Jeff


(SHORT/TLDR) Jeff is a lifelong learner and educator who came alove after formal school ended. He now writes about, coaches for, and facilitates learning around flourishing in multiple domains of well-being.


(MEDIUM) Jeff spent decades at the JK-12 district level leading math, wellness, mindfulness, RP, IT, and eLearning. He now enjoys, and helps others explore, what it is to be alove. In addition to writing and speaking, Jeff offers workshops, support groups, math therapy, mindfulness/wellness coaching, and restorative practices services. He wrote "Rebooting Assessment" (with Damian Cooper), which won the 2023 IBPA Ben Franklin Gold Medal for Best Book in Education. Jeff's passion project "Flourishing Classrooms A Deep Dive into Proactive Wellness for Grades 7-12" was published in 2023 by Rowman & Littlefield. 


(LONG) I was a computer engineer (briefly), then an educator (longingly). I taught all things analytical, including physics, math, communication technology, and computer studies. After leaving the classroom for a leadership role, I ran district-wide programs for assessment, bring-your-own-device, cloud computing, e-learning, information technology in the classroom, and mathematics. In that time, I co-wrote The Joy of X: Becoming a Mathematics Teacher, and was a contributing author to Talk About Assessment: High School Strategies and Tools with Damian Cooper. My life looked great, but being so cerebral didn't always feel great.


When a devastating betrayal in 2012 cracked me to the core, I began a healing journey of yoga, therapy, meditation, groups, self-help books, courses, and sharing with loving others. In September, 2013, I experienced an intense, heart-awakening that left me utterly transformed. For two miraculous weeks I felt a deep flow in which life and love merged. It became absolutely clear that we are (all of us together) alive with love--alove. Alove for me means state of absolute openness, joy and flow: a unity with all life and nature. Over the years, I had other peak experiences of healing, gratitude, union, transcendence, or peace. Each one faded, but some essential core remained.


My life from here on would never be the same.


As I connected more deeply with myself, others, and the world, I began running support groups to help hundreds around the world heal and thrive beyond infidelity. A blossoming of loving relationships in my life, followed by further liberating experiences left me feeling even more alove. My previously dominant mental world now felt balanced with an emotional, social, intuitive, and spiritual life.

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My career shifted during this time, as I launched district-wide mindfulness, well-being, and restorative practices (RP) programs. I have led thousands of wellness sessions, community circles, group retreats, mindfulness series, and other workshops for both educators and students across my district and North America.

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I left education in 2019 to make space for (and help others explore) a life of alove. In addition to writing, speaking, and running support groups, I offer workshops, mindfulness coaching, RP, wellness, and math therapy. In 2022, I wrote Rebooting Assessment (with Damian Cooper), which won IBPA Ben Franklin Gold Medal for Best Book in Education. My first solo book and passion project Flourishing Classrooms A Deep Dive into Proactive Wellness for Grades 7-12 was released in June, 2023. 


I am deeply grateful for my sons, lovers, family, friends, colleagues, and teachers. I would love to meet you, let's connect. 

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Peace, joy, and love,

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- Jeff (he/him/his)


B.Sc. (Elec. Eng), B. Ed., OCT, IIRP Trainer, H.B.

Mathematics

Math had a grip on me early, providing two things my young boy loved: affirmation and rule-following. The grip tightened as I grew up playing games, studying engineering, teaching physics, and leading math, technology, and business in the school district. Life became (mostly) a numbers game, with periods of analysis paralysis and a disconnect from intuition or even emotion.

After I met Professor George Gadanidis, math and I both softened. George championed math's creativity and other human qualities. As a district-level math coordinator, I helped teachers use progressive and prosocial teaching approaches. My analytical side loosened as I began to protest the top-heavy math curriculum, and rampant innumeracy in high school graduates (even amongst those who take advanced courses). I supported cross-curricular numeracy to reduce the harm math causes.

My most transformative learning experience as a math educator was First Steps in Mathematics. This program and research illuminated (for the first time) how humans progress through developmental phases of numeracy understanding, rather than the traditional approach of students moving through grades of math curriculum by memorizing steps they later forget. If students are given the right learning to understand deeply, they make exponentially more effective progress.

As I moved away from math leadership into other areas, the non-analytical sides had space to flourish. Today, I still love a good spreadsheet, but math is now one tool in my life, not the only tool. I am grateful for my capacity to make sense of the world quantitatively. Math therapy is all about sense-making, not rote learning.