Experience Summary
I'm a summa cum laude cultural anthropologist with field work experience in the Americas, Asia, Africa and the Middle East. I also worked for BP as geophysicist for the exploration department. I taught middle and high school in the middle east in the areas of Physical Science, Modern languages and Modern History. For three years I taught college students here in Florida Humanities and Anthropology. I have also privately tutored middle/high school and college level students in mathematics.
Teaching Style
We educate students into the discipline of their choice in order to facilitate the achievement of their goals. The students in my classroom have a dream and that is the reason they are there, to pursue that dream. As an educator, my mission is to act as the facilitator of that dream. I help my students reach the goals that they have set for themselves, usually by translating textbook knowledge into day-to-day understandable language, by turning academe into an approachable field, and by adding my own personal experiences when applicable. My job as a facilitator can be accomplished through the exercise of two different approaches: The first is the old school avenue in which the student validates his/her worth through a conventional evaluation outcome (grade). This approach I may add is the easier of the two. The second approach is one that presents education to students as an exciting journey. The emphasis in this approach is made on the process rather than the outcome alone. The process, I believe, has to be enjoyable, but also, well structured. It starts with the first day of class when the rules and expectations are laid out; the allowances for freedoms are set, and the evaluation criteria are explained.
Teaching any discipline requires an ability to present the knowledge imparted as crucial to academic success, and more importantly, as a tool that can be used in many different ways for life; as an instrument in a problem solving scheme, in developing thinking skills, or, simply to be stored in the area of random knowledge. Another element necessary to be an effective educator is the ability to cater for individual needs and interests, as well as cultural sensitivities.
I believe that all students need rewards for outstanding work and recognition for their individual learning styles. These rewards need to reach beyond the grade, they need to celebrate individualism as well as cooperative learning, and they need, in sum, to be constructive outcomes. These are the principles I try to impart to my students in the classroom in the hope that they apply them to their existence far beyond the physical limits of space and time. My goal is to arm students with what, in my eyes, represents the ultimate weapon: education. If they earn that tool, the opportunities in their lives will multiply. However, if they love the tool that they gain, the possibilities are limitless.