David Wilkinson

I am a teacher. In my life, I have held many other positions and responsibilities, yet I remain a teacher.

As a teacher, I prepare and anticipate what could go awry. Implementing a lesson with 30 middle school students helps one realize the importance of effective planning. I work to provide an atmosphere and environment that enhances learning. I design learning experiences that both meet the needs of the learner as well use the knowledge and skills they possess. I reflect upon how the teaching and learning event went and how it can be improved. All of that is what I intend to do, but I unable to do so perfectly.

My teaching experience includes a semester of substitute teaching right out of college and teaching assignments at four schools over 19 years. My four months as a substitute teacher were eye-opening. I had a chance to meet many teachers as I was assigned to cover for teachers in various schools. I also learned the various methods teachers used to organize their classes and rooms. I noticed that every teacher had one class that was more difficult to handle than the other classes. In some cases the class was very difficult to corral, and in other classes, the difference was minuscule.

My substituting period ended when I was hired by the Des Moines Public Schools as a social studies teacher. My first assignment was to teach ninth grade social studies at Kurtz Junior High School. For five years I served on a two teacher team and we had class sizes from 40 to 110 students. We had all the ninth graders in our classes. At Kurtz, I was teamed with nine-year veteran teachers and learned a great deal from my partner.

After five years, I transferred to Callanan Junior High School where I taught 8th grade social studies as part of a multi-disciplinary team – social studies, language arts, science, and music. We worked to coordinate teaching among our classes. In the team, I became aware of the challenges facing each discipline. I also taught reading, math, and music.

I was selected by the Heartland Area Education Agency to be trained as a teacher of newly required Human Relations course.

In 1981, I was fortunate to be awarded a sabbatical leave where I attended the University of Iowa and earned a Master’s degree in Social Studies Education. At Iowa, I supervised student teachers and taught Human Relations.

After one year away, I returned to DMPS and was assigned to Harding Transitional Sc