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Background
I was raised down in Newport Beach, California where
I enjoyed a happy childhood. I
attended Corona del Mar High School, and
then UC
Irvine and UC Los Angeles where I graduated
with a
BS in Political Science with an emphasis on International Relations. Next,
I earned my secondary teaching credential in the language arts and social sciences
from Mount St. Mary's College. I finished my formal education with a Masters'
Degree in Educational Technology and Learning from Azusa
Pacific University.
K-12 Instructor
I started my teaching career working for the Los
Angeles Unified
School Disctict at Berendo Middle
School near
downtown LA in 1994. Next, starting in 1997 I worked
at Milken Community
High School in Bel Air at the middle school campus.
Between
those
two school I taught at both in a low-achieving, overcrowded urban public
school on a
year-round
track mulit-track system, and in a prestigious private school in Bel Air
that cost many
thousands
of dollars per year tuition. Richard got a good glimpse of some of the
extremes in the educational system in America today.
These first six years
served as an apprenticeship of sorts, and I never forgot what I saw and
experienced in those two schools. I learned next to nothing about
teaching in the LAUSD system (except how to survive in difficult working conditions),
but I very much benefitted from the time, money, and training Milken Community
High School invested in me as a teacher. It was the springboard which made
what came later possible.
I finally moved from the traffic and crime of Los
Angeles to a suburban community that was neither desperately
poor nor
filthily
rich but middle class. I found a happy medium between Berendo Middle School
and Milken Community High School where I could invest my most productive professional
years and
build an adult home for myself and raise children. In short, I moved
north to Ventura County in 2000 to help start Foothill
Technology High School for the Ventura
Unified School District. This was a dynamic time of intense professional
growth, as I started out teaching 9th
grade English, Technology
Literacy, and Visual
Communications. Then my professional practice kicked into
its highest gear, as I pioneered my infamous American
Experience course --
a joint interdisciplinary Advanced Placement English Language and
Composition and Advanced
Placement United States History
class
for high
school juniors. I also also taught the Bioethics class
for the FTHS BioScience Academy.
My professional focus came to revolve around teaching advanced high
school students and
it has been an incredibly fruitful span of teaching years. I am currently
in my tenth year at the campus. It is a busy, productive work life.
Beyond teaching at the campus, I have
pioneered and admininstered the school-wide
wiki for Foothill's students, as well
as the staff wiki for faculty
online collaboration. A focus in my career has always been working
with my peers to foster the integration of technology into the curriculum.
I have also consulted with Dr. Ben Chavis at the American
Indian Public Charter School in Oakland, California to help set
up an Advanced Placement program and vertical teaming. I have been
a reader for the College
Board in
the Advanced Placement United States History reading.
In addition to speaking at many conferences, I have received teaching awards
from Stanford, Dartmouth, Johns Hopkins, UCSD, and UCSB. I also won the Inspired
Teacher Scholarship (Visual Learning), Impact II Disseminator Award, Ed
Lyon Award for Excellence in Education, and I am a National Society of High
School Scholars Educator of Distinction, Who’s Who in America 2007,
and Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers, Multiple Year
Honoree.
I am also a Fellow at the South Coast Writing Project at UCSB,
a branch of the National Writing Project.
Furthermore, I am a SDB
Fellow at the John Hopkins University Center
for Taleneted Youth.
Adjunct Professor
Starting in 2005 I started working a second job at night
as an adjunct professor helping to train future teachers. I
taught one class for the University
of LaVerne and several classes at Azusa
Pacific University.
I have enjoyed using a "different muscle" to approach
instruction from a different angle with adults. This website is
used mostly for my university classes.
Family
Richard is happily married to Maria
Geib, a fifth-grade teacher
at Saticoy Elementary
School. Yes, their family conversations over
the dinner
table mostly revolve around education and teaching. They have two daughters,
Julia Emerson and Elizabeth
Anne, and reside in Ventura,
CA.
Philosophy of Education
In what can be covered in a few hundred words, this is my
philosophy of education, in brief.
Resume
Rich's resume may be found here. References are available upon request. 
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