Former Lanier Middle School, Lamar High School and University of Houston student, Ethan Tran, a ninth grade biology teacher in 9A, enjoys sharing his passion for teaching and science with first time high school students. Tran, however, is not a first timer himself when it comes to educating others. Tran’s teaching journey began at a young age helping his friends on work and assignments in school.
“My friends told me that I should start tutoring so I had a lot of experience from tutoring,” Tran said. “I liked getting feedback and seeing the moment when students realize they understand a concept and it felt good that I was the one that helped them.”
While majoring in biology at the University of Houston, Tran tutored students at Thompson Elementary School and his peers in his economics, biology and robotics classes.
“In my economics and biology classes in school, I would have these big Discord calls where I would invite about 100 people and they would all mute their microphones and I would just share my screen and teach them,” Tran said. “I liked it because I reinforce information a lot better when I teach it to somebody else.”
Tran minored in education with the Alternative Certification Program (ACP) where he received his certification. However, becoming a teacher was not a smooth journey for Tran, especially when it came to learning how to balance being friendly and a person of authority.
“The biggest challenge for me has been trying to balance being a really good resource for students to come to but also being the strong authority in the room,” Tran said. “My biggest emphasis when I teach kids is trying to form student relationships with them and making sure that the student knows that I’m someone they could come talk about anything with. At the same time, there’s a level of respect that I expect from the students and sometimes it’s not always easy to see that respect. I experience a lot less disrespectful students because I try to focus on relationships with them.”
As long as I can help other people understand and feel better about themselves, then I’m doing my job.”
— Mr. Ethan Tran
With bonds being one of the most important concepts to enforce, positive classroom environments are just as important to Tran. He makes it a daily goal to come into class with positive energy despite just how tired his class appears. When it comes to classwork, Tran has his own way of incorporating classwork into his uplifting class environment.
“I assign hands-on activities,” Tran said. “Last year, I did a lot of manipulative activities with students like building puzzles. Also, I enjoy when students get up and move around because whenever they’re sitting while doing work and listening to music and taking notes, students just tune out.”
From creating poems to TikToks, Tran believes that giving students the ability to choose the way they present the information is an effective way to keep students engaged. Even if they wanted to make a rap song for him to rap himself, Tran differentiates between the way students present him with information because he understands that everyone does not learn in the same way. Though Tran is happy with his class and position in education now, he believes that in a few years he will better understand what kind of teacher he wants to be for his students.
“I know that no matter what kind of teacher I become, I’m always going to focus on making relationships with students and making them know that the classroom is a place to decompress, they can feel comfortable to be vulnerable and it’s a safe space,” Tran said.
Being a professor at a university level is something that Tran would consider down the road while aiming for his Ph.D., which he already envisions. However, he is aware that teaching at that level will result in less student relationships in the larger classroom setting. To Tran, making sure students have trust in him and his ability to support them by assuring them that everything will be okay is one of the biggest qualities he feels every teacher must have in the classroom.
“I’m still learning who I am as a teacher and figuring out the things that work and the things that don’t work,” Tran said. “As long as I can help other people understand and feel better about themselves, then I’m doing my job.”
