Born and raised in Virginia, the oldest of four (all brothers) so I am used to being in charge haha, I have an 8-year-old dog, whom I love dearly. He was a big help getting through quarantine! I love traveling to learn an area’s history and food culture; especially internationally. I think it gives another perspective into how different people around the world live and creates a larger sense of community when it doesn’t seem like you would have anything in common with them. I am a big reader (I enjoy astrophysics and ones about space) and enjoy movies (like Marvel and sci-fi). I am kind, smart, and enjoy learning new things.

I am a new employee trainer at my current job, so I have lots of experience teaching people new things in a way that helps them learn and be able to apply it themselves. I also work in an environment with lots of different personalities and backgrounds that makes working together and communicating effectively key, and something that takes time to learn. I think both things will help me be an effective teacher, especially in the beginning when I’m still learning other skills. In a scholastic environment I am like a sponge, I love to learn new things and am excited to try something I have never done before; I hope to Inspire my students to feel the same way about learning.

Classroom management skills I think will be the most important tool that I will have to learn to create a space for my students to thrive and succeed; without organization we will not be set up for success. I also need to learn how to ask for help and take advice from more experienced teachers to learn best practices and to create a network of support; I like to trial and error In order to learn new skills, however when I am going to be the leader to teach others who to do something, this Is not going to be a way I can Impart new Information In a successful way to my students.

I want to create an environment where my students and I are thirsty for knowledge, that learning and experiencing new things is fun and exciting, even if it can also be scary if it is something new or something we are not strong at. I want my students to learn by problem-solving and critical thinking, and that it’s okay to get something wrong if you learn something from the experience and improve, striving for growth rather than perfection. The Four Tenants of my Philosophy, as of right now, would be: Interactive, Critical-Thinking, Community Involvement, and Progress-not-Perfection. I want my students to be able to Interact with each other and with projects to faciliate teamwork, collaboration, and problem-solving. I want my students to develop critical-thinking skills to determine how best to solve a problem before them and come up with questions of their own. I want myself and my students to be active participants In our community: seeing how things we do Impact ourselves and others to develop empathy and collaborative skills. I also want to develop a philosphy of constantly being a work In progress, rather than the goal to seek perfection In the classroom and personally.