I am a husband, a father, an educator, and an absurdist. More or less in that order.
Over the last fifteen years I have taught a plethora of classes, most of them focusing on the Social Sciences. I spent the first ten years of my career teaching at an inner city school; this is where I learned the value of developing relationships with my students. I am a bit of an extrovert, so my personality helped me entertain and engage my classes as I was learning what this whole pedagogy thing is all about. Education classes tend to teach you a lot about the theory of education, but until you stand in front of those kids for the first time, you really don't know what you're getting yourself into.
In the first few years, I taught US History and World History. I had a wide array of young people in each class; some could have taught the class while others struggled with reading, writing, and organization. These were absolutely my formative years as a educator; I really learned what being a teacher was all about.
In my second year, my admin convinced me to take on my first AP class: AP European History. I had minored in History as an undergrad, so I figured it would be a piece of cake. This was back in the days when the College Board basically gave you a set of dates, a general idea of topics, and said, "Have at it!" I rode the struggle bus the entire year; most of my students got 1s and 2s, but a few were able to pull out a 3. I honestly had no idea what I was doing.
The following year I moved on to AP Human Geography and, man, this was absolutely my wheelhouse. My background is in Anthropology, so it was pretty easy to transfer my degrees to this class. A few years later the APUSH teacher that was basically an institution retired and the class landed in my lap. The first year was a tough one, but I had learned from my years of APHuG and my one year of AP Euro how to develop the curriculum. The second year I taught the class was the beginning of the reorganization of AP History and it was fundamental to my success.
A few years later my family continued to grow, so I moved into another district to be closer to home. I was lucky enough to get a job at one of the top schools in the country and I have begun to take on a whole new set of challenges. I immediately began teaching AP World History and now teach the revitalized AP World History: Modern. After my first year, the number of students who wanted to take AP Psychology ballooned, so I accepted the challenge of learning a curriculum that was all but alien to me; it has been awesome.
More recently I was able to develop the standards and curriculum for a brand new course: Introduction to Anthropology. This has been my brainchild for most of my career, and I was finally able to develop it because my administration loves to have a diverse curriculum that challenges and broadens to minds of all its students.
In my down time, I practice Krav Maga; I'm a blue belt. My motto is, "Why just work out when you can hit people?" In reality, I have a very hard time motivating myself to go to the gym, so getting together with a large group of people to practice Close Quarter Combat, Boxing, Jiu Jitsu, and Weapons Defense has been incredibly important for me in terms of staying in shape and staying sane as a teacher and a dad.
I also help coach men's soccer; I focus on strength training and goalkeeping. The head coach of our squad has forgotten more about soccer than I know; he is a fantastic tactical coach and motivator. I help keep the team focused, strong, and use my extroverted personality to maintain morale. I have a very specific role on the team and I love it.
When I have a little bit of free time, I love to play board games. Catan is an all time favorite, as is Pandemic. I have a few friends that play board games nonstop, or so it seems. I have played so many random games, many of which I cannot fully recall. The best thing about board games, however, is having the chance to hang out with friends, make fun of each other (in a silly, non - mean way), and stretch your brain a bit.
However you found this site, I hope you find it useful. Please feel free to use and share anything you find here; if you have any ideas or tips you'd like to share, I'd love to hear. Go to my Contact Page and drop me a line.
Over the last fifteen years I have taught a plethora of classes, most of them focusing on the Social Sciences. I spent the first ten years of my career teaching at an inner city school; this is where I learned the value of developing relationships with my students. I am a bit of an extrovert, so my personality helped me entertain and engage my classes as I was learning what this whole pedagogy thing is all about. Education classes tend to teach you a lot about the theory of education, but until you stand in front of those kids for the first time, you really don't know what you're getting yourself into.
In the first few years, I taught US History and World History. I had a wide array of young people in each class; some could have taught the class while others struggled with reading, writing, and organization. These were absolutely my formative years as a educator; I really learned what being a teacher was all about.
In my second year, my admin convinced me to take on my first AP class: AP European History. I had minored in History as an undergrad, so I figured it would be a piece of cake. This was back in the days when the College Board basically gave you a set of dates, a general idea of topics, and said, "Have at it!" I rode the struggle bus the entire year; most of my students got 1s and 2s, but a few were able to pull out a 3. I honestly had no idea what I was doing.
The following year I moved on to AP Human Geography and, man, this was absolutely my wheelhouse. My background is in Anthropology, so it was pretty easy to transfer my degrees to this class. A few years later the APUSH teacher that was basically an institution retired and the class landed in my lap. The first year was a tough one, but I had learned from my years of APHuG and my one year of AP Euro how to develop the curriculum. The second year I taught the class was the beginning of the reorganization of AP History and it was fundamental to my success.
A few years later my family continued to grow, so I moved into another district to be closer to home. I was lucky enough to get a job at one of the top schools in the country and I have begun to take on a whole new set of challenges. I immediately began teaching AP World History and now teach the revitalized AP World History: Modern. After my first year, the number of students who wanted to take AP Psychology ballooned, so I accepted the challenge of learning a curriculum that was all but alien to me; it has been awesome.
More recently I was able to develop the standards and curriculum for a brand new course: Introduction to Anthropology. This has been my brainchild for most of my career, and I was finally able to develop it because my administration loves to have a diverse curriculum that challenges and broadens to minds of all its students.
In my down time, I practice Krav Maga; I'm a blue belt. My motto is, "Why just work out when you can hit people?" In reality, I have a very hard time motivating myself to go to the gym, so getting together with a large group of people to practice Close Quarter Combat, Boxing, Jiu Jitsu, and Weapons Defense has been incredibly important for me in terms of staying in shape and staying sane as a teacher and a dad.
I also help coach men's soccer; I focus on strength training and goalkeeping. The head coach of our squad has forgotten more about soccer than I know; he is a fantastic tactical coach and motivator. I help keep the team focused, strong, and use my extroverted personality to maintain morale. I have a very specific role on the team and I love it.
When I have a little bit of free time, I love to play board games. Catan is an all time favorite, as is Pandemic. I have a few friends that play board games nonstop, or so it seems. I have played so many random games, many of which I cannot fully recall. The best thing about board games, however, is having the chance to hang out with friends, make fun of each other (in a silly, non - mean way), and stretch your brain a bit.
However you found this site, I hope you find it useful. Please feel free to use and share anything you find here; if you have any ideas or tips you'd like to share, I'd love to hear. Go to my Contact Page and drop me a line.