TEACHER SPOTLIGHT
Seriously Fun Science:
Meet Brad Tayloe
By: Emily Rea
Wander the halls at Myrtle Grove Middle School on any given weekday afternoon and be forewarned that a mysterious yellow glow might be eminating from inside the classroom of Mr. Brad Tayloe. Stick around long enough, and there may even be a lingering smell from the pickle...
“The pickle experiment is great fun,” Tayloe tells of his now-infamous science lesson. “This experiment is a great way to show energy being converted from electric to heat to light. In order for this experiment to work you have to use dill pickles since the salt is the key. The electric current excites the sodium ions which causes the pickle to emit a yellowish glow.”
It seems Mr. Tayloe has found a way to work with salt after all—ironically, he first moved to Wilmington to study saltwater fish in the Fisheries Ecology Lab at UNCW. But even though five years of studying these unique and exotic fish was enjoyable, he realized it just didn’t provide the same “spark” as his first experience in front of a classroom.
“While completing my senior project at Perquimans County High School in Hertford, North Carolina,” Tayloe tells, “I chose to present a lesson on hurricanes to six fifth-grade classes. I brought visual aids and activities for the students, and I noticed how engaged and interested they were in how and what I was teaching. Afterward, they all crowded around me and thanked me for such a fun-filled day, and it was then that I first thought of teaching as a possible career.”
Recalling this day at the end of his schooling at UNCW was a major turning point for Tayloe. “I decided then and there to pursue the teaching field while I worked with fish on the side,” he says.
Armed with an associate of science degree from Virginia Western Community College and a bachelor of science in Marine Biology from UNCW, having graduated from the Watson School of Education in 2006, Brad was ready to step into the classroom once again—this time, one of his own. “I had a wonderful student-teaching experience here at Myrtle Grove,” he reveals of his journey to being a middle-school teacher. “I was lucky enough, without a doubt, to have the best science teacher in New Hanover County as my cooperating teacher. Eric Handschumacher showed me what teaching truly is all about. I have seen many teachers present information to students, but Eric Handschumacher taught. When he spoke, students listened and learned, and he made it look so easy. His willingness to let me take over the class and use my own teaching style without question led to my determination and success in this field.”
Since that day the time, the staff has continued to live up to those standards. “The staff at Myrtle Grove goes out of their way to say good morning or to help each other when in need. I have never seen another school with the warm and welcoming atmosphere of Myrtle Grove.”
Settling in at the sixth-grade level, Tayloe fell in love learning all over again himself.
“My favorite subject to teach is science,” he says. “As a child I was entertained by lights, flying objects, and things that blew up or went ‘bang,’ and I guess that hasn’t changed much in the past 27 years.”
Hence the pickle experiement. But even more than keeping his students interested, he keeps them engaged.
“I never liked worksheets or having to learn information solely from a textbook—that is why I teach actively.,” he explains of his tried-and-true method. “When students physically see how the world’s phenomena operate using everyday materials—such as building their own thermometers to demonstrate thermal expansion—I feel they are more likely to retain the information. From showing energy conversions by shooting the potato gun on the football field and making a pickle light up like a light bulb, to other numerous lab activities, my students walk away from the classroom with real-life examples they can use to answer the how’s and why’s. I also believe it is necessary for students to participate in activities involving group collaboration.”
It is no wonder students enjoy his classes so much and coworkers think highly of him. But Tayloe says it’s the students themselves who deserve credit where it’s due.
“My students often don’t realize they are the ones who essentially teach the class,” he observes. “If one student has trouble, the support and strength of the group is there to aid him. I tell my students all the time [that] one of the best resources in class is another student who understands the material. Essentially, the foundation is there; I just provide the appropriate questions to keep them pointed in the right direction and to fill in the gaps.”
From grading complex lab reports to teaching his beloved Energy and Ecology units, Tayloe enjoys most the “light-blub moments” within his classroom. “I love to see [students] eager to come to class to learn something new,” he says. “So much so that they crowd me in the mornings before class in an effort to find out what we are doing that day. This alone makes the many hard hours of planning and setting up labs worth it.”
Tayloe also seeks to relate to his students in a way that takes him back to the days when he himself was a sixth-grader. In these attempts he often draws his greatest inspiration.
“It can be easy to forget what life was like [then], when the fun things captured your attention the most,” he explains. “Creating lessons which make students think by doing, as opposed to simply reading from a textbook, provide interest in learning especially in the science field.”
Much like his students, Tayloe asserts that he himself never stops learning, that he assumed to be at the peak of his learning capabilities upon becoming a teacher. Yet the first of many lessons learned was how much students can teach teachers in return.
“They are huge sponges, taking in all the information they can,” he says proudly. “Any teacher that does not obtain some of that runoff knowledge from their students needs to find a new job.”