What Kind of Teacher Am I?

I've known I wanted to be a teacher since I was a sophomore in high school. Like most teachers, I had a few key teachers who made an impact on my life and inspired me to become a teacher. Thank you Mr. Brancel, Mr. Kuehl, and Mr. Black.

Though I was involved in many different information teaching opportunities over the years (e.g., Teaching adult GED courses in Madison, teaching at the South Madison Community Center, team teaching college level courses through Viterbo, etc.) the following is a synopsis of my teaching experience.

Madison East HS, Madison LaFollette HS, and Monona Grove HS

1992-1993: My student teaching was at Madison East HS. My practicum for Math was at LaFollette, and Science was at Monona Grove.

Though I had positive experiences at each of these schools, I learned the most about teaching from my Biology cooperating teacher. He gave me full control of my classes on day 1, and let me jump right in. The day before kids arrived, he pulled me up to "fern gully" (the green house where he would sneak a smoke between classes) and told me that the kids that were assigned to him were a collection of the kids who had been kicked out of every other science class the school had. He (now we) were the kids' last chance to earn their science credit for graduation. One of the kids was kicked out of his last class because he punched his last science teacher. Though I made many mistakes, this authentic approach to learning anything has proven to be the best possible. This experience also gave me a deep appreciation and love for the "square pegs" that never seem to fit in and usually fall through the cracks of the system or just scrape by.

My mathematics experience was more controlled by the cooperating teacher, and I was never given full control to do what I wanted, except when my supervising professor came in to watch. I loved the kids (all honor students in an Advanced Geometry Class), but I learned little from this assignment. The most positive experience that I had in this setting was designing an electronic grading program that the math department used for several years after I left; not exactly a teaching experience, though.

Madison Edgewood

1993-1994: I taught Mathematics and Computer Science as my first full time teaching job. Edgewood is a private Catholic School in Madison, WI. It is a very competitive school; the median GPA when I was there was a 3.35 on a 4-point scale. I thoroughly enjoyed my experience at Edgewood. The faculty was as good as any that I have had the privilege of working with, and the kids performed at levels I haven't seen since. Though teaching is not about the money, feeding a family of four on $18,000 per year while coaching 3-seasons (football, wrestling, and track) to make that much made it impossible for me to stay and still allow my wife to be an at-home mom.

The highlight of this position was working with Larry Black (the Mr. Black from paragraph one) who was now a principal at this school.

Wisconsin Dells HS

1994-1995: I was recruited by a former employer (now a teacher) from Wisconsin Dells to come and teach mathematics. I jumped at the opportunity as it was my almamater. I was excited for the chance to work with the people who were once my teachers and I viewed my old HS through rose colored glasses.

Much had changed from the time that I had gone there. It no longer fit me like it once had. Plus, they wouldn't let me touch computers. I actually got yelled at for fixing the computer lab in the library so that I could take my class in there. After one year, I started looking for another position.

Watertown WUSD

1995-present: I came to Watertown HS in 1995 where I was hired as a mathematics teacher and computer science teacher. After a few years in the classroom, I moved into the technology center for another few years to take care of the computer lab. Eventually I talked our Superintendant into creating the position of a District Technology Coordinator which evolved into my current position as the Supervisor of Instructional Technology.

I have also coached football (1995-1997) and wrestling (1995-until my kids graduate) at Watertown. High School Athletics are very important. Though academics must come first, I believe that I make a bigger difference in the lives of more kids as a coach than I do as a teacher due to the opportunity that coaching gives one to develop an understanding for and relationship with the athletes.