Introduction
In August of 1980, a life-changing event directed me toward becoming a teacher. As a fifteen-year-old, I was on a fishing trip with my local Boy Scout troop. My father was our scout leader. We had traveled from Fargo, North Dakota to a lake in Northern Manitoba, Canada. What began as a beautiful August morning, turned into an icy, freak summer blizzard. My father drowned. My life, as the son of an agronomist living in the fertile farmland of the Red River Valley, changed instantly.
My father was a very respected sunflower researcher. He could be described as a pioneer of sunflower-based products. He had earned a Master of Science in Agronomy from UC, Davis, and was in the prime of his career as the founder and owner of Imperial Hybrid Sunflowers when he perished. He conducted research in sunflower nurseries throughout the world, and suddenly, his career was over. In a way, his earthly ending was the beginning of my desire to pursue becoming a teacher.
My life in the Dakota/Minnesota area was brief after my father’s death. As a senior in high school, I traveled to live with an aunt in St. George, Utah. My mother took my siblings and moved to Las Vegas. It was this tragic event in my life and the remarkable teachers and coaches at Dixie High School in St. George, Utah that kindled my desire to be a teacher.
My secondary schooling experience was filled with challenges, activities, and uncertainty. My first experience as a recently transferred high school senior at Dixie was memorable. I had always been involved in band, choir, jazz band, and wrestling in the Midwest. On the third day of school, my 5′ tall aunt walked into the middle of my band class and informed the band teacher that I needed to return home to “finish my chores.” To put it mildly, I was embarrassed and surprised. I did not want to be in this new culture. I immediately wanted to return to Glyndon-Felton High School in Minnesota and finish my senior year. After being told by the Utah High School Athletic Association that I could not compete in wrestling (due to the fact that my mother lived in Las Vegas), I was intent on returning. Through the efforts of one particular teacher, I stayed.
A coach at Dixie High School changed my life and encouraged me to be who I am today. This remarkable individual was able to guide me through this turbulent time of my life. I know personally that he has changed and been a role model for many, many students who had the good fortune to be taught and coached by him. This man ultimately became a high school principal, associate superintendent of schools, superintendent, and the dean of the education department of a university.
My goal in producing this e-text is to encourage others to have the desire to teach. In my mind, there is no greater privilege than helping to direct, for the better, the lives of our students. This e-text is a small tool in the tool box of resources that can be used to guide the learning process. We live in a most remarkable time in the history of the world. The information age (also known as the Computer Age, Digital Age, Silicon Age, or New Media Age) is a difficult era in which to navigate. The teaching profession has become more about mentoring the generation of tomorrow than being a profession that reveals new information.
Students, teachers, and parents have the ability to access anything their minds can imagine through the super computers that are our cell phones. We must not be satisfied with knowing that we have access to all the mysteries of the universe. We, as teachers, must encourage the metacognition (awareness of our own understanding) and guide students in the application of the incredible wealth of information that is one click away.
In my lifetime I have experience the advent of the Internet, the banning of smoking in schools, charter schools, online schools, and many other things that have influenced education today. One thing remains the same. The ability of a teacher to change the world of one or hundreds of students for the better.