MAGS Welcomes Mr Bindon.
As many of you may know Mount Albert Grammar School has welcomed several new teachers this year in addition to an abundance of year 9’s. I decided to interview one of the new teachers to get a better perspective of what it is like to be a new teacher at MAGS and to learn a little more about one of the new teachers.
Mr Bindon, a new Math teacher has taught in Christchurch, Queenstown and Taranaki in New Zealand as well as two different schools in the United Kingdom. He has been teaching for almost 14 years.
He chose to work at MAGS as when he came back to New Zealand from the U.K he considered two different schools (one being MAGS). MAGS was his top pick as our school is doing well academically, in sports and Mr Bindon attended MAGS as a pupil in his youth. Coming back to MAGS has been a nostalgic experience for Mr Bindon “walking around the school, memories come back to me”. Mr Bindon has enjoyed his time at MAGS (as a teacher) so far and said that MAGS is “similar to the schools I’ve taught at - yet so different”.
Mr Bindon is teaching Year 9’s, 11’s, 12’s and 13’s this year and has a total of 5 classes. He doesn’t have a favorite Year level to teach but finds both year 9’s and 13’s interesting for different reasons. Year 13’s are different from other year levels in Mr Bindon’s opinion as “they’re at an interesting point in their life, they’re more mature, more adult”. He said about Year 9’s “You have to spoon-feed them everything but at the same time they’re so fresh, so young”.
One aspect of teaching Mr Bindon enjoys is seeing people get better at something and helping them to do so. He also enjoys joking around with students.
His overall approach to teaching is “to get students to get better [at maths] for their own sakes, not for me, not for the exams”. He aims to get students to take responsibility for their learning but when they are not co-operating he threatens detention to push students to put more effort in.
Playing guitar, reading and drinking plenty of coffee are a few of Mr Bindon’s hobbies. He owns no pets but says his two-and-a-half year old daughter is “a bit like a pet sometimes”.
By Emma Benson
Mr Bindon, a new Math teacher has taught in Christchurch, Queenstown and Taranaki in New Zealand as well as two different schools in the United Kingdom. He has been teaching for almost 14 years.
He chose to work at MAGS as when he came back to New Zealand from the U.K he considered two different schools (one being MAGS). MAGS was his top pick as our school is doing well academically, in sports and Mr Bindon attended MAGS as a pupil in his youth. Coming back to MAGS has been a nostalgic experience for Mr Bindon “walking around the school, memories come back to me”. Mr Bindon has enjoyed his time at MAGS (as a teacher) so far and said that MAGS is “similar to the schools I’ve taught at - yet so different”.
Mr Bindon is teaching Year 9’s, 11’s, 12’s and 13’s this year and has a total of 5 classes. He doesn’t have a favorite Year level to teach but finds both year 9’s and 13’s interesting for different reasons. Year 13’s are different from other year levels in Mr Bindon’s opinion as “they’re at an interesting point in their life, they’re more mature, more adult”. He said about Year 9’s “You have to spoon-feed them everything but at the same time they’re so fresh, so young”.
One aspect of teaching Mr Bindon enjoys is seeing people get better at something and helping them to do so. He also enjoys joking around with students.
His overall approach to teaching is “to get students to get better [at maths] for their own sakes, not for me, not for the exams”. He aims to get students to take responsibility for their learning but when they are not co-operating he threatens detention to push students to put more effort in.
Playing guitar, reading and drinking plenty of coffee are a few of Mr Bindon’s hobbies. He owns no pets but says his two-and-a-half year old daughter is “a bit like a pet sometimes”.
By Emma Benson
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