I am a Virginia-licensed secondary social studies teacher. I completed my certification at George Mason University. My expertise includes civics, government, economics, and history. In particular, I have a unique and extremely effective approach to teaching civics and government at the secondary level.

My teaching practice is based on three core principles:

1. Teach for agency: secondary students have a rapidly increasing sense of agency that should be cultivated, not curbed. My classroom encourages students to take ownership of their ways of knowing, with a strong emphasis on skills for lifelong learning and self-development. My approach is intensely collaborative, a partnership between me and my students.

2. Teach for equity: I teach all students in my class, and am committed to their success in terms that make sense to them. Social studies content is at root the study of choices -- choices other people made, choices we can make. I want to teach my students in a way that gives them more choices throughout their lives.

3. Teach for the digital era: most pedagogy is based on the assumption of 'scarce' knowledge intrinsic to print culture. Digital-native students find this approach alien and stifling. While I believe it is vital that students learn to read fluently in all media (including books), my classroom embraces the full range of resources and knowledge available today, with pedagogy appropriate to our time.

You can learn more about my teaching experience, including sample unit plans and other work, through the Teaching link.

I also designed and taught a class called Students Rule (previously called "Atomic Civics") focused on civics and micropolitics. This is a skills-based curriculum focused on civic engagement and social change, drawing on the most current knowledge available. The curriculum is designed to foster the collaboration described above. The link has more information, including the website for the most recent class.

As of third quarter 2023-24, I am teaching an elective at H-B Woodlawn called "Liberate the Future"; it combines futuring praxis with social justice. I have a total of 12 students, all second-semester seniors. We use Nick Fuller Googins' excellent novel, The Great Transition, as our core text.

I was, for a time, a doctoral candidate in Political Science. You can learn more about that through the Research link, including links to my published papers and my master's thesis.

For the sorts of details that should humanize me, follow the Miscellany link.