I began my teaching career as a Teaching Assistant during grad school. After originally thinking I would teach at the college level, I switched to Upper School teaching in order to have a greater opportunity to connect with students. I looked forward to the ability to impact the lives of EPS students both inside and outside the classroom through my roles as teacher, advisor and coach. When not busy at school, I enjoy running, camping, and hiking with his wife Phoebe.
I was drawn to Eastside Prep by the importance that EPS places on creating genuine relationships amongst the members of the school. That collegiality seems to create a passionate atmosphere for learning and discovering.”
Fast-forward and I’m now wrapping up my 6th year at EPS. I’m not sure who’s grown more, me or the school, but along the way I’m glad we’ve both stuck to our core value- relationships. To try and communicate how I approach this, I’ve decided to lead off this PDP with exactly what I started this school year with. You’ll see my belief statements,which I shared with all of my students on the first day of school and with their parents at Back to School Night this past year.
Things I believe:
- …everyone can learn math. No two people learn the exact same way, much like two people don’t look the exact same. How you each learn may differ hence what we do in class will differ. I expect you to constantly chew on answering, “how do I learn best?”
- …we should take advantage of us all being in this room at the same time. We are a team now and we can each learn something from one another.
- …the classroom should be a safe space where you can not only be yourself but you can take academic risks, make mistakes, mess up, and you’ll still be treated with the utmost respect.
- …we should be positive in our interactions and assume everyone’s acting with the best intentions. Not only will the material challenge you but life can challenge us too. So let’s be kind to one another.
- …math is cool, creative, and useful even!
Lastly, to offer perspective into my mind, you should know what my top 5 strengths from Gallup are. Adaptability, Learner, Achiever, Relator, and Harmony.