{"id":16334,"date":"2026-02-09T20:24:33","date_gmt":"2026-02-09T20:24:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wordpress.lvc.edu\/lavie\/?p=16334"},"modified":"2026-02-09T20:25:51","modified_gmt":"2026-02-09T20:25:51","slug":"student-teacher-spotlight-brant-barr","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wordpress.lvc.edu\/lavie\/2026\/02\/09\/student-teacher-spotlight-brant-barr\/","title":{"rendered":"Student teacher spotlight: Brant Barr\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Jordan Hildebrand \u201826, staff writer\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Students majoring in education have begun student teaching, moving one step closer to graduation in the spring.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

One such student is Brant Barr, a senior history major who has a specialization in secondary education. Among the many student teachers here at LVC, Barr has openly expressed both excitement and fear about his future, especially since he wasn\u2019t always aspiring to teach.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Barr found himself in a peculiar position where educating others came naturally. It was a swift moment of realization that would quickly lead to the next four years of his life. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe moment where being an educator clicked for me was in a cramped car ride home from the beach,\u201d Barr said. \u201cUsually I\u2019m correcting people about current events but this time, I slipped into a three-hour conversation where I exposed the fact that real world problems have solutions that are often swept under the rug because they aren\u2019t profitable, After that, I felt cathartic, like I had made a difference by educating and exploring these outcomes, which led to my desire to teach.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Barr arrived at LVC, his realization quickly led him to reach out to the education department and pursue a specialization, even though he had some doubts.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThrough every step, I doubted if teaching was the right fit for me,\u201d he said. \u201cEven now, I have many moments where I feel lost in what to do next.\u00a0 Teaching is a hard job. Everything we do affects others, which can make mistakes feel draining.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, just because this is one downside of the field does not mean it is the only factor one should consider when considering a career in education. Barr believes that with the right mentality, anyone can succeed in this career and get over those doubts that may at first seem insurmountable.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think every future teacher should hold a mantra within, and that is fail forward,\u201d Barr said. \u201cIn a world where failing is seen as the end, we have to accept that tomorrow is a new day, where we need to learn from our mistakes and adjust accordingly. As long as we are consistently advancing, everything will work itself out.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ones who paved the way for Barr were the education department here at LVC and those who made the integration into the classroom just a little bit easier. Part of the program is that those who choose a specialization\u2014whether secondary or early childhood\u2014are required to step into the field right away. Barr believes this is a good call.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBeing familiarized is fun and gets students accustomed to the workings of a school from a teacher\u2019s perspective,\u201d Barr said. \u201cHowever, I think that in our early years, we do not have the context to analyze how effective our host teacher is. I would prefer that more experienced time would be spent teaching lessons.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Barr attributes his success to the thorough preparation from the LVC education department. That hands-on approach is absolutely necessary for preparing prospective student teachers for their own classroom someday. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 \u201cInteracting with students as a professional rather than a student, even with the strict constraints and requirements, still leaves us enough flexibility to perform well,\u201d Barr said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Barr believes that, while he was thoroughly prepared, there is always more to learn or different ways to view the world.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe one thing I wish could be added to the education program is a day where a professor comes into an observation with us to explain the technicalities that we may not have picked up on,\u201d Barr said. \u201cThis would fix one of the main issues with observations, where early on it is hard to know what you should be learning. Another thing would be adding more long-form presentations to get us to be comfortable teaching in front of a class, as that is a struggle that many of us are still facing.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Entering the field of education requires a lot of patience, resilience, and preparation. For Barr, these skills were all taught to him here and are usable in a place where his knowledge can be a guiding light for others.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jordan Hildebrand \u201826, staff writer\u00a0 Students majoring in education have begun student teaching, moving one step closer to graduation in the spring.    One such student is Brant Barr, a senior history major who has a […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":16310,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,5],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-16334","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-campus-news","8":"category-features"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.lvc.edu\/lavie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16334","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.lvc.edu\/lavie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.lvc.edu\/lavie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.lvc.edu\/lavie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.lvc.edu\/lavie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16334"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.lvc.edu\/lavie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16334\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16350,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.lvc.edu\/lavie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16334\/revisions\/16350"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.lvc.edu\/lavie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16310"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.lvc.edu\/lavie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16334"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.lvc.edu\/lavie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16334"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.lvc.edu\/lavie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16334"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}