EDU 708

D. M. Egan, Junior's Summer II Semester 2017 Resources Related to EDU 708 Through CMU's Global Campus

WEEK 01 (June 19 - June 25):

Introduction To My Classmates and Professor:

June 25, 2017

Dear EDU 708 Classmates:

I have made a very short video to supplement this post and you can watch it up above on this page.

My name is Dennis Egan and I started teaching middle school math in North Carolina after graduating from CMU about a decade ago. Subsequently, I taught students in Florida and in Michigan in various capacities which have included full time and substitute teaching. I have taught in public and private schools and have pursued grass-roots entrepreneurial efforts to harness I.W.B. and remote desktop technologies to both tutor students and to facilitate dynamic school assemblies. I have also had the privilege of working for our local community action program as a fatherhood support specialist in connection with the federal 0-5 Head Start program. With all of this said, I have discovered over the years that classroom teaching is NOT for me. I love teaching and engaging students; yet, I have had to find a path that works for me.

Currently, I work part-time from home as an online English teacher helping students in the nation of China. It is so satisfying on many levels. New York to Beijing is a 12 hour difference (13 in the Fall-Winter) so I get up to teach around 4 a.m. and am finished by the end of the morning. I also do landscape-related property maintenance work for customers through our small part-time business which I operate here in Michigan from spring through fall each season.

My wife, Teresa, and I have 3 children who all attend a charter school called Renaissance and we are expecting our 4th child this summer! I love gardening, carpentry work, studying history, writing, playing guitar and outdoor activities such as running 5k races, camping, hiking and so on! Using music as a means to minister to elderly residents in nursing homes and to incarcerated men in correctional facilities continues to be a significant part of my life. Ultimately, I am striving to be the best husband that I can be, as well as the best father that I can be. I know that I need God's grace to do this; and although I fall short, I hope to never give up.

I hope that this master's degree program can help me to do many wonderful things in our world in terms of education, ministry and simply helping others to be encouraged and equipped with knowledge which helps them. I look forward to working with my classmates and Professor Brannan this semester!

-Kind regards,
Dennis.