Teaching in California
My first experience teaching in California was at Napa High School. Large class sizes and students with varying levels of English proficiency made teaching in Napa challenging. However, I enjoyed living in California and teaching at Napa High. As a second year teacher I developed sound instructional techniques for second language acquisition while quickly becoming proficient in classroom management. As a member of the faculty at NHS I contributed to the integration of new technology in support of the world language curriculum. Toward the end of the 2001 2002 school year I decided to resign from my teaching job in Napa to pursue my life long dream of snowboarding and traveling in Chile. I packed my bags, sold many of belonging and embarked on my trip to Santiago Chile.
Returning to California After Living in Chile and Teaching in Detroit
After getting married in Chile, my wife Carla and I decided to move to California where I got a job teaching Spanish for Mt. Diablo Unified School District at Ygnacio Valley High School. I taught one extra section of Spanish and assumed the roll of sponsor for the Muslim Youth Organization at Ygnacio. With an extremely busy schedule at YHS I was still able to assert myself as an effective language teacher. I was a collaborative member of the World Language department and also supported district wide technology initiatives while serving on the YHS technology committee.