Teaching Through the Years: In a classroom and in the woods, rain and shine, kids and adults…

1st - 3rd Grade Educator

High Schoolers - YoungLife

Teaching and Preaching

Men's Weekend Retreats

Better Together Marriage Conference

Men's Mountain Adventures

Graduate Level Classes and Conferences

Men's Recovery Adventures

Teaching Philosophy and Practice

As an educator with nearly two decades of experience of teaching in and out of the classroom, my philosophy of teaching is simple, I seek to help people grow in their understanding of a subject by building on their current knowledge through experiential and holistic means. Over the years I have come to learn and appreciate that persons learn by different means, and it is my role as their teacher to meet them in the way that they best learn, rather than having the expectation that they would meet me in my preferred teaching style. This requires me to challenge my own assumptions and methods with every class I teach, although I have found tried and tested means of teaching which have held up over time and on which I primarily rely.

I grew up in classrooms that held to the then typical structure of teacher as expert and student as learner. In this setting, I learned quickly how to regurgitate information and how to tell the teacher what they wanted to hear, but I struggled to assimilate the knowledge taught into my own life and understanding. I grew to believe that my struggle in learning was with a deficiency in myself, rather than in a deficient structure for teaching. As I began to study education in my undergraduate program (BS Education), I came to understand that I best learn through movement, discussion, and working things out with my hands, otherwise known as kinesthetic learning. I had learned the skills to survive a primarily auditory teaching environment, but I did not thrive there. These realizations have influenced all of my teaching since, as well as my theoretical understandings of how persons learn.

My initial experience teaching was in early childhood education, specifically grades one through three. During this time I was in a poor, rural, and dysfunctional school system which was later shut down by the state government. My understanding that persons learn best in many different ways was built upon in this time, as well as my understanding of how a view of intersectionality, particularly with students who lived in poverty, abuse, and addiction, plays a major role in education. Not only do people learn differently, but their lives outside of the classroom also have a major impact on their learning. As I began to teach master’s level courses I was asked how a foundation in early childhood education impacts my teaching higher levels of learning. I believe that learning how to understand a child’s learning style, teaching complex and brand new ideas like learning to read, has helped me develop the ability to make concepts such as addiction and addiction treatment simple to understand to those counselor education students who know very little or a lot about the subject.

To make it brief, I believe it is my responsibility as an educator to teach in a way that my students learn, utilizing experience alongside traditional education in helping them to assimilate new information in a way that they can make it their own.

Teaching Experiences

Lakeview Elementary/Barton Lexa/KIPP School Districts / 2003-2007 / 1st, 2nd, 3rd grades (all subjects), 7th grade (Geography), Summer Music Course
Counseling Conference / RTS Fall Counseling Conference / 2019 / Pornography: Roots and Recovery
Addictions and Substance Abuse / 2018 - Current / Reformed Theological Seminary (Jackson and Orlando Campuses), Masters of Arts in Counseling
Practicum / 2020 / Walden University, Online Program, Masters of Arts in Counseling
Groups Theories and Practice / 2020 - Current / Reformed Theological Seminary, Masters of Arts in Counseling
Online Course Videos - Private Practice & Telehealth Counseling - COUN 6133/6134 / 2022/ Walden University, Masters of Arts in Counseling
Symposium Presenter - 2024 - Presented at International Institute Trauma & Addiction Professionals on research related to ACEs and Pornography Consumption/Exposure

Additionally, Branden has been teaching at church, community events, and other volunteer opportunities often over the past two decades.

Sample Syllabus

Here is a syllabus I built for a 3-hour graduate course on Addictions and Substance abuse, which I teach as a one week intensive at Reformed Theological Seminary.