DBHS Administrators Teach in the Classroom

 

DBHS Administrators are adamant about practicing what they preach, or in this case what they teach. For Colleen Stearn, DBHS assistant principal, it is important for administrators to have prior experience as teachers because it gives them a sense of “teacher and student awareness and sincerity.”

 

Having experience in a classroom gives administrators a keen awareness of what teachers endure on a daily basis. If anyone would know this, its Mr. Marlow and his Assistant Principals.

 

Prior to becoming an administrator, Ms. Stearn primarily taught math, science, Drop-Out Prevention and worked as a specialist for the emotionally handicapped. In preparation for teaching DBHS students Science FCAT strategies and content, Stearn observed science classes such as Mrs. O’Brien’s chemistry class, and helped Ms. O’brien teach students about isotopes, neutron vs. electrons and how to use the periodic table to their advantage.

 

Our very own principal, John Marlow, was a well known high school basketball coach. However, his favorite position was off the court teaching algebra. For the course of three months, Mr. Marlow went into DBHS algebra classes every Thursday targeting students who needed help in math . Mr. Marlow focused on algebraic expressions, identifying variables and preventing test anxiety.

 

Assistant Principal Maria Formoso taught the Humanities (English, AP Psychology) prior to coming to Deerfield and participated in pulling level three and four math students out for special help.

 

“With the FCAT many students often seem to lack the skills when it comes to critical thinking and being able to vary their strong points,” states Formoso. Pulling out students who need extra help on Thursdays, she focused on percents, writing equations and identifying what’s being asked in a question.

 

Freshman Academy and Language Arts Administrator Francine Baugh-James believes the best teachers make excellent administrators. Mrs. Baugh-James participated in a Socratic Seminar of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter in an AP Language & Composition class and likes to “think outside the box” when it comes to innovative teaching strategies.

 

Baugh-James challenged students to relate the themes of the novel into everyday life and emphasized the significance of DIDLS – which is currently a new and exciting teaching strategy in language arts.

 

Chloe Brown and Jasmine Gamble
DBHS Web Correspondents