I'm a teacher.

My university program was for K-8th self-contained classroom education. Some things came up that kept me from getting that full credential, however (at least for the State of California; in other states I could have my own public school classroom). In the meanwhile, I've done loads of student teaching, (also Sunday School and Vacation Bible School teaching), Substituting for Pre-K through 8th grade, substituting for lower grades "specialty" classes: Spanish as a second language, Technology, P.E., and I've also been the lead teacher for a summer camp that teaches kids how to design LEGO robots and program computer games.

I do feel a bit incomplete since I've never had my own classroom for a school year, but I know that I _am_ a teacher. My "teacher instinct" is something that I can never turn off. For example, even when I was in the waiting room for the ICU once, there was a little girl who was struggling with her mathematics homework. Her mother didn't know how to help her. She was in fifth grade beginning work on the Order of Operations. I gave her the mnemonic device of "My Dear Aunt Sally" (Multiplication, Division, Addition, Subtraction) and helped her with it until she could handle it on her own. Her mother was incredibly grateful, and it warmed my heart.