teaching biography.

I started teaching professionally in 2004, but my journey to this profession has been much longer. I first knew I wanted to teach when I was sitting in Mr. Cole's Integrated 3 class during my sophomore year in high school. I had been helping all my friends with their homework and while sitting in the back of class I just realized I was destined to be sitting at the front of class. It was like I was made for this career. I quickly gave up on my plan to be a doctor (I can only operate on myself, anyways) and started down the path to become a teacher.

The first step in that path was to choose a college. I looked at several options that were known for their mathematical prowess. During spring break, while on a short tour with my band, I also toured a couple of those choices. After visiting UCSC and hearing the stories of how one of the colleges started a revolution against the main school and tried to secede, I knew where I was going. I settled on the college that was farthest from home but not in L.A.: The University of California at Santa Cruz. Though out-of-state tuition was a sacrifice for our family, my parents and I all worked full time to put me through school (I had a full time job since I was 15 1/2). This sort of dedication to education and this willingness to sacrifice for it are important values that I have carried with me since then.

While at college I took nearly every undergraduate math class that was offered. I fulfilled the Math for Teachers track and the Pure Math track. I took education classes through the college as well. I also had the opportunity to participate in a two-quarter fellowship during both my junior and senior years that required significant classroom observations as well as major research papers and a substantial amount of reading. During those four quarters, I learned a great deal about the state of mathematical education in the U.S. in the late 90's.

After graduating with honors in the major and a minor in education, I moved to Emeryville (one block from Oakland) to be with my girlfriend at the time while she finished up a dual degree program at UC Berkeley. I passed the California Basic Educational Skills Test, which qualified me to teach under an emergency certificate in California. However, something happened and I forgot that I wanted to be a teacher. Instead of getting a subbing job, I got a job with Electronic Arts and spent a few months testing video games in Redwood City (look for my name in the credits of NASCAR 2000 for the Playstation 1). Perhaps it was the heat that melted my brain.

My girlfriend graduated and we went on a 45-day road trip around the nation, eventually settling back home in Seattle. We moved to the U-District and I applied to both the UW teacher preparation program and Nintendo of America. Only Nintendo accepted my application. I spent another year testing video games when they had work for me (I used to be *real* good at F-Zero for Game Boy Advance). We moved downtown and things were going swimmingly. Then, catastrophic and tumultuous events led me to realize the path I was on was simple avoidance of what I was supposed to be doing. I got a job working in an industrial plumbing warehouse to pay for school and applied to the WWU teacher prep program at North Seattle Community College. Back on track!

After moving to north seattle, joining a new band, two years of night classes and a whole lot of work, I started my student teaching at Ingraham High School in Seattle in January of 2004. I was lucky enough to work with an excellent teacher and several good groups of kids at Ingraham. I learned a lot about teaching in a traditional class through my student teaching. At the end, the kids got together and bought me a Star Wars tie, reaffirming that my choice to teach is the right one.

I applied to the Bellevue School District as well as several other districts. After some deliberation, I accepted Bellevue's offer of employment and selected Sammamish as my first choice of schools. While Ingraham was a good school, Sammamish has been a great school. I learn new things every year here and am becoming a better teacher every day. The math department is one of the best departments I have had the pleasure of working with, even though the staff changes every year. The students are probably the best students in the world. Just check out their fundraising abilities if you doubt it. Be sure to research the population before you discount the achievements due to the location of the school.

Last year, I worked hundreds of hours on preparing an application to be certified by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. I'll find out in November if I was successful in my bid. If so, I will have a teaching certificate that is valid in many states, not just Washington. This opens up a wealth of possibilities to me and is quite an achievement for such a new teacher. I'm crossing my fingers!