(1) develops mutually respectful and productive relationships with colleagues
(2) partners consistently with colleagues on projects (i.e. integration, service learning)
(3) engages in collegial activities hosted by the school
(1) develops mutually respectful and productive relationships with colleagues
My goal with every interaction is to leave feeling more connected with the person and more aware of the shared experience we have in life. As much as I can I want others to feel the same.
My dad once said to me, “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” My attempt to share how much I care happens in these ways:
Breakfast and lunch conversations. I make it a point to sit with different people each day as much as possible
Faculty meetings. When choosing tables or groups to work with, I try to find a group with people that I have an opportunity to get to know better. When in the meetings my first goal is to listen to others and learn about their perspective, my second is to take a risk and share something personal.
Happy hours, mariners games other social events. I attend these whenever I can and try to share personal information about my family and interests, but mostly try to listen and understand others.
(2) partners consistently with colleagues on projects (i.e. integration, service learning)
Here are few examples of projects and classes that developed from partnerships
- Biology – Emergence Project – original idea from Waltzer and continues to evolve
- Geometry – Steve Fassino and I co-taught this class for many years. When we learned we were not going to teach it we compiled all our philosophies and lessons into a OneNote Notebook that we passed on to the new teachers and kept as reference for ourselves.
- Environmental Practices Class – I inherited the curriculum for this class from Theron Cross. I developed it further and passed it on. Each year I look to connect with whoever is teaching the class to see how its changed and do what I can to help provide them history and context.
In addition to specific projects or classes, I am always looking for ways to connect with others to bring a larger perspective to class. For Biology class, here is a partial list of relevant colleagues:
- Adam Waltzer – developed a lot of the curriculum in the 9th biology class and also teaches advanced biology
- Anne Duffy and Nickie Wallace – office mates and teachers of chemistry. The more I learn about their class and philosophy the more I can weave in elements to biology that will prepare students for future success.
- Katie Dodd and Burton Barrager – Middle school science teachers. Knowing their class helps me be able reference prior learning for students that where at EPS in middle school and fill in experience gaps for those who weren’t
- Counselors (Jake and Michelle) – talk about socio emotional issues they see in 9th graders and look for ideas on what and how to incorporate into the nervous system and endocrine system unit in the spring
- 9th grade advisors – looking for patterns and topics that might be relevant for a given unit or class
(3) engages in collegial activities hosted by the school
One thing I know about EPS is that everyone here is doing the absolute best they can. As we grow it becomes more difficult for everyone to see that simply because we don’t have time to connect with everyone. As the school grows this is becoming increasingly difficult. Gone are the days when the entire faculty ate lunch together and saw everyone every day.
Everyone knows the colleague who does their job well, but when it comes to social connection is never around. Often they are seen as uncommitted which isn’t fair because often there are outside circumstances that need to be handled and extra time at school isn’t an option. I try to fight this stereotype in two ways. First, I look for ways to visibly show my involvement to reduce the chances others will see me that way. This is particularly important for me because of my naturally introverted nature. Second, I try to connect with people that others might see that way so I know their actual story instead of the one I invented. By knowing their story, I can step in to correct it if needed. Life is short and full of actual problems we should be working on together, there’s no need to waste time on perceptual differences
We can’t all do everything and some grace and understanding can go a long ways toward building community. For those who wonder, here are the places you’ll be able to find me anyone is welcome to join at any time.
- Student faculty sports ball games: organized by Kim Eng as part of athletics or by Steve Fassino as a faculty building/exercise activity if I can make it I’ll be there.
- On campus – if you have a guest speaker, meeting or other event that you’d be ok with me joining. Then please let me know about it. I can’t make it to everything, but I come whenever I can.
- Biking to work and home after work – I live on the westside. Fierce, Fassino, Nolan and I ride home together regularly. Would love to have our group expand.
- The end of every year a small group of us bikes around the north end of Lake Washington. I don’t know what that will look like this year with the COVID times, but let me know if you’re interested
- Weekends – hikes, beer festivals, concerts, hanging out in the park, camping
- After school – happy hour, a short run, a walk on the Kirkland corridor. I’m up for anything.