educator collaborator mentor
Alex Schwartz
Facilitating leadership discussion after adventure training.
Enjoying the outdoors at Lake Placid Olympic Center.
Working with Namibian students during a summer abroad.
Currently, I am a eighth grade U.S. History teacher at Litchfield Middle School in Connecticut. My aim is to inspire students to become curious and active global citizens. To do this, I create an environment that fosters respect, enthusiasm, and inquisitiveness. In addition, I place emphasis on teaching specific skills, such as writing and speaking, that can assist students pursuing any path. My classroom is my educational forum where together, students and I push our boundaries of what we can achieve.
Visit my school's website!
Academic History
I graduated from Central Connecticut State University (CCSU) in 2012 with my BA in Education and History. My time here allowed me to certainly immerse myself in educational classes, but also to explore my other pursuits, such as traveling and volunteer work. In 2010 I studied in Australia at the University of Sydney, taking classes that were not offered at CCSU such as Outdoor Education and Leadership, the History of Judaism, or Indonesian History. In addition to taking these fantastic classes, I was also able to feed my adventurous side hiking through the Outback and snorkeling the Great Barrier Reef. After my time in Australia, I wanted to continue my travels but somehow connect that with serving a community. In 2011 I stumbled upon Harvard’s World Teach program and before I knew it was teaching history and english in Namibia. This experience opened my eyes to a world that I had only heard and seen of and I cannot speak more highly of my summer there. Teaching in a rural village not only honed my skills as a teacher, but more importantly strengthen my empathy and global view.
I would love to chat about any of your passions as that may stir my own interests. Here are a few of my own and some words that represent me…
Work History
After finishing my undergraduate, I began working as a high school social studies teacher at Litchfield High School. For the next three years, I taught grades 9-11 a range of subjects including World, U.S., and European history. The variety of subjects awarded me a chance to get to know each area in a deeper way and actually changed my own tastes for what I enjoy in history; I currently enjoy teaching European history the most! Teaching at LHS also provided me an opportunity to become involved in athletics. I coached girls soccer and track and also served as the assistant athletic director for two years. I am quite proud of what I have accomplished in such a short time in the high school and was even nominated for Teacher of the Year in 2014.
Although teaching high school was wonderful, I was offered an opportunity to help revamp a middle school program in Litchfield and took an eighth grade U.S. History position a year ago. This change has allowed my practice to grow as I learn to tailor and adjust my teaching to younger students and collaborate on cross-curricular projects. From running a Current Events club to working on curriculum, my time so far at the middle school level has been one of tremendous growth.
Personal Endeavors
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