I trace my original roots to a small Lake Michigan town in southwest Michigan, South Haven. From the very start my family, friends, and community instilled the values that have acted as my guide through life. The center pieces of these values included faith, honesty, hard work, discipline, and pride. My parents always reinforced the message that with these tools I could set out to become the best that my capabilities would permit.
While growing up in a small town I learned to appreciate the pride associated with my family name. Both my parents came from families that took pride in working hard. This legacy permeated into my soul. There was nothing more I wanted than to carry on with the pride that no one would out work me at anything. One summer when I was 11 I worked for my dad’s construction company cleaning filthy heavy equipment. One of my dad’s employees said “your grandpa would be proud if he saw how hard you work.” That quote made my heart swell with pride knowing that I was working not just for myself but for my family name.
Hard work was not the only game in town. Just as important as work, was having fun building memorable relationships with so many life-long friends. Aside from the baseball, swimming, tag, sand castles, and fort building my buddies and I loved to play computer games. We didn’t like just any games we liked simulations. We would spend hours pondering strategies that would lead to world conquest or the construction of the finest city. Little did we know we were laying a foundation to several decision making managerial skills that would lead to our future success. For myself I was creating an invaluable understanding of a distant future career ambition.
While a junior in high school I began to contemplate my future career aspirations. After being called in to teach swim lessons I began to feel a call to education. Nothing came more natural than teaching people how to become better at something. Most importantly, it was exciting and fun! I determined at that moment I wanted to be a history teacher. What would be better than a job that keeps you around some of the best moments of people’s lives, homecoming, prom, football games, athletics, and friendships.
Michigan State University: Exploring Success's Posibilities
Marc as MSU Drum Major in 2006
I had grown up a Spartan my whole life. My dad had attended Michigan State University and now my older brother was attending the great university. So naturally when I discovered MSU had the best secondary education program in the nation the college decision was a piece of cake. While at MSU I wanted to carry on not only my family pride but my town pride. I wanted to show that anyone from anywhere could go to a prestigious university such as MSU and perform among the best students in the country. With a goal of being the best I worked my hardest through four years at MSU earning a Major in History and a Minor in Geography. While working on my undergrad degrees I was also pursuing a specialty in secondary education. I already had a sturdy value base from my youth in South Haven but while a student in the College of Education I began to rapidly develop innovative techniques that would lead to the foundation of my pedagogical approach to teaching. I started to realize that as a teacher my job was not to teach students the “what” but I was supposed to give them the passion and tools they needed to be successful for their whole life.
East Lansing High School: Theories in Action
After graduating with my undergrad I was eager to quit talking about teaching and start doing it! I was fortunate to earn an internship at East Lansing High School, the home of the Trojans. I rudely got a wake-up call early on during my internship. Teaching was not what I had expected. While in high school I never paid attention to the time my teachers actually spent doing their job. Teaching was not a “nine to five” career. I first realized this when students were completely bored with my lessons. Worse yet, they were not even learning anything. East Lansing raised the bar of what I had to expect of myself. I could not use my high school history experience to teach. My teachers had been heavy on notes, worksheets, and an occasional game. These strategies did not always match up with the pedagogical research I had studied during my MSU course work. I had to develop fun and exciting lessons that challenged students to think using skills they could carry with themselves their whole life. After spending hours of brain storming I began to develop my own teaching style that balanced technology, projects, simulations, analysis, and facts. The job completely consumed me but that was okay because I loved it! There was no bigger thrill than hanging out with teenagers using history to teach about life. This was fun and it was my job!
Rochester Community Schools: ASuccessful Stop
After 3 nerve racking months of a relentless job search I had finally earned an interview at Rochester High School in southeast Michigan. I had grown up in easy going southwest Michigan so the thought of moving to the other side of the state was a bit daunting. Despite my uneasy feelings, Rochester was a great district with a superb reputation. After I had been hired to teach World History I was eager to get started. During my internship year at East Lansing I had begun to use multimedia computer technologies as a tool to enrich student learning. I believed that by tying the vast resources of the internet, students could be better prepared with the skills necessary to succeed in a rapidly changing 21st century. Lacking a great textbook along with having a wealth of technical support and computer resources I quickly integrated more technology to increase the effectiveness of my teaching. History was no longer the subject that students listened to a lecture while taking notes, history was alive. The internet introduced a plethora of resources that engaged both me and my students. During my 2nd year at Rochester I determined that figuring out better ways to implement cutting edge technological strategies to liven education was the best path for me to continue my studies. It tied together my love of history, teaching, and the games of my youth.
The Undiscovered Country: The Future
Ben Sweetland said "Success is a journey, not a destination." Despite my accomplishments of earning a job during tough economic times and enjoying a great start to my young career I promise to continue holding to the idea that success not an end product but a constant pursuit of making the most of my capabilities.
I do not know for certain what the future holds for my teaching with technology but I know it will be exciting! I feel as if I am a pioneer during a great historic revolution because I often venture into education territories that have never been explored. I cannot wait to deliver the future now with all of the great tools and ideas that exist today. It will be exciting