Bert Te Velde Email & Phone Number

Scottsdale, Arizona, United States

Rijnsburg, South Holland, Netherlands

Following my heart I was fortunate to find this wonderful community-based school. I'm finding that many of my core beliefs and passions can find a way to grow and mature. Looking forward to learning on this new job in my native country. As a bonus, I get to teach robotics as well!

Scottsdale, Arizona

Building on my previous experience in industry, it is easy to embrace learning goals like 21st century skills. Collaboration, Communication and Creative Thinking are essential skills for students to succeed. Problem based learning is another label we often encounter in our practice. Again, I see it as another natural approach. Robotics, which I teach in an after school program, is a platform that allowed me to offer exposure to my students to these essential elements. There is a well-known… Show more Building on my previous experience in industry, it is easy to embrace learning goals like 21st century skills. Collaboration, Communication and Creative Thinking are essential skills for students to succeed. Problem based learning is another label we often encounter in our practice. Again, I see it as another natural approach. Robotics, which I teach in an after school program, is a platform that allowed me to offer exposure to my students to these essential elements. There is a well-known expression: Failure is no option. While this may be true in critical NASA missions, I have come to believe that exposure to failure is an essential part of learning. As Pat Conroy so eloquently explored in his novel My Losing Season, we learn more from defeat than from winning. Likewise, failure - at any level- offers opportunity to learn. Increasingly, I search for opportunities where my students direct their own learning. Of course, I am responsible for teaching standards and make sure those are covered and tested. Learning happens when students stop asking "is this right?" and continue down the road of curiosity with "Why, How" or the simple "I wonder..."Asking questions about areas of interest may not come natural with middle school students but is a skill that can be developed. Socratic seminars are among the tools I like to employ to teach the art of questioning. Science is a field where many answers generate new questions. An essential part of a science project is the chapter “future research”. While I aim to be prepared and plan my lessons, I recognize that the curiosity and personalities of my students shape our joint experience, a process that can be surprising at times. That is a dynamic that makes me love my job. Show less

National Board Certification 2017 / Renewed 2021

M.Ed., Secondary Education

Doctoraal, Biochemistry

Activities and Societies: SV IAN