About Me

My journey to become a teacher is not a new one; it is one that has continued to cross my path throughout my life. No longer a young man, I am still involved in many sports and activities. An interest in history led me to a non-profit educational club. I quickly found myself volunteering as instructor, trainer, and tutor. Other opportunities such as a preschool teacher, mentor for at-risk ROP students, and volunteer wrestling coach has kept me involved in teaching in some way most of my life. Working in public high schools for twelve years as a computer technician has provided me an insight into the world of teaching. Recognizing I could combine curriculum with life skills that may help students later in life is an important reason for me pursuing a new career as a special education teacher.

I am the in-between generation for technology. Home computers did not make their debut until the early 1980’s. I was a teenager by then and did not grow up with them, making my experience both knowing what it was like to live without them and then live with them. In 1983 my dad bought a Texas Instruments TI-99/4A computer complete with a shoebox audiocassette recorder to store your information on. We couldn’t afford a monitor, so we used the console TV in the living room. I really enjoyed it and from there became interested in technology eventually making it a career for almost twenty years. Today my technology use is both personal and professional. My laptop goes with me everywhere, as does my phone. I am an old-time gamer, and watch my Facebook and emails religiously. However, I am not a fan of Twitter. Professionally, my classroom has a projector, document camera, and three PC computers that are used regularly for instruction. Overall, I have enjoyed the technology revolution, but have soured on the invasion of privacy issue. The result is I am wary and distrustful of technology continually tracking my every move.

As far as the APU mission statement and philosophy, I will take on the biggy for me, Christ. For some this may not be an issue at all, but when I was making my decision to enroll in APU I took some time to weigh how important this aspect was going to be for me. My family raised me on Christian values including but not limited to; Be kind to others, Treat people the way you wish to be treated, Harm no one, and believe in a power greater than yourself. What my family wasn’t, was fundamentalist, born again, or banging on doors at 7am to hand out pamphlets to the Second Coming.  Those people are scary. So, I was a little worried the APU staff would require me to sing Kumbaiya, and pass out pamphlets on the weekends. After some discussions with the staff and former students I came to understand the best way to deal with it was to be non-judgmental, listen and be open to what was being said. It was the best advice I could have received. Some of the Soul Quests were insightful, the staff was there to listen and give some good advice during some troubling times, and best of all no one gave me a pamphlet.