Brandon Collins

WHO I AM: My name is Brandon Collins, I am currently a junior at Old Dominion University with a major in history and I am currently employed as a substitute teacher with Chesapeake Public Schools. I plan to become a history teacher for either middle or high school in the future however I have not yet decided which specific grade at this moment. I was born in Chesapeake, Virginia in October of the year 2000. My father was a mechanic and my mother was born in South Vietnam but was brought to the United States by my Grandfather, a CIA operative in Vietnam during the war, in 1972. I have had a large amount of insight into the field of education throughout my life as my mother has been a preschool special education teacher since before I was born. Furthermore, I gained a good amount of experience in my senior year of high school wherein I took part in the "Teachers for Tomorrow" program. During this program I was allowed to intern in a 2nd Grade classroom and was able to have first taste of a career in education. I currently live at home and have a small flock of ducks, seven at the moment, which I raised for both meat and eggs, but primarily for meat. I have raised ducks since I was approximately thirteen years of age. I also enjoy growing vegetables but have not had great success with my vegetable garden this year as I only started trying to garden last year and I do not have nearly as much experience with plants as I do with my poultry. Along with raising ducks, I also enjoy working on cars and this prior December I acquired a 1988 Chevrolet Camaro that I love to work on and tinker with. Lastly, I also enjoy fishing and I have provided a photo of myself with a bowfin I caught last year.

Comments:

I love that you have ducks! I rescued two ducklings earlier this year and I miss them so much! I also need to learn how to better incorporate technology into my instruction, its definitely my weakest trait, I wish you the best of luck this semester.

I love your about the author page. I also need to learn about similar things, such as stopping procrastination, incorporating technology into instruction, accomodating students with special needs, and how to be more confident. Your about the author page was nice, and I wish you luck in your teaching career! - Kellie Wiltrout

Hi, Brandon, I found your page to be so interesting! You seem to have a lot of different interests, and those will all be useful for your teaching career. I, too, hope to learn about accessibility and proper accommodations; I hope I can have some hands-on experience. Also, being a substitute teacher will help you figure out what grade you want to teach. Good luck! -Ayat

Hey there Brandon! I love the color scheme of your page! I have always wanted ducks and am envious of you for having so many! In terms of your "what I need to learn" section, I totally agree with you in saying 1.) "I need to learn how to stop procrastinating and that 2.) "I need to learn to project better confidence during instruction". I struggle with both of those things, but I am sure that we will all get better with them as this course continues. I think that the student teaching/observation part of this class will help me the most. I wish you all the best this semester! - Madison Stevens

Hey Brandon, I am also a junior and omg I love that you have duckies. Your layout for your hobbies and it's cool that you have many different hobbies. One thing I can agree with you on is I procrastinate a lot and I also need to learn to stop. Have a fun semester and don't stress too much. -Geneia Sweeting