Who is Mr. Dawer???

There's a new AVID teacher at Pflugerville Middle School!

It's Mr. Dawer!

After four years of teaching 6th grade Language Arts at PMS, Mr. Dawer will be taking over the AVID program--and he couldn't be more excited! We here at the PMS AVID Blog asked Mr. Dawer a few questions about who he is, why he wanted to teach AVID, and what he expects for the upcoming school year. Enjoy!

Where did you go to college?
I attended the University of Texas at Austin and Harvard University. I got my B.A. in English at UT (Hook 'em!) and my Master of Education at Harvard.

Why did you want to be an AVID teacher?
AVID's mission is the same reason I became a teacher: to prepare all students for college readiness and success. I believe every student has the potential to succeed, but every person is different, which means that every student needs different types of support in order to succeed. AVID targets students who have the desire to go to college, but maybe don't know all the steps to get there. I want to be an AVID teacher because I've navigated the path from middle school to college, and I want to help my students get where they want to go.

What is your favorite thing about teaching?
My favorite thing about teaching is watching a student discover something new, or finally learn how to do something they couldn't do before. There's this moment when you finally just get something, and to me it's magical to watch that happen every day.

What are your expectations for AVID students?
I expect AVID students to do their best (of course), but I also expect them to support one another, like a family. AVID only works if every student feels like they're part of the AVID team, and to do that they need to be able to trust one another and be there to support each other when one is feeling down.

What else should we know about you?
Well, I was named the Pflugerville ISD Secondary Teacher of the Year. Check it out--I'm Youtube famous!

Good luck in the 2014-15 school year, Mr. Dawer!