Originally I am from Orange County, California. Although I love my experience growing up there, I am completely happy to call San Diego (Point Loma) my new home. I came to San Diego after I graduated high school to attend Point Loma Nazarene University. There I spent four of the best years of my life. I learned more than I had ever imagined, I had so much fun, and I figured out what I wanted to do with my life- TEACH. After finishing my Bachelors in 03 I took a year off school to delay the realities of adulthood. I traveled to Europe, and took various road trips with my friends. Then one day as I was wrangling shopping carts in the rain at COSTCO I had a miraculous revelation- Shouldn’t I be putting my $80,000 degree to good use? I could not argue with the logic. So I went back to school to finish my Credential at PLNU. My second semester of student teaching brought me to West Hills. After a challenging, but rewarding student teaching experience I applied for a job at West Hills. The day I found out I got the job was one of the best days of my life. I taught Social Science at West Hills for 4 years. My Teaching career took in unexpected turn this past year when I was told I would be transferred to El Cap due to declining enrollment. This was dissapointing news at first but I love teaching.  There is nothing I would rather be doing for a career. My experience at West Hills was fantastic, but I am looking forward to a new start at El Cap.  I hope that my class will enlighten and inspire you to make a positive contribution to our world! Also, I hope you realize that EL Cap is a special place. Your education is one of the most important things in your life and it behooves you to take it seriously.

Credentials:

BA: History, Point Loma Nazarene University
NCLB/CLAD Single Subject Teaching Credential for Social Studies, Point Loma Nazarene University
MA: Education/Teaching and Learning, Point Loma Nazarene University

Philosophy of Education (Or: Why I am a Teacher)

”Education is not properly an industry, and its proper use is not to serve industries… Its proper use is to enable citizens to live lives economically, politically, socially, and culturally responsible. This cannot be done by accessing by what we now call ”information”- which is to say facts without context and therefore without priority. A proper education enables young people to put their lives in order, which means knowing which things are more important than other; it means putting first things first"

“We shouldn’t teach our kids to be the best in the world, but to be the best for the world.”

 

These statements at the heart of my educational philosophy. My goal as a teacher is to help young people realize that the way they live matters. I believe that all humans have a responsibility to live in a way that makes the world better. The stability and well-being of our country and world does not rest on our ability to teach our young how to make money, but rather on our ability to teach young people to live in a way that sustains and promotes the highest of our ethical, social, and political ideals. What better place for that to happen than in a social studies class!

Therefore, I strive to integrate higher thinking along with the practical skills and information that my students learn. In my class students will learn the factual content that is required by the state. However, it would be an injustice not to add context to content. Students must understand why what they are learning is important and how it applies to the world they live in.