​Teaching Career

I've been teaching for 20 years.  Crazy! 

I've taught 1st, 3rd, 4th and 5th grades, but enjoy teaching 5th the most. My career began in the Boulder Valley

School District here in Colorado - I taught there for 10 years.

My first year teaching was at Louisvile Elementary. I then moved to Ryan Elementary, and later helped open Superior Elementary School.  

I moved to Longmont in 2001 and have taught in the St. Vrain Valley School District at Eagle Crest Elementary

since then.



Education

I was born and raised in Wisconsin.

For 2 years in elementary school and 2 years in middle school I had the opportunity to live in Karachi, Pakistan and Athens, Greece. My parents taught at International Schools there. 

I graduated from Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin with a degree in Liberal Arts and later got my Master's Degree in Education from the University of Colorado - Boulder. 

 

Family
I'm married to Julie who's a physical therapist at

Longmont United Hospital. We have a daughter Emma who just turned 14 and is about to start at Silver Creek High School here in Longmont. We also have two large and nutty dogs - Scout and Olly.

 

Professional Topics that Interest Me

• Progressive Education

• Emotional Intelligence 

• Rethinking Standardized Testing

• Homework

• Competition and Rewards

• Teaching "Mindfulness" in the Classroom 

• 7 Habits of Highly Effective People (and Kids!)

​

Educational Quotes that Inspire Me 

"Students learn how to make good decisions by making decisions, not by following directions."

- Alfie Kohn

 

"Making students accountable for test scores works well on a bumper sticker and it allows many politicians to look good by saying that they will not tolerate failure. But it represents a hollow promise. Far from improving education, high- stakes testing marks a major retreat from fairness, from accuracy, from quality, and from equity."

- Senator Paul Wellstone (MN)

 

"IQ and technical skills are important, but emotional intelligence is the sine qua non (most essential ingredient) of leadership."

- Daniel Goleman   Harvard Business Review

 

"When needing to choose being being right and being kind, choose kind."

- Mr. Browne (from the book Wonder)

 

The mediocre teacher tells.

The good teacher explains.

The superior teacher demonstrates.

The great teacher inspires.

- William Arthur Ward

 

 

Books That Are On My Nightstand

Beyond Discipline  By Alfie Kohn

Outside Magazine

Tiny Homes  By Jay Schaeffer

Daring Greatly  By Brene Brown

When Running Was Young and So Were We  By Jack Welch