Cover Letter                                                                        August 2011


Lately, I have metaphorically stepped off another dock. I suppose it is important to put ‘my life on a page’ and it could either be from now to before or visa versa. Whichever way I chose I hope you will look at it all and see it as very much a way of looking at my philosophy of learning.

Over the last 32 years I have taught a variety of subject matter to a wide variety of students in a wide variety of places. If you take the time to read over a few of my professional references I hope you will come away with the impression that I am able and love to teach. The pages of my vitae are intended to outline my teaching experience, provide teaching reference as well as some insight into my character as a person. I have also been in a Masters program for Period Furniture for the last five years. This is the study of and the making of period furniture as well as other items of interest, canoes for one. It is a ‘very deep well’ of knowledge that I will never hopefully find the bottom of.

My interests are all over the place. In each one there is a common thread and that is problem solving. Discovery of how and why something was done in all areas of study is fascinating to me. I love to ‘fix’ things. Exploring what you find intriguing and making connections to other fields of thought weaves it all together forming a joy of learning. As a teacher of mathematics for 27 years I hoped to provide this type of connection in applied math projects, from Islamic Art and Geometry to Arboretum data collection, mapping, music, astronomy and mechanics. The use of math as a tool of discovery or a tool of creation; building structures, moving objects, making the goal, the desired outcome possible.

I love to teach to see how different people see the same things differently. In the last few years since I left the formal classroom, I have been both the learner and teacher. I believe in a couple of old sayings give a glimpse into this value system of teaching:

“calm seas do make a skillful sailor”

“He who has imagination without discipline, has wings but no feet”

“smart is not having the answer…. It is knowing what to do when you don’t”
It was in that spirit I jumped into the Tech Coordinators' position for a Macintosh computer based elementary school this last June of 2010. I spent a week at "Business Rules", a certified Apple Education center during the summer learning Server Management for the OS 10.6. When I returned to the job I was faced with a monumental task of rebuilding a system that had been unattended for 18 months and prior to that had not been managed well, indeed there had been 'history' of disgruntled technologists and the result was a mess. This was a half time position that demanded fulltime attention. What was completed in 12 months was the complete reorganization of the school's system, management, hardware and library data housing. This task was completed with the help from a Mac service technologist. The learning curve was steep and the areas with which I had oversight were diverse, I wore many hats. From rebuilding UPS units, problem solving Promethean board malfunctions writing the state technology plan and learning E-rate process, it was a stressful but rewarding time. I told the administration that though I thought the job was at least double the time of a half time position, I would stay until the task was completed and the system running smoothly for it's educational purpose. At the end of the school year, I completed my obligation and was unable to convince the administration of my concerns about time and supervision; and so I 'took my hat' with regret.
I believe it is best to be happy at what one does whenever possible and this was, in all likelihood not possible under the circumstances, so I decided to look for a new challenge.

To teach well requires a firm grasp on a wide variety of skills: organizational, technical, communicational and on the most fundamental level the ability to instill faith. It is in having the ability to find the last solid ground on which a student stands in their ability to work with a concept, and from this point, build a scaffold of their own thoughts. This allows them to 'make the leap' in understanding to the next level. Most of this technique is personal, intuitive and natural, especially on a one to one basis. It is my belief that a teacher does more than distribute knowledge. A teacher creates an environment whereby the individual builds on what they know, reject what they have miss-learned and formulates a higher understanding based on that solid foundation. Students need to have confidence in realizing what they know. They need to be at ease with the knowledge that there is no 'finish line', just a next step in their understanding.

This ‘cover letter’ is pretty much like my websites that I have put together over the years. My business: Lordwoodcraft, my classroom page (now old) and the resume site hopefully will give you an image from which you may form a first impression. I hope you have time to
Go through them. I would then very much like to sit and talk about what this position entails.

I look forward to hearing from you,

Robert Lord

http://www.lordwoodcraft.com/Vita1/Employment1.html    Education Employment Resume

http://www.lordwoodcraft.com/index2.html    Vitae

http://www.lordwoodcraft.com/Vita1/Recommendations1.html     Personal Letters of Recommendation

http://www.lordwoodcraft.com/    Business