Something one of my good friends told me is that Mr. Dahn is the smartest teacher in the school. After this short interview I had with him I could tell why. A jack of all trades and the type of person that any kid could go to for help which he would try to help them with maximum effort. The ultimate helper.

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My first question is how'd you get so smart? Through college, personal inquiry, reading? Where do you find your information?

So my schooling on paper would be that I have my undergraduate degree in English and classics, which means that I study language a lot. In college I had a couple focuses, one of which was on creative writing. That was my minor. And the classic side focused pretty heavily, actually, in Latin. I had a lot of Latin courses that I did.

As an independent thing at Baxter Academy, I taught for a semester or two. Which was a lot of fun and then I went on and got my graduate degree in teaching. So on paper, that's what my education looks like. I know that there are some people who are very proud of their degrees and what they earned in college and in other places, and I appreciated it for what it was, but I'm not necessarily someone who really hangs onto my degrees in the way that. They were experiences and not, not some sort of summative representation of my abilities. I had actually originally intended to go to college for music and when I didn't get into the music program, I hadn't chosen a major until my second year of college. I didn't really know what I was gonna do and I kind of just fell into English because I liked writing. Yeah. But, I think most people in the school would tell you that if you ask any students who've worked with me, they'll probably say, I'm gonna say 75% of 'em would say, “Yeah, he helped me with math.”

I never studied math, um, in any capacity. I was the kid who fell asleep in pre-calc in high school and got decent enough grades. But, how I picked it up was through being an ed tech for, I think it was about half a year, here, at South Portland. About eight years ago. I was placed in math classrooms because that's where the previous Ed Tech that I was filling in for was placed and I actually didn't know anything that they were doing in class. I faked my way through part of it. I read all of the notes that the kids had in class. I guess I have a math brain in the sense that I like puzzles. I like problem solving.

Mm-hmm. I like those types of things in general. So the process of reverse engineering notes into then showing a process is definitely in my wheelhouse. I like to, when I work with other students, I like to draw on things they already know.

Wait, sorry. Do you mind if I stop you? 

Yeah, sure. 

You're actually adding onto a question I have.

Am I bleeding into a different one? I'm sorry.

No, no, no. You're good. This is all very good. 

Wonderful.

I guess we'll skip to my next question. 

How have you applied your learning to your teaching? Any methods of learning and methods of teaching the information you've gathered?

So I like to draw on what students already know and recognize because that's what's, I think, going to best bridge their understanding into something that they're not familiar with. It could be anything, like looking at statistics and sports scores or things that, you know, kids running track. They have all these numbers that are reported in, like they get that. But if you put them in a statistics unit, in a math class. They don't know what's going on. But if you bridge those two things and you can explain the concept through something that they actually understand and enjoy, then the learning comes so much faster. 

Yeah. We (Mr. Dahn and Mr. Stanton) do everything that is offered, between the two of us, we have really strong support in English, I focus more on Math and he focuses more on History. Science is our weak point, but we're learning more of it, the more that we see. So it feels like a kind of a “jack of all trades” situation. We can do a really good job with most things.

We're not necessarily masters of any one particular craft, but because we know how to reach between different disciplines, between different courses and different ideas, I could have a kid writing about, um, what would be a good example. We could have a kid writing about the Nickel Boys, racism and oppression. And then this kid over here is working on a unit on segregation for history class. I can just be like, guys, look at the similarities between these things. And then there's more contextual understanding. When they see it as a bigger picture thing than just the assignment that needs to be turned in. Because yeah, the grades are important. But coming away from it with something that you're gonna remember is more important. 

So what you're saying is you try to connect an assignment with something that is broader than just the assignment?

Yes. So they can help understand what the assignment is asking them. It's all about connection to. Their world at present, what is meaningful to them right now? What is meaningful on a larger scale in our society and in our country and our planet? What things matter and why? I mean, how many times do you hear a kid ask a student, why are we learning this?

Yeah.

Like, how many kids ask me “why are we learning Vertex form?” Yeah, I don't know and I don't really care. But the answer, if they really want one, is how you're utilizing your brain to solve problems in a way that you weren't before. Because that learning is more meaningful and applicable to so much more stuff.

