After too many years in grad school and brief stints as a part-time lecturer at assorted universities in the Bay Area, I’m now embarking on a new journey as the director of a tinkering studio at an independent, all-girls school down in the peninsula. Next year, I hope to be able to say that I’m also teaching engineering at this same school. There is already so much to do, so many toys to play with, and I truly cannot be more excited to be in this new position – new not only to me but to the school!
I have so, so much to learn which of course is one of the things I love most about teaching in the first place. Signing up to be a teacher is really signing up to be a lifelong student. This is my attempt to record what I’m learning, what I’m inspired by, and what I’m thinking about along the way. But I reserve the right to sometimes, just post cute photos of my cat – don’t say I didn’t warn you.
Teaching at the high-school level wasn’t something I had planned on. In fact, up until about a year ago, I didn’t even think of it as possible career option. A bunch of random events – attending a TEDx conference where I met a really awesome former high school history teacher, Castilleja finding me at a hiring conference even though I didn’t know a job like mine existed and had only registered for science teaching positions – brought me to where I am now.
Of course, the most exciting and rewarding paths are the unforeseen ones, right? I can’t wait!