Greetings!

My name is David Matthew Phibbs, but please, call me Matt. I am currently working on my Single Subject Teaching Credential at National University. I am not teaching at the moment, but I hope to be in the next year, once I am done with my student teaching/credential requirements. 

I chose the teaching profession because I am a life long student, and because the people who have had the most impact in my life, other than my parents and sibling, have always been teachers. I have retained a strong friendship with a few of the teachers who most affected me over the years and for many years they tried to convince me that I should teach. For a long time I ignored their suggestion and I tried to pursue a degree in Art and also a career in that field, but my heart just wasn't in it after I learned what I'd have to do to make that work, so for a long time I was lost. It took me 6 years to finish my Associate's Degree, and another 3 to finish my Bachelor's. This was mainly due to the fact that I was working full time those 9 years, having living situations problems, and recovering from drug addiction. 

Eventually I realized that the thing I have always been most passionate about is learning because there is always so much more to know! So, after finishing my Bachelor's in English (Creative Writing) and having my living situation fall apart once again I decided that it was time to put my schooling to good use and become a teacher. Another reason I am trying to become a teacher is because I have had so many 'bad' teachers historically and I think that I will make a good one because this experience has taught me what NOT to do. 

According to the free personality test found @ http://www.teamtechnology.co.uk/mmdi/questionnaire/, my personality is most closely aligned with ENFJ, "you are someone who seeks to develop and promote personal growth in your friends, family or colleagues. You sometimes have a sense of their potential which may extend beyond how they see themselves. You also seek to develop the potential within relationships or the team. However, you don't push so hard that it creates conflict, because keeping the harmony in your relationships is also important."

So, how did my personality affect my choice of content area? I do think that I can see the potential in people that I have a relationship with and I believe that this ability will be important when relating to students. I value my own personal growth as well and I also value harmonious relationships, especially in a group setting. I usually frown at these kinds of personality tests, mainly because they are so short, it is sometimes impossible to choose an answer that fits my own feelings, and because humans are more complex than a set of 30 questions, but the results of this test seem to apply to me in many ways. 

How does or will my personality affect my relationships with my students? I hope that it affects my