Teacher loves the "ah-ha" moments

Name: Thomas Resovich
Position: Eighth grade social studies
School: Richard Warren Middle School
Experience: First-year teacher
Hometown: Overland Park
Education: Bachelor's in education from the University of Kansas, working on master's in curriculum and learning
Family: Wife
Interests/Hobbies: Reading, football, ice hockey, movies

In several sentences explain how and why you decided to become an educator.
I became an educator because I have been around teaching my whole life (my father is a teacher) and I wanted to help teach social studies to students. I love history and want to inspire students to enjoy history, as it is typically the most disliked subject.

Who is a teacher or professor who inspired you and how?
My father inspired me to become a teacher. He has been teacher for 40 years and has always enjoyed it. I would visit him on my days off in high school and got introduced to the profession.

Who is someone in current events who you admire and why?
A person I admire is Gabrielle Giffords. Her continuing to work after her horrible situation of being shot is inspiring.

What are the greatest challenges in education today?
Greatest challenge in education is getting students to have an interest in it with all new stimuli around them. Most students have computers in their pockets (cell phones) that are much more interesting to them than school. Finding a way to use those tools and inspiring students to use them to further their education is a real challenge.

What advice can you offer for someone who wants to go into education?
My advice to those wanting to go into education is to be prepared as well as you can to make fantastic lesson plans. And then be prepared to throw them out the window and have to go on the fly. Being able to think quick and come up with something on the fly that looks like it was meant to happen is key.

What teaching moment is most memorable?
Teaching moment that is most memorable is when the "ah-ha" moment hits students. When you have been working on something for days or weeks and a it finally clicks for a student makes it all worth it.