Why do I teach, and what do I teach best?

Hi all,

I've been a teacher in the Hartford Public Schools for 14 years.  Much of this has been in a brand new magnet school, founded on some old educational principles.  I believe in the liberal arts, and letting students find themselves in their education until they are well rounded students who have a diverse set of skills.  Because of this, I'm not just a math teacher.  I'm a coached project teacher, a technology integration specialist teacher, a computer teacher (yes, this is different from technology), a photography teacher, an essay reviewer, a college essay and resume helper, a financial advisor, a social worker, counselor and a life advice purveyor. 

I am considering becoming a technology teacher next year, and I'm thinking philosophically about what I am best at, and what students need the most.  I love mathematics, the problem solving aspects and the logic required to solve algebraic equations.  I love the beauty and the simplicity of a good formula or proof.  I love fractals, and I loved the computer science I used to create them for my senior thesis so much that programming time just went by without me noticing it passing.  The psychological term for this is flow.  I got so into it that hours would pass and I wouldn't notice. 

I am even more passionate about computers and technology.  I have a charity called @gr8fullyfeclub which almost has its 501c3 nonprofit status.  I take old computers, use Darik's Boot and Nuke, then use debian, ubuntu, or linux mint on them, depending on the speed of the computer.  Then they are given to students who don't have working technology at home.  As a technology teacher, I could have a class on that, on computer hardware and software, and teach students how to install an operating system, change a hard drive, fix a screen.  All of those things fade in necessity as tech becomes cheaper and better, but the basics - the building blocks of a computer, the hard drive, processor and graphics processor, and how it outputs to a display - are needed to understand even the smallest of computers, the phone. 

I'd also like to teach financial literacy to our students, since none of them understand fully what the world will expect of them in terms of their money management or finances.  Unless their parents teach them, they won't get the financial education they need to balance a checkbook, do their taxes, live within their means or be good financial members of our society.  That's the most important math class I can teach them - and it's not a class we offer. 

Anyway, there are my thoughts for this chilly Saturday.  Hope your day is filled with relaxation, love, peace, and happiness.

~Mark