: About Me

After graduating from Haverford College with a degree in English Literature, I worked in the admissions office for nearly two years before starting work for the Lower Merion School District. I've now been teaching English at the high school level for 5 years and completed a Masters Degree in Education along the way. I am in the beginning stages of my first book project and also continuing to blog and write essays on the side while also pursuing some freelance work.

I've had a variety of different experiences that inform my work as well as add expertise in a wealth of different areas. I lived In Germany when I was very young and learned German, and I lived in South Korea for two years after my freshman year of college and developed a great love for the country and the people there as well as fluency in Korean. I ran track and cross country very seriously while in college and was a part of 12 conference championship teams as well as being fortunate enough to be All American nine times and win four NCAA Div. III national championships. I continue to help coach the cross country team at Haverford College and also coach indoor and outdoor track at the high school.

In my spare time I've ridden my bike across Iowa four times, learned to build bicycles, work at a number of summer camps and been a guest speaker twice at Benson's big Nike XC camps, done some remodeling of our home (with very few serious disasters) adopted a wonderful dog and never purchased a TV.

I've recently developed a new course for the school revolving around the history of human conflict and a variety of interesting questions surrounding modern warfare and the politics and technology that play a part in it.

My blog is available here:

http://thekidrants.blogspot.com/

My passion is ...

Teaching. I really enjoy the challenge of figuring out how to help kids learn more and learn more effectively. I still can't believe I have a job doing something I really like.

I know too much about ...

World War II, ever since my brother and I started reading about it when we were kids.

My parents always told me ...

To be good.

My childhood ambition ...

I wanted to fly F-15's. Still do.

Why I write ...

I enjoy trying to express myself and to record thoughts I have that are meaningful to me.

What I am reading/watching/listening to ...

Whitman, "Carmen," The Titans, Cake, Stephen Ambrose...

My first job ...

Landscaping.

Education > Alternative Education (Other) Issues of power, authority, and control in democratic education

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Democratic Education When we use the term democratic education, the assumption is that we refer to our system of public education within our democratically governed country. What we ought to be referring to is the educational system itself, but to call it democratic would be a major misnomer. Everything about our current system of public education is autocratic. Students have little to no control over what they learn, where they learn, how they learn, etc. Even the most basic decisions are made through an appeal to the autocratic authority whether it is the teacher, the principal, the supe...

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