How do you approach learning new things and do you find yourself seeking new things to learn?

So, in a school setting. I would often joke with people that I kind of just like flying by the seat of my pants because I can't predict/don't always know what a student is gonna bring to me on any given day at any given class. I have a student waiting for me right now. I have no idea what she's gonna ask me about. I might know it, I might not. So wherever I find the answers, the process is always utilizing resources that I can easily find and understand. And it's the sort of information gathering skills that are taught in multiple different classes here. Right? How do you find a source, whether it's online or in a book or anywhere? Is this a worthwhile source? Is it gonna give me what I need? Is it trustworthy? Is it reliable, basically? And find what you need out of that. 

I feel like I'm kind of reverse engineering the process of when you sit down in class when your teacher presents notes. You take notes and you use notes to answer questions. But in my situation, it’s like I'm playing Jeopardy. I'm given the answer to the question and I need to figure out what the question was. So that I can help them, get to that point. And it all happens in a short amount of time.

It helps that every year I get more familiar with what teachers are doing in the building so that it's usually just a quick reference check to make sure I'm on the right track. But another big thing, and this is, I mean it applies here as a teacher, it applies more widely too, is to know how to get help for things.

It is a phenomenal tool to be able to know somebody who would have the answers for you. I love walking into a teacher's room and saying “What is the Pythagorean theorem?” And they're like, “Oh, it's this.” Because go figure, math teachers love teaching math. And if I want to know what the underlying themes and context of Frankenstein was, I can just go ask Ms.Graft and she'll tell me all about it with incredible joy. So like, knowing that resource is there, and it's great because in a school where there are people whose jobs and interests are in teaching. 

When I want to find something for myself, I find more often that I'm using those same skills everywhere. Whether it's something I'm actually interested in or something I'd begrudgingly have to figure out. A good example is that my wife and I just started a small business for her. So I'm researching, how does that work? Do I need business insurance? How do I open a bank account for a business? Like all of these things. And I don't necessarily know any of those answers, but I use exactly the same skills that I used to figure out who wrote The Great Gatsby and why. 

Then if it's something I'm really, really interested in. I will just spend hours circling the same stuff. Like, do not get me started on the history of guitar manufacturing in the United States, because I will tell you far too much because it's what I spent all my time researching. But one way or another, there's so much information in the world. You have to know how to be able to use it well. 

What's one piece of advice you would give students on learning something that might be challenging for them?

I think the short answer to this is; find someone who you trust to help you, but make sure that that person is someone who also wants to help you. What I mean by that is, there are times when kids ask me a question, I don't know the answer to. I ask, “So who do you feel comfortable talking to? Who will give you the information in a way that you will best take it in?” And then we might narrow down something for that. So if you want to learn something that you don't know, I really think that the best resources we have are other people. Technology's fantastic, but it’s also very misleading in a lot of cases, and there are times when we need it. But especially in a school setting, find the people who have those answers and find the people who you are comfortable and excited to work with. And I mean, it applies elsewhere too, if you want to learn how to play an instrument. You know, being a YouTube graduate is like only so good. Like, yes, it's great to help fix your washing machine, but you will get so much more from a person. So I think really relying on people over technology is important.

What are some of the favorite things you've learned just in general? 

Learning's always a process. I don't necessarily think that you get to a point where you're, you're done learning about a certain thing. And so the thing that I have begun learning in the last few years, and I'm still learning and really enjoying is, how to not just be a good musician, but how to do it in a group, how to play with a band, and how to make that feel really tight and, and project the sound to your audience the way that you want to hear a really good band playing. Because I played by myself for so long that I didn't have to rely on anyone. But learning to play with a band is a totally different beast and it's so much fun.

What are a couple things that you want to/are going to learn but haven't put the time into doing? 

That's such a great question. Not to stick with the same thing. But I would love to learn how to be a luthier, which is the practice of building string instruments. I've taken my guitars apart, little pieces of them just to kind of see how they fit together, but I've never, like, I would love to learn all of the techniques. Carving the right shapes and how different body styles and neck profiles affect this and that and whatever. I just think that would be a really fun thing to learn how to do.

Favorite song at the moment?

Jungle Land by Bruce Springsteen: “Complete”.