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I was born in San Bernardino, California. My birth mother was 14, and my birth father was 17. I spent the first six weeks of my life in an incubator, struggling with pnuemonia. I was adopted by my birth parents almost immediately after being released by the hospital in San Bernardino. I grew up in Brea, California, and attended a private school called Whittier Christian from First Grade to graduation from Twelfth Grade. I spent one year at Baylor University in Waco, Tx, before being nicely asked not to come back to the University. I met my wife the following summer, and enlisted in the United States Navy in December, 1999, and left for Boot Camp in January, 2000, three days after my 21st birthday. I spent the next four and a half years as a Cryptological Technician, focusing in the maintenance of communication gear for the United States Navy, serving onboard an Arliegh Burke class destroyer, USS Donald Cook, DDG-75 during the terrorist attacks of 2001 on the Twin Towers and the Pentagon. I suffered a serious accident while onboard the Cook in August of 2002, I broke my hip, did nerve damage to my spine and right arm, and sublexed my spine. While on medical leave following my injury, I met my birth family for the first time. I was eventually removed from sea duty, and sent to the Joint Forces Intelligence Command in Norfolk, VA, where I helped dissiminate most of the intelligence related to the 2003 invasion of Iraq. I was medically discharged from the Navy in August, 2004, and my wife and I moved back to California. We lived in California from September, 2004, until December, 2008, when we moved back to Virginia Beach, VA. I received a B.A. in Political Science, focusing in Public Administration in 2008 from California Baptist University. I currently work for Barnes and Noble in Virginia Beach as a cashier and customer service specialist. My lifetime goal is teaching Military History at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, owning a large compound where my family and friends will all be able to live with their own dream homes, and world conquest, with a possible run to the US House of Representatives thrown in as well.

1. What is the most uncomfortable question you can ask and why? I find questions about sexual orientation and abuse to be the most uncomfortable. This is mostly due to my lack of real understanding of the orientation issue, I find it somewhat difficult dealing with teenagers who are "hyper-sexual" which is mostly how I feel about students with overt sexual orientation in secondary school. I also find asking question about abuse to be uncomfortable, mostly because I find the subject to be too important for a layman like me to deal with. 2. Why is it important to meta-cognate? Meta-cognation is important because I feel my job as a social studies teacher is mostly to teach my students how to study History, not necessarily what to study about history or social studies. I think the best service any teacher can do is to teach a student the thrist for knowledge, rather than just simply the knowledge itself. 3. To what extent is POV the essence of the social studies classroom? Every student will have their own perspective, their own beliefs, which will help translate what they learn in class. For example, growing up in the Southwest, the Mexican-American War is an important issue, and is seen from both an American perspective, that the war was justified, and from the Mexican perspective, that the war was unjust and was an expansionist campaign. Here in the East, the war would be a simple footnote, while the War of 1812, would have a much more significant level of importance. 4. To what extent should the social studies classroom be the venue for a writing workshop? As a writing workshop, the student would be tasked with not simply answering yes or no, or word-matching, or multiple choice answers, but would truly have to think about their answers. This would lead to a deeper understanding and a deeper seated knowledge of the subject, meaning it would impact them in a more profound manner. 5. Is reading truly needed in today's society? Reading is absolutely vital in todays society, perhaps even more so than at any time in our past. With the vast majority of information now available online, in various online libraries and encyclopedia sites, information on any subject and to whatever detail desired is readily available, and need only be accessed by a computer and an internet access point. As this information is nearly all in printed form, it is vital that the student can read the information. Reading as a recreational activity is also pivital as it encourages the growth of the imagination, also vital in social studies.

1. Nuance: interpretation, either intended or incidental. 2. Cold Historian: a detached educational method which educates using facts, avoids opinion 3. Acceptable Question: All questions are acceptable if they are asked in the pursuit of knowledge, and not simply asked for entertainment or to cause emotional harm 4. Dealing with controversy: redirect back to the question, moderate debate, have a fellow teacher join you 5. Value Judgements: Should be avoided as much as humanly possible, unless dealing with clear cut issues like whether the Holocaust was wrong or not. 6. Iceberg Model: What, Where, Why 7. POV: Alternate view of events or concepts, i.e. one mans terrorist is another mans freedom fighter 8. 6+1: Grading Rubric for essays 9. SOCACA: Supported, Opinionated, Clear, Analytical, Comprehensive, Arguable 10. Techniques in teaching Essay: Write out thesis', consistently for about half a year. Teach how to do research, and where to research.

