Bang ON Bang
"Show and tell should be heavy on showing and light on telling"
- Bang 2011"Nothing beats a field trip for hands on learning"
- Bang 2010"They won't believe you read their paper unless you write a comment on it, always start with a positive one"
- Bang 2012"When it comes to academic misconduct a ton of prevention
beats an ounce of enforcement"- Bang 2012"To be a winning professor you need to be a winning coach"
- Bang 2011"They didn't do the reading, they don't remember the reading and they
don't understand the reading are the only assumptions you should ever make about students"- Bang 2012"Humor is the chocolate syrup of lecturing"
- Bang 2011"I'm gonna learn you something today if it kills me!"
- Bang 2009"To help students experience real life assignments should
be based on real experiences"- Bang 2010"You and your subject are not the most important things in your student's lives"
- Bang 2011"If it can't be applied it doesn't need to be taught"
- Bang 2010"Talk, ask and listen. You'll be surprised at what you learn!"
- Bang 2012"Ask and they shall engage"
- Bang 2009"If you want students to participate load up on carrots and put the stick away"
- Bang 2011"Most students don't understand the importance of attending graduation
until the ceremony is over. Encourage them to participate
and be there to cheer for them!"- Bang 2011"They hate role plays as much as you hate watching them,
simulations are way more fun"- Bang 2012
At the tender age of 42 I finally discovered what I wanted to be when I grew up. That was the year I began teaching part time at Humber College. I remember driving home after my first class and telling my wife "honey, they actually listen to me!" and, from that moment on, I was hooked. Since that day I have found teaching both challenging and invigorating and love to experiment with new ways of helping my students learn.
Before becoming a full time professor at Humber College I spent 29 years working for Bank of Montreal. I started in the bank shortly after graduating from Wilfred Laurier University with my B.A. majoring in Economics. During my time with the bank I held many positions including Branch Manager, Commercial Lender, Sales Leader, and a Senior Manger role in the bank's Call Center. I also held several positions in Marketing Department including one travelling across the country teaching staff how to sell Guaranteed Investment Certificates which turned out to be my first exposure to adult learning. At the age of 53 I was officially retired from the Bank which lead to my pursuit of a full time teaching position.
Around about my 23rd year with the bank I made the decision to retire early and pursue teaching as a full time occupation. I was counseled by one of Humber's Associate Deans that in order to make my dream a reality I would need to acquire a masters degree and preferably a full-fledged MBA. With this in mind I applied for the Bank's MBA program and was selected to begin my studies in September of 2004. The program was taught by Dalhousie University and lasted 4 years with a total of 16 courses including the 8 elective courses which led to me attaining my Fellows of the Institute of Canadian Bankers in addition to my MBA from Dalhousie.
I often tell my students that no resume is complete without detailing ones hobbies and interests and that what a person does for fun says a lot about them and provides a great opening for discussion. So, if you want to get me talking ask me about my love of scuba diving and my extensive anchor collection. We could also talk about my construction hobby (home and cottage) or my recently acquired mini excavator, affectionately referred to as J.C. Digger. I enjoy golfing in the summer and have recently taken up tennis in an attempt to offset my love of eating. My wife and I have been married for 31 years and we have 3 grown sons and one grandson. We enjoy spending weekends together at our cottage in the Muskokas, shopping for antiques and travelling as often as we can. When we visit a new place we like to rent a car and see the countryside as evidenced by our recent trip to England, Scotland and Whales where we drove over 4,000 KMs in 3 weeks.
As you can see we are very active and when we have some down time we prefer reading books and watching movies and we seldom watch television. We are both busy with our jobs and don't have the time for face-book or linked-in. My wife receives hundreds of e-mails a day and by the time I finish marking student's work and answering their e-mails it is usually well past my bedtime.