Staff Spotlight

Staff Spotlight is Lockport’s way of bringing recognition to staff members who stand out to students, and who truly make a difference! Shining a light on these staff members helps take their acts of kindness and pay it forward by sharing with the community. Our first staff spotlight for the year:

Lockport’s Latest Staff Spotlight!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Alan Bean: Physics Teacher at East Campus

by: Mercedez Ruiz

 

1. What do you teach at Lockport?

I teach regular physics, physics plus, and I coach JV Bowling for boys.

2. What made you get into teaching, and did you ever want to be anything else?

I very much enjoy helping people, both my father and sister were teachers. So I saw the life they had and realized this is something that allowed me to help people. Also, I’m good at math so I wanted to be a math teacher. What I found later was that not everybody likes doing math for the sake of doing it but in physics and chemistry, we can do math and it has a purpose. Students also seemed to like it a whole lot better because we do experiments. So going to physics seemed like a pretty good fit for me. I wasn’t a physics teacher I would be a chemistry teacher. I don’t know enough about anything else to be a teacher of that.

3. When did you start teaching at Lockport and what was your first impression?

My first teaching was in 1992 and my first impression was that I liked it. I was a responsible student so when I started teaching I realized not everyone was like me. We also didn’t have nearly the resources we do now, so missing a day meant figuring out how to make it up. Now, like people have videos posted, you can go into YouTube and check stuff out, which is kind of nice. 

4. Have you taught anywhere else other than Lockport?

Lockport is my fourth school. I’ve taught in Evergreen Park, I’ve taught in St. Ann, and I’ve taught in Morris. 

5. You’ve mentioned you’re also a coach, when did you start coaching?

I think I’ve been coaching every year since I started teaching in some way or another. I’ve coached golf, I’ve coached soccer, I’ve coached baseball, I’ve coached bowling, I’ve coached Scholastic Bowl, I’ve coached the Jets team. And if I’m not coaching something, I keep the sports score book or make announcements. I’m a sports nut, so anything that’s involved, I try, because if I’m not involved in a sport of some sort or coaching or something like that, I really don’t know what to do with myself because there will be way too much free time.

6. If you could change something about teaching at Lockport, what would it be?

Get rid of the 50% rule, because kids become lazy knowing that they’re going to get a 50. Then they don’t prepare which means they just get a 50% on the next thing too. 

7. What are the changes you’ve noticed throughout the years, especially now with AI?

It’s great to use, terrible to abuse. If you can AI stuff, even physics problems, yes it can tell you the answer but you can’t use it on a test. It’s helpful if you want to check your answers and see what you need to ask about, as long as you’re using it that way, it’s a great tool. The problem is some people are using it instead of doing their homework, and then they don’t know what they’re doing. 

8. What are your most memorable moments of teaching?

Kane and I do Tie Thursdays, ( a day they wear matching times with a theme students have to guess) and Mr. Pontow and I used to do a handshake. We would come and do a high five and then the next day, we added something. By the end of the semester it was a 90 second long handshake that the kids thought was great. My most memorable moments are when somebody who’s struggling, you know, asks for help, and the light bulb goes on. I don’t remember every single detail but I remember how it makes me feel. I feel like I’ve accomplished something by getting them to understand something that five minutes ago they were clueless about. 

9. What made you retire at the end of this year, and what are your plans after retirement?

I couldn’t deal with the 50% rule anymore. I was planning on staying longer, but I took the first chance to get out because I have all the minimums required for my full pension plans. My wife doesn’t retire for another three years so in these three years I’m going to take all the vacations she doesn’t want to do. She doesn’t want to do white water rafting so I’m going to find a trip where I do that. I still plan on coaching bowling. 

10. What will you miss the most about teaching and what do you hope your students take away from you teaching them?

The interaction with everybody, you know, fellow teachers and students, because there’s a lot of people I have really good conversations with. I hope the kids really learn how to have fun with their mistakes. I mean, it sounds dumb, but it’s like everybody makes mistakes. The other thing  is we’ve had some people coming to talk, and they called it grit. 

11. What do you wish other people knew about teaching?  

One of the big things that I think that people outside of education don’t know is the actual amount of thought that I put into each one of my students on how to get them to do better. Planning when stuff like compass comes up, how am I going to adjust my schedule so that it’s convenient enough for my students that they can get another shot at doing stuff? It’s not necessarily the lessons, but when am I going to do that like we planned. Not many people understand how many times I’m on plan D by third hour. Like I don’t want to give a test on the day you guys are taking the ACT so we’re planning around that. We take a lot of the consideration, and I don’t know if everybody outside knows how much we do of that. 

12. What advice do you have for future teachers?

Have an open mind. You have to realize you’re going to have three kids in a class that are like you, and you’re going to have 22 kids in your class that ain’t like you. So you have to be able to try to reach everybody and be patient. Use your professional judgement to say if this is an accurate reflection of what the student does. It’s not always about the letter grade, it’s about knowing the material.