Hey everyone!

I'm going to go ahead and tag along on Apathy's re-introduction thread. It's been a while since I've shared who I am or what I'm doing openly with the community. A lot has changed in my own life, and our community has grown quite a bit since my last share. Without further delay, get ready for the wall!

I joined the community on June 05, 2008. My involvement here was a rocky road. I joined the community looking for a place to join in on the Warthog shenanigans, but always felt somewhat left out and uninvolved. I could never really find my place. Admittedly, all I really wanted to do was ride in the Warthog and wasn't very vocal. I didn't get along well with some of the other members and staff, and instead of trying to talk things out, I remained silent. After some time, a member of the community parted ways and I went off to form a little smaller community with those people. We ran for a while, but people got busy with their lives and things kind of just tapered away. Flash forward several years, and I eventually found my way back here (with Jazzy and Houdini, too)! Since then, this place became my home. The friendships and bonds that I have formed here with this community are lasting and permanent, and I am forever grateful for the support I have received from the incredible members here. Recently, Monster and I have combined our efforts to develop plans to sustain this community. We presented our intentions of helping the community by stepping in as the new site admins, and we couldn't be happier to be here.

More personally, I've lived in New York my entire life. I consider myself someone who is a lifelong learner - I take interest in many things that I don't understand simply for the pursuit of knowledge. I originally went to college to become an engineer (never got to deciding a focus, however, civil and mechanical for aeronautical always fascinated me). It didn't take long for me to realize that despite my love for math, physics, and learning how to construct things around the rules set by the universe, it wasn't my true passion. It was just an interest. I graduated with a history degree and it would be a few years before I realized that working with children, something that I'd been doing since I received working papers at 14, was what I really loved doing. I obtained a Masters of Science for Teaching, and (finally) began my career.

I'm currently employed as a teacher in the Bronx. I always considered being a teacher in New York City to be a stepping stone to teach in suburban schools, however, I recently broke the news to my parents that I have no intention of leaving. I love what I do, where I do it, and the students I work with. I teach in a setting with general and special education elementary students and am responsible for teaching all general academic subjects. I take a big part in new initiatives and (attempting) to evolve current teaching pedagogy, including introducing Computer Science and Computational Thinking into core subjects in everyday instruction. I'm excited to be a pilot school participating in research that is seeking to modernize the elementary space and create a practical shift in the way students think and engage with problems using Computational Thinking pedagogy (video from Google if you are interested). In short, it's thinking about the way we think to apply critical thinking skills to every type of problem we face. I've been working closely with researchers in developing curriculums, lessons, student materials, and designing and leading professional learning for school staff. I really love what I do.

In terms of general interests, I love the outdoors and seeing what nature has to offer. I am a big fan of hockey (NYR loyal), so I'm always looking for people to chat about that with. I love puzzles and figuring out how things work. I've always been playing games and am open to a wide variety of genres. Similar to how I engage with music, I'm open to a wide variety and what I'm engaging with typically is reflective of the mood or emotional state I am in. Most of the time, it's energetic so I'll likely see you on Halo.

Thanks for listening to me talk a bit about myself. As I mentioned before, I am so thrilled to be here and to be able to serve the community as an administrator. Please know that my door is always open to anyone in the community - please don't hesitate to be in touch, even just to say hi!

Always excellent to read about the people in the community. Glad Apathy has sparked community engagement and you've continued!

Also hockey sucks, fight me.

Monster wrote:

Also hockey sucks, fight me.

grabs my hockey stick Pineappling fight me

Why the Pineapple did we promote this new guy to admin?

Monster wrote:

Also hockey sucks, fight me.

Alright, now it's personal.

Thee MC wrote:

I am a big fan of hockey (NYR loyal)

Go Bruins

HE’S A THIEF!!! HE HAS MY COAT! I WILL NOT STAND FOR THIS.

Welcome Back MC!

Time to bring back MCM?

yes?

I did just get minecraft for the xbox, but unfortunately Mondays are no good for me. I would love to play again with a big group