Introductions - Tell Us About Yourself!

Hello, my name is James Smith and I work at Grand Park Education Center. My primary role here is that of Behavior Interventionist. In this capacity, my primary focus is on student behavior rather than academic growth, although you certainly need the former to attain the latter. This is my tenth year at the alternative school.

Due to the fluctuation of student enrollment at Grand Park, our staff size is not always compatible with our enrollment, and I am occasionally asked to teach high school English classes.

I have extensive experience teaching Language Arts; I started my teaching career at a school in Miami where the overwhelming majority of students were first- and second-generation Haitians. Most of the parents I communicated with spoke English as a second language and many required the use of a translator. Despite the occasional language barrier (or perhaps because of it), this was a great experience.

I was raised in Boca Raton, FL and my ancestors immigrated to America in the 1700s from England and Belgium. This has me squarely in the Anglo-American camp. I was very fortunate to have had many impactful cross-cultural experiences early in life that exposed me to people from variety of different backgrounds and ethnicities. These experiences helped shape my outlook and spurred a desire to be culturally aware.

To that end, I hope that this course furthers my commitment to cultural sensitivity and allows me to better serve my students.