I have 29 years of experience as a high school educator in New York (2 yrs), Maine (17 as a teacher of US History, World History, and Psychology, and 8 as an administrator), and 2 yrs in Massachusetts as an administrator. After those 29 years I then worked as a Special Investigator Retained by the United States Office of Personnel Management aka, US OPM, doing background checks for those desiring federal jobs or jobs with any tie-in with the Federal Government. I try to connect with students using humor, positive descriptions, and relationships that students can identify with, e.g., using the students interest in "vampires" with the historical rationale of the stake used to eliminate "vampires." Or the use of mythological creatures and how they might explain actual historical events.

I firmly believe that learning van, and should be, fun and exciting for all. As a classroom teacher I never gave "busywork" assignments. I much preferred to use a variety of styles in order to reach those in my classes. I also insisted that students have factual information to support any opinions they might have. For example, students are often told that Lincoln freed the slaves; he didn't although kids often are told about the Emancipation Proclamation. It was the 13th amendment that freed them passed after Lincoln's death. I also try to humanize many brought up in boring, yes they are, history books.

I can't promise to make one an "A" student, but I will make them excited about history, psychology, or any of the social sciences. I can try to interest students in the field of study and relate it to events going on within their own time framework.