Mr. Dearing has taught at a multitude of schools including Ronald Reagan Highschool, Miami Springs Senior High, Miami Dade College, and was requested to teach at SAS (School Advanced Studies) in Miami Dade. After teaching at Miami Springs for six years, he moved to teach at Doral Academy and has been for three years, teaching classes such as AP English Language and Composition, Creative Writing, and Great Books. Explaining that the shift in energy from his previous schools did not feel the same way that Doral’s did, he expressed, “The energy just felt right.” 

       Anyone who has a conversation with him or sits during a lecture of his will be able to understand how much of a passion Dearing has for teaching. Aside from the fact that he has been teaching for about twenty years, Dearing is one of the teachers that takes pride in his position, explaining that his teaching philosophy is, “If it’s not interesting to me, it could not possibly be interesting to the kids.” What makes him stand out as a teacher is that he offers a sense of understanding and compassionate attitude towards his students, while still being able to communicate and give his lessons effectively. He explains that the circumstances of the Coronavirus, it has allowed him to realize how important a good rapport is with his students and how reliant it is on in-person conversations.

“Everything in life is about relationships, we’re social creatures and your life’s journey is a solitary one, but we need other people. They help to shape who we are.” 

       He is also the sponsor for Doral Academy’s SLAM Poetry club that is focused around acceptance and allowing young artists to express themselves, free of judgement. SLAM board members Gianna Infante and Sebastian Isaza expressed how Dearing helps and inspires them as their club sponsor.

      “Dearing helped start up the club from the beginning and let us come back to him when everything went down. He always sticks by us, trusts us, and never gives up on us.” -Gianna Infante

      “He helps guide us. He is a great leader; he’s there when we need him and there when we think we don’t.” -Sebastian Isaza

      After having taught at a variety of schools across Florida, Dearing has witnessed a collection of different writing styles throughout his teaching experience. During his time as a teacher for the last 20 years, the growth of social media has occurred as well. Due to this, information becomes more accessible through social media and the internet thus making plagiarism easier to get away with. From one perspective, it can be perceived that no writing is original anymore and it is all influenced or stolen from others. On the other hand, it can be viewed as a greater opportunity to get their work out there. Dearing mentioned that he has witnessed his fair share of arguments on Twitter that tend to take a more aggressive route, revealing the toxic side of it. He also believes that Twitter with its character limit encourages a type of conciseness that he too struggles to maintain.

      Popular apps such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram have all provided people with another outlet to express themselves through writing, photography, etc. Alongside that are the downsides, as Dearing puts it, “It’s a black hole and it can warp priorities and self-reception.” Continuing to explain how it is designed to make the users feel vulnerable so they give up pieces of information about themselves and in turn is given to marketers. He believes that it has two very clear positives and negatives, but from a writer’s perspective, it has transformed the way students write. From exposing them to certain topics they would not have seen, or by changing the way they convey their emotions. 

“Taking our time and giving some thought to what we say to whom we’re saying it, and  how we’re saying it, means that we tend to take more care with what we say.”

         What he says not only shows his attitude towards social media but shows his attitude towards his teaching and how he treats it.