Mr. White

Because I work in several different schools, Brian White is easiest to reach by email

I am the Gifted and Talented Education Teacher for Holm and two other DPS schools. It is my job to work with children who think and learn differently, to help them and their teachers and parents understand, appreciate, and develop each child's individual strengths. Sometimes these children can't explain why they know something, or how they managed to learn a skill before anybody taught it to them. Sometimes they get to the same result as other students by an entirely different (and mysterious) process. It may be difficult for them to understand why other kids don't "see" something that seems so obvious to them. These are all normal for GT students, and it is important these children have chances to work and play and learn with kids with whom they can feel something in common. These kids and their teachers need to learn to value how differently they think, and not always have to do exactly the same things in the same way as other learners.

I grew up in Southern California, the fourth son of two teachers. Three of my grandparents were teachers. I skipped third grade, and graduated from high school at 16. I knew that I was not grown up enough to begin college, so I started working. I spent the next twelve years in a variety of food and beverage jobs, and earned two degrees, in Economics and in Business Administration, by the time I was 25. I am a graduate of the University of Denver, and earned my teaching certificate at the University of Colorado at Denver. I have earned many college credits in Elementary Education, Gifted Education, Information Science, Computer Science, and Technology,  but no Masters Degree, yet.

I have been teaching since 1987, beginning with first grade, then second grade the following year. After that, I substituted in grades K-8 for more than a year, and eventually did two semesters of long-term substituting in language development programs. I spent the next six years as an elementary math specialist, then five more, teaching information literacy.

It has been my privilege to work with gifted children for the past eight years. What I love best about teaching are the opportunities to facilitate students' publishing their best works on this and my other school web sites, and guiding the development of children’s thinking and problem-solving skills and strategies.

During my teaching career it has always been my goal to integrate technology into my own teaching, and into learning opportunities for my students. Additionally, I enjoy sharing my enthusiasm for computer use with other teachers.

I have been married (to a teacher) for twenty-six years, and have a son just starting college and a daughter in 7th grade. I enjoy woodworking, hiking, swimming and bicycling. My favorite pastimes are reading (escape fiction), Sudoku, and learning and teaching about robots.

This Page was last updated: Friday, January 9, 2009
This page was originally posted: 9/4/2009; 9:28:05 AM.
Copyright 2009 Holm Elementary

This site is using the DPS Transmitter theme.