Day 2 Opener Describe the perfect teacher. Role etc. I would say that my role model as a teacher will be a combination of teachers I've had, Mr. Chandler and Mr. Bowman. Mr. Chandler was my high school geography and history teacher, Mr. Bowman was my high school bible teacher. They were very spontaneous, especially Mr. Chandler. Humor was a huge part of the learning. Mr. Bowman was entertaining. They were spontaneous, worked at the students level, and used the relevance of the material. They were always telling us why we needed to know something, why it was important today, and forcing us to look at things in a new way. To me, I plan on using my Lesson Plans as a rough outline, a general idea of what I am going to do in class. When I have too much written out, too much detail on what I am going to teach, I feel stiffled. I think a perfect teacher focuses on the material, but in an entertaining, and makes the information fun. They challenge the students, but not beyond their capabilities. They don't rely on homework to educate, but rely on student interaction. A perfect teacher is a teacher who cares about their students, but is not distracted by them, and is what I would call, warmly detached. This means a certain level of formality is present, but a comfortable level of familiarity is present as well. Calling students by their last name, like "Mr. Smith" or "Ms. Jones", while maintaining a friendly atmosphere is essential, in my opinion. A perfect teacher would be one who understands the culture of the student, yet remains seperate and apart from it, but is not disapproving. "I do not judge you in class, I teach you," will be my motto.

1. [] a. Describe what took place in China in recent days. Riots are occuring in Xinjiang, China. They are mostly focusing on resentment felt by the Uighurs, a non-Han ethnicity in western China, who feel they are being forced to the margins of Chinese society.

b. What steps has China taken in the technology fields to curb violence? China is sending riot forces into Xinjiang, and has ordered large portions of the cities in Xinjiang to be locked down. In essence, the Chinese Communist Government is treating the situation as if it were a potential civil war in the making. c. How does the violence today compare to Tibetian violence in the past? Violence and riots have plagued Tibet for decades, since the Chinese Communist Government conquered the country in the 1950's. China has had Tibet under lockdown and martial law for years, and has been forcibly relocating its citizens, as well as moving ethnic Han Chinese and other "Loyal" ethnicities into the province ever since its conquest.

2. [] a. What happened in the recent elections in the Netherlands? b. What stance did the parties who did well take regarding immigration? Why do you think this is? c. What stance did the parties who did well take regarding Islam? Why do you think this is? d. Why does the author of the article mention the economic crisis?

3. [] a. Why was it odd that former president Carter met with the leaders of Hamas? b. Why does Hamas refuse to recognize the nation of Israel? c. What history does Carter have in relationship with Israel?

4.[] a. Why is there strife or war in Afghanistan? b. Why does the Taliban hate the Hazaras? c. Why are Afghan government officials worried about the upcoming presidential elections?

5. [] a. What happened in 1979 in Iran? b. Why was that important? c. What is happening in Iran now? d. Why is this so important to Iranian-Americans?

What products are worthy of showcasing? play musical interpretive dance song debate painting/drawing/art short story interview creative news video magazine/journal wikispace fake radio/television broadcast portray a world without human rights

What are the dangers of always being the expert? Students will begin to resent you and feel you are mocking them or see you as an adversary How does technology allow for students to express themselves differently? Technology allows students to create movies, powerpoint presentations, find alternate viewpoints and even alternate histories, i.e. different ways of looking at history, than has ever been accessable before. What sources are absolute rubbish? Why? Personally I would say that no source that is not based on fact is rubbish. If it increases a students knowledge base or desire to learn, then it is of value, so long as the information presented is accurate. How does a public display change a student product? Students must be more cautious on how they produce said product, must ensure the product is accurate and honest, and it truthfully represents their learning, if not the facts. A public demonstration of knowledge can have a significant positive impact on a students view of themselves as a person and a student.

Movies in class: Ensure they are appropriate Get permission slips signed if material is considered mature Make them part of lecture, not a competition Keep a block of time at end to discuss Plot based, or scene based questionaires are not helpful. Questionaires that make students think about the actual events are very helpful.

Perfectionism: Can be inherited or learned Can seriously impact student learning and grades What is more important to teacher, the actual act of learning, i.e. rote memorization, or is the art of learning, i.e. developing a skill or desire to learn more important?