ABOUT ME
I am Physical Eductation teacher at Chadwick International School in Songdo, Incheon, South Korea. This is my fourth year here at Chadwick but in total my 13th year in education. I previously taught at the Whitby School in Greenwich CT, where I met my wife (Alyssa) and started a family. I have two girls (Piper and Paitley) who are aged 6 and 3 years old. My goal is to improve my skills as an educator by learning ways I can better deliver curriculum to my students.
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Passion ignites creativity and independence. Let the students learn this way.
Growing up, my experience of school consisted of workbooks and directions following and dusty white chalk filling the air. There may even have been an occasional abacus thrown in there for good measure! I am not saying that these things were negative or hindered my education, but I, personally, never felt inspired or even very invested in my own learning. Times have changed. Education has shifted and, in many schools, the students have invested in their own learning and are empowered members of a shared classroom. They now “own” their learning. I believe this is how education should be, and I live and teach by the statement that children who “own” their learning show the greatest level of passion, independence and creativity. My single greatest goal as a teacher and coach is to expose children to this type of environment and to ensure that they continue to strive towards becoming the best human beings they can possibly become.
I started my teaching journey in 2006, working as a substitute Physical Education teacher in a variety of different schools in North Yorkshire, England. It was there that I gained a passion for educating young people. I enjoyed seeing children develop wonder and apply the skills they had learned as I guided them through their lessons.
Opportunity and adventure brought me to the US in 2006. For five years, I coached and developed soccer programs in the Fairchester community. My role as a coaching director was to design, oversee and coach soccer curriculums for children ages 3-18 years. In 2011, I was given the opportunity to devote my experience and skills to part-time work at Whitby School in Greenwich, Connecticut. I was also lucky enough to be able to continue coaching soccer and guiding children in the learning of a sport that I am passionate about. At Whitby, I was introduced to a different approach to learning from the one I had known in my own childhood. I learned to use my skills to guide students through their wonders and inquiries, allowing them to become invested in their own acquisition of knowledge and skills. After a year at Whitby, I had earned myself a full-time teaching position, where my duties included teaching pre-K through fourth grade, implementing the International Baccalaureate philosophy for teaching as well as coaching athletic teams for grades 5 through 8. Within a year, I had designed and implemented a Physical Education curriculum for pre-K through eighth grade that incorporated the International Baccalaureate principles and enhanced classroom learning with the building of conceptual understandings. As my learning continued, I went on to design units that would allow and require the students to become invested in their learning. They learned to inquire into topics with my guidance and support. Student passion for learning absolutely fascinated me and in my own wonder, I captured the process of some of my units and later published them on the International Baccalaureate website blog.
In my spare time, I enjoy exercising, exploring new places and, most of all, spending time with my family. I love nurturing my own two daughters with the same principles that inspire me as a teacher. My daughters are children of two teachers, they are naturally curious, energetic, and love learning. My drive to continuously improve as an educator and person remains strong as I look forward to embracing and “owning” the next opportunity on my own learning journey.