Teachers around the country have learned to become better educators through a number of various degrees, conferences and certifications, and Windsor’s very own Jeffrey Sesemann (staff) is a teacher that has gone above and beyond.
Sesemann teaches three levels of chemistry classes as well as a few elective science classes and is known for his students’ understanding of the subjects. The students’ understanding isn’t left to talent or fate but rather their teacher.
Sesemann holds a special kind of certification that proves he is one of the best teachers for the subject. This certification is called a board certification that entails meeting rigorous standards set by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS). Earning this certification is considered to be one of the highest honors in the field of teaching.
Earning a board certification is known for being difficult due to the high level of understanding in not only the subject matter but also in teaching as a whole. Earning a board certification requires “four components. The first one was a test based off what do I know about chemistry …. The other (components) are basically asking questions, reflecting on my practice and getting people in my classroom,” Sesemann said.
Earning a national board certification is not a goal a teacher develops lightly, especially considering all the different elements required in order to earn the certification. Sesemann developed this goal in a multitude of ways, starting with when he first discovered the certification in teacher school: “I heard about (the certification) when I was in teacher school, because they were talking about that and I had just finished playing football. I didn’t really have anything competitive. So when I heard it was really hard and not a lot of people could get it, I wanted to do it,” Seseman said.
When Sesemann first started working, he had the opportunity to work with a teacher who acted as a role model for him and showed him what a great teacher is. “I was really privileged to work with this guy — he’s the best teacher I’ve ever worked with and met — and, uh, just really kind of put me on the path of asking me questions and trying to get me to explain things and I would take that into my classroom,” Sesemann said.
This former colleague helped Sesemann develop as a teacher and taught him the importance of understanding. Students and observers of Sesemann’s class will easily see this nature come forth through how Sesemann delivers and answers questions. This nature not only helps the students but also is part of the reason why Sesemann earned this certification.
“I’ve had to reflect on all (the components), and really I probably became a better thinker,” Sesemann said. “I could explain what I was doing better, design lessons better and just communicate what I know and what I want students to know.”
Bryce Homann (10) is a student one of Sesemann’s advanced chemistry classes and has learned to appreciate the way Sesemann structures his classes. “He gives good examples and makes you think by asking questions and sometimes helping, but he tries to let you figure it out by yourself and then helps clarify things,” Homann said.
Sesemann has taken the lessons he has learned from his former colleagues and applied them in excellent fashion in all of his courses. Sesemann will ask questions with a clear intention of how he wants his students to answer. This nature allows his students to develop a greater understanding of the content and retain the information more thoroughly.
AP Chemistry student Thales Price (11) is another one of Sesemann’s students and has developed his ability to learn in all his classes thanks to Sesemann’s instruction techniques: “He definitely helps me get in more in depth about an idea instead of just giving me an answer and will actually explain it more in a way that makes it easier to understand and it helps show me how to explain things in all my classes as well,” Price said.
The lessons that students like Price and Homann have learned from Sesemann are the exact ones that Sesemann hopes all his students will learn because they are skills that will not only help them as students but in life as well. Sesemann said, “I know the students, they can be kind of annoyed, but I’m always asking them to explain why and how come — and that’s life. Everyone’s going to have you justify that. And so I went through that whole national board process, which every question basically was, ‘How come, how come, how come?’”
Earning a NBPTS board certification is certainly a challenge and one of the highest honors a teacher can earn. Many students like Price and Homann share this sense of admiration and honor to learn from such an accomplished teacher and develop new skills through his unique — board-certified — way of teaching.
