DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.

Michael Cole



Hello. My name is Michael. 

 

I'm an active outdoorsman (climbing, paddling, mountaineering) and a competetive cyclist.  I teach high school mathematics and my wife teaches fifth graders.  We have two amazing boys in elementary school. That's one of them refusing to wake up from a nap a few years back.

 

I grew up about 20 minutes outside of Boston in a family that emphasized (that's really not the best word but worshipped comes off a little too strong) education.  I was always encouraged to "get the dictionary" whenever I was curious about an unfamiliar word and this would often lead me to spending hours just reading the dictionary in the manner that people now "surf" the internet. 

I attended UMass Amherst as a Physics major but after some academic meanderings I eventually graduated with a degree in Communications.

 

After graduation I did quite a bit of tutoring and coaching and eventually came to realize that "teacher" wasn't just a description of what I wanted to do for a career, it was a description of who I am as a person.  I then followed what I now know to be questionable advice directing me on a very nontraditional path toward obtaining my teaching license.  I went back to school and attained what the DESE considered a Bachelor Equivilency in mathematics, which earned me my provisional certification as a high school mathematics teacher.  I have been a classroom teacher now for 19 years before enrolling full time at NEU to complete my M.Ed. in the spring of 2018.

 

I was previously enrolled at NEU in a different program which had a concentration in mathematics but I have now completed my M.Ed. with a concentration in Learning and Instruction. 

DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.

 

Statement of Purpose

 

When I entered what I call "phase 2" of my program, I had to reapply for acceptance to NEU.  As part of this process I was asked to write a "Statement of Purpose". 

 

I have decided to include this essay here.

DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.