About Me

Hi. Now you have perused my site, I might as well tell you some things about myself. My name is Sean. I grew up in East Hampton and am currently teaching in the Southampton School District. I have in the past taught in the Sag Harbor and East Hampton School Districts. I am currently teaching one web design class and four other Global History classes. I did my undergraduate at the University of Delaware in Newark, DE. I received a degree in Social Studies Education. My interests include; sports, technology, and music.

Teaching Philosophy

The essence of teaching is to create a learning environment where students can gain knowledge that they feel is relevant. By sharing my passion for history, I hope to help my students enjoy history as much as I do. Making learning fun and interesting by using a variety of teaching methods including technology will help teachers reach students of all backgrounds and learning styles (ST). Through differentiated instruction and earnest passion for the content at hand, teachers can instill the importance of life-long learners.

By using a myriad array of teaching techniques such as cooperative learning, think-pair-share, webquests, Socratic seminar, modeling and interdisciplinary work, many of which are based constructivist based methodology, students are allowed the room to explore, question, understand, and internalize their education (HM10,G1-1, G1-9, G1-11,G2-5). As technology continues to evolve and the world gets smaller and smaller, it is more important than ever before that students become more aware of the world in which they live. Since the likelihood of a student coming in contact with someone from one of the hundreds of countries of the world, it is the responsibility of educators to teach students about respecting and understanding the many cultural differences. Technology education is the perfect tool through which teachers can accomplish such a task (G2-4,G2-5).

Another area that I have not done a lot of work in but plan to is alternative assessments. I feel that alternative assessments have a way of reaching students who are not great test takers or have a fear of essay writing. While essays and tests are important in assessing students, alternative assessments help students to learn and show what they have learned without all the test anxiety. Many times when students do projects it is something that they remember for the rest of their lives. The material that they create and learn tends to be something they are fully invested in and if a student takes pride in their work, it can be a fond memory. I still remember making projects for my fathers class (I can explain the Mayan calendar to students today because of the project) (HM9).

Social studies is an area of teaching that is becoming more and more important as the world gets smaller. The likelihood of a student coming in contact with someone from Asia, Africa, Australia or Europe is increasing by the day, due to increased interaction over the internet. Students must be aware of the world in which they live in and aware of other cultures. I plan as an educator to make sure that my students are ready for this new globalized world (ST). I hope that they can see how history, economics, and politics are relevant to them.

Being that I am a young educator I know I have a long way to go. I am willing to put in the time and listen to people who know a great deal more than I. I currently have a mentor in the school until I am tenured and I plan to use his wisdom to become the best teacher I can (PM). I also am not afraid of looking at how teachers in other disciplines teach. I feel I can learn from anyone in hopes of reaching all my students (HM16).