reports assess a higher level of understanding. I find that the lower level assessment if done often enough helps the student learn the information for the higher level assessments. This provides immediate feedback to the student and helps them know where they need to improve. 

What do you enjoy most about your students?
I enjoy when they get really excited about the things that excited me as a student and a youth. I love sharing that moment of discovery with them. With the older students I love to see them think on a higher level than they have before and wrestle with new information and concepts. 

What is the best advice you can give to the kids?
Wear sunscreen... (does anyone else remember that song?) No seriously I would tell them that they cannot always control the things that happen to them in life but they can choose how to respond. If they trust and follow God he will give them the strength to respond in a way that is positive and loving, and if they continue to do this the odds are that things will improve. Even if they do not improve they will at least know that they have done the right thing.