About the Author

And, we’re live.

My name is Jesse, and I’ve gotten the assignment to blog for you about my year in the Elementary Teacher Education Program at Penn. After this post, I’ll start to dive into the program itself, but for my first entry I wanted to introduce myself.
(Technically, it’s my second entry – click here for my pre-blogging disclaimers).

If you’re just here to get the nitty gritty on the program, well, you’ll get that sooner or later. For now, I thought it would be helpful to explain a bit about myself and my background, because doubtless that’s going to influence the future content of this blog.

Now, I don’t know what facts about me are going to be the ones to influence the future content of this blog, because I haven’t written it yet. So, in the interest of “better safe than sorry,” I present to you:

Things About Me Which May or May Not Be Interesting and/or Relevant.

1. I grew up in Charlottesville, Virginia, home of UVA and the building that used to be on the back of the penny. My mother is an elementary school teacher (coincidence? who knows!), my father was a lawyer/businessman/photographer/carpenter/bicycle salesman, though not necessarily all at the same time or in that order. I went to Charlottesville High School, and I’d love to hear from any former Black Knights who might be stumbling upon this.
2. I went to Swarthmore College (class of ’09), where I studied Political Science (and minored in Educational Studies, which feels relevant to me, but in the real world I sometimes feel like the word “minored” prompts eyerolls). Outside of classes, I spent a lot of time doing activist-ey sorts of things, and the rest of my time doing sketch comedy. There are videos online, you could dig them up if you ever wanted to blackmail me (there, now you’ve got leverage to help keep me in check if this blog gets out of hand).
3. Since college (4+ years), I’ve called Philadelphia home, and during that time I’ve continuously been involved professionally in education, though in different ways. I’ve worked in education research (with Research for Action), community organizing (with the Cross City Campaign for School Reform), and teaching afterschool (with Zhang Sah) – and at times, I’ve worked for all three at once. I also spent 8 months in India, working at a school and community development organization in Kerala.
4. This is not actually my first attempt at blogging. I wrote news for the Cross City website, www.OurCity-OurSchools.org, which kinda counts as blogging; I also kept a personal blog during the 8 months I spent in India this past year. Unlike that blog, I will update this one frequently (and not write repeatedly about my intention to update more frequently), because unlike that blog, I am getting paid to write this. Also unlike that blog, I have a reliable internet connection with which to write; and when taking the time to write this blog, my alternative is probably doing homework, unlike in India where my alternative was INDIA!
5. Some additional facts so that you can always defeat me at Two Truths and a Lie: I have a black belt in Tae Kwon Do. I once was an extra in a terrible low-budget movie (which I’ve never seen), in which I played a zombie and was struck by lightning. I prepared for this program by retreating into the mountains and getting hit in the face with a pie. I’m a huge Phillies fan, and have an unreasonable enthusiasm for Ben Revere. I’m allergic to raspberries. I’m a blogger.

Or so they tell me…