Sparta — For David Oudbier, teaching isn’t something he has to do, it’s something he gets to do.
He’s been at it for 29 years, 28 of which have been at Sparta. Time has done nothing to dull or diminish his excitement about education, especially since finding his dream position as Appleview Elementary’s STEM teacher six years ago.
The job has him working on science, technology, engineering and math projects with every one of Appleview’s third- through fifth-grade students.
“It’s just fun to teach. I get to come in and play — and build!” Oudbier said, with a wide-armed gesture at his classroom, filled with half-assembled catapults — the STEM project of the moment — and boxes upon boxes of tools, materials and supplies.
A chaotic scene, perhaps, but chaos lends itself to Oudbier’s madcap energy. He’s part inventor, part artist, and he’s famous among students for his preferred footwear.
“I wear flip-flops, all year, every year,” he said, a bit baffled as to how such a thing came about. But the students love it.”
Oudbier sat down with SNN to talk about his approach to teaching, and what keeps him coming back.
‘There’s just this joy in watching kids succeed and get it, and the lightbulb that goes off in them sometimes. Even after 28 years it’s still enjoyable to come to work.’
— Appleview STEM teacher David Oudbier
Why do you teach? “It’s always been just fun,” Oudbier said. “I kind of never really thought of it as a job. I thought of it as just going to hang out with people and teach and impact kids. I think that’s the biggest part of it — the impact part, over the years.”
It was a cadet teaching class he took as a student at Grand Rapids’ Union High School that initially sparked his interest in the field. He also had some inspiring teachers who had a major impact on him, steering him toward his future career.
“There’s just this joy in watching kids succeed and get it, and the lightbulb that goes off in them sometimes. Even after 28 years it’s still enjoyable to come to work.”
What is your biggest motivator that keeps you excited about teaching? “The biggest thing is just to see how kids grow. To see how kids change and just to be able to interact with them.”
Oudbier said that with the STEM class in particular, the ever-changing nature of the curriculum helps keep him on his toes and invested in the material.
“I’m always finding new things to do,” he said. “Every day it’s different, so I’m not stuck in a rut. … I get to design my own curriculum and that makes it exciting. I like that part of it, I like that planning. What else is out there that I can do that they’ve never done before?”
Why STEM? What’s the best thing about it? Oudbier said he’s always loved science, even though he originally planned on being an English teacher.
“I’m a very hands-on kind of person. I don’t teach from my desk and I’m constantly moving around the room,” he said. “So when the STEM position opened up, I’m like, ‘There we go!’
“It was hands-on, it was experimental, it was brand new, so I got the freedom to research and design and try new things. And it was something our kids had never experienced before. … It was cool for them because there’s not a whole lot of guidelines. You can create what you want to create and you can problem-solve.”
What are some of the biggest challenges in your role and how do you strive to meet them? “I think the biggest challenge right now is the mental-health aspect. We get a lot of students that are quick to give up, and then frustration sets in. Especially some of our younger students.”
Oudbier says students tend to develop more “perseverance and grit” as they get older, but some of his third-graders can be in a bit of a rush to throw in the towel when things don’t go perfectly.
“I try to talk with them and see what’s going on,” he said. “A lot of times it’s just one-on-one conversation, and I have other students who help them.
“It’s just getting on their level and talking to them. It’s teaching them how to persevere and help each other.”
What’s the most amazing thing about your students? “It doesn’t take much for some of these kids just to be wowed. A simple thing sometimes turns into the coolest thing they’ve ever done.”
Oudbier said he sometimes wonders if a concept will go over students’ heads, or if they’ll get it. But inevitably — even if it takes some work — they do. “And it’s like, ‘Wow, they tackled that, they handled that, they worked through that better than I thought they would.’”
What would you say to someone considering teaching as a profession? “Things aren’t always going to go the way that you planned them to go. You have to be flexible. And sometimes days aren’t going to go the way you planned, and you’re going to leave frustrated. But every day’s a new day. If something bad happens one day, don’t come back and start the day off that same way. Sometimes you just have to let things go and start fresh the next day.”
Oudbier said he’d also emphasize the importance of striking the right work-life balance, and getting involved with a school’s community.
What is something you’ve learned from your students? “Releasing control. … Sometimes I don’t have to be the one to come up with all the ideas. … Letting them help guide what we’re learning.”
Read more from Sparta:
• Kent County schools expand CTE offerings with state grant
• Brave and bittersweet: Students tackle milestone first days of school
