How Family Saved My Career

I am far from a perfect human being and far from a perfect teacher.

I never wanted to go above and beyond what I considered my job until I met my wife.

The year, 2011 was the start of something special, my wife went on a first date with me, and that was the start of our amazing little family.

Three houses, three energetic dogs and two remarkable daughters later I have found myself wanting to make sure I am pushing myself to be the teacher that my daughters deserve in my own classroom.  It is funny how having your own children can change your perspective on teaching.  My family gave me the confidence to step-up to more leadership roles, go for the master's degree I wanted and become an educator that my students deserve.

My Girls 

After starting courses on Technology in Education, I brought up my Twitter account and started following more educators, growing an awesome #PLN (Professional Learning Network).  I found the Math-Twitter Blog-o-Sphere (#MTBoS) and followed more like-minded math teachers which in turn helped me find fun, engaging activities for my students. While researching and finding more information during my second master's, I dove headfirst into video games in the classroom and exploring the ever-growing eSports in education movement. I also found the #eSportsEDU and #games4ed hashtag followings on Twitter.  Growing my #PLN to include more technology education and game-based learning in the classroom.

Search Twitter for #MTBoS

Finding support in my family, both in my home, in my Bearcat Family and also with my Twitter Family, has given me more confidence in my teaching, pushed me to find meaning and challenges in education, and ultimately saved my career.

Search Twitter for #esportsEDU