About me...
My name is Jay Shafer and I grew up locally, attending Carlsbad High School. From a young age I enjoyed my interactions with educators and always thought of teaching as a profession I would take pleasure in. While in high school I continued to enjoy academics, where I took and passed eight AP classes and their corresponding tests, as well as athletics, where I won the CIF championship twice as a starter on the water polo team. By my senior year I started to seriously consider a career teaching high school social sciences. It was a subject set I loved and an age group that I knew could take so much from just one outstanding educator.
I spent under two years as an undergrad on the UCSB campus and then studied abroad at the University of Manchester, in England to finish my degree. I completed my undergraduate degree with a major in history and an art history minor in just two years and one quarter. From there I spent a gap year, and then some, traveling extensively, mostly around Europe, meeting and staying with members of the vast diaspora of my family.
Once I returned I talked to a few of my favorite high school teachers and my high school water polo coach about teaching, coaching, shaping lives, and the connections that you make as an educator. They told me what I already knew.
I am happy to now be in my fourth year teaching and every person that observed me teach can attest to my focus of meeting the needs of every student in the classroom and moving the content driven subjects of social studies equally in line with the Common Core State Standards. I love every subject within the social sciences and plan to supplement my credential to include English as well. I have also now coached Academic Team for three years, spent one year with Speech and Debate and I am ready to take up a position as a Water Polo or Swim Team coach should that arise. In addition to this I have taught every single grade from 7th to 12th so I have an exceptional perspective on students in each stage of their learning development. I am not only passionate about the subject matter but passionate about working with the students and making them think in new ways.
I know if I can make the same impression on a few of my students that a few of my teachers made on me, I will sleep easy for the rest of my life.
My name is Jay Shafer and I grew up locally, attending Carlsbad High School. From a young age I enjoyed my interactions with educators and always thought of teaching as a profession I would take pleasure in. While in high school I continued to enjoy academics, where I took and passed eight AP classes and their corresponding tests, as well as athletics, where I won the CIF championship twice as a starter on the water polo team. By my senior year I started to seriously consider a career teaching high school social sciences. It was a subject set I loved and an age group that I knew could take so much from just one outstanding educator.
I spent under two years as an undergrad on the UCSB campus and then studied abroad at the University of Manchester, in England to finish my degree. I completed my undergraduate degree with a major in history and an art history minor in just two years and one quarter. From there I spent a gap year, and then some, traveling extensively, mostly around Europe, meeting and staying with members of the vast diaspora of my family.
Once I returned I talked to a few of my favorite high school teachers and my high school water polo coach about teaching, coaching, shaping lives, and the connections that you make as an educator. They told me what I already knew.
I am happy to now be in my fourth year teaching and every person that observed me teach can attest to my focus of meeting the needs of every student in the classroom and moving the content driven subjects of social studies equally in line with the Common Core State Standards. I love every subject within the social sciences and plan to supplement my credential to include English as well. I have also now coached Academic Team for three years, spent one year with Speech and Debate and I am ready to take up a position as a Water Polo or Swim Team coach should that arise. In addition to this I have taught every single grade from 7th to 12th so I have an exceptional perspective on students in each stage of their learning development. I am not only passionate about the subject matter but passionate about working with the students and making them think in new ways.
I know if I can make the same impression on a few of my students that a few of my teachers made on me, I will sleep easy for the rest of my life.