Tennessee Education Lottery Educator of the Week: Brad Dyer
[gtxvideo vid=”A3qBwaNl” playlist=”” pid=”OTSe9U1y” thumb=”http://player.gtxcel.com/thumbs/A3qBwaNl.jpg” vtitle=”Educator Of The Week”]
LEXINGTON, Tenn. — From the baseball field to the classroom — for Brad Dyer, an 8th grade math teacher at Westover Elementary School, it was his love for baseball that inspired him to teach. “I went into teaching because I wanted to be a coach,” he said. “And I found out that through the years that teaching is like coaching, especially math. And I feel like I coach when I teach math.” Dyer has been teaching for 20 years and says he uses humor to build strong relationships with students. “The Xs and Os of teaching are great but it’s the relationships you build and seeing kids grow throughout the year, especially 8th graders.” Dyer uses the same building fundamentals from sports to teach in the classroom “You know, it starts at a foundation of adding, subtracting, multiplying, dividing, then you build up to equations and linear equations and algebra, and it’s just building up process,” he said. “It’s just like sports to me.” He wants students to take away that he cares more about them than just coaching them through a math problem. “Just seeing kids grow, you know, that’s the important part,” he said. “And if kids can grow from me and learn more from me, that impacts me and makes it special to me.” Dyer will be eligible for the statewide Tennessee Education Lottery Educator of the Month Award. To vote for him or any of the other nominees, visit seehowitaddsup.com. To nominate a teacher for the WBBJ 7 Eyewitness News weekly award, email us at educator@wbbjtv.com.
