“This is very well deserved, Mr. Burdin pushes all of his students to find their best,” said colleague Julie Cloud.
Teacher of the year Brad Burdin has been an educator at the Neelyville district for five years.
Burdin started as a fifth grade ELA and Social Studies teacher, then taught sixth grade for three years, finally ending up instructing seventh and eighth grade English this past year.
Burdin graduated with a bachelor’s degree in middle school education from Southeast Missouri State University in May of 2017.
“I feel it is very important to stop and make sure a student knows that they are capable of learning at a high level, even if that takes more time than expected, it is worth it,” said Burdin, “I motivate and encourage my students through clear expectations and creating relationships with each student. Because I take the time to get to know my students, they seem eager to do well when they are tasked with something in my classroom.”
Burdin is not just a teacher, he is also involved in the boy’s basketball program and an active member of his church where he teaches Sunday school to the seventh and eighth grade classes.
When asked what his favorite activity to do with students was, he said open discussion seemed to be the best thing to encourage learning. “My discussions are not lectures, they are discussions. I feel that this activity, when done correctly, has great benefits, which I see daily. Our discussions are over a given topic or skill from the text, I will provide strategic questioning and students will engage in conversation as they explain their thoughts and reasoning while providing supporting evidence,” said Burdin.
When asked what moment or instance made him feel like he was meant to teach Burdin said, “In my first year as a fifth grade teacher I came in not really knowing what to expect. All I knew is that I wanted my students to feel loved, feel that my classroom was a safe learning environment, and by the end of the year, they would be better than when they started. Throughout the year there were many highs and lows and at the end, I wasn’t completely sure if the impact on my students was what I had hoped. But I had many students that wrote me letters letting me know what they learned and how they had grown, they expressed that they felt I truly cared about them. That is when I knew I was meant to teach and hopefully continue making a positive impact on each of my students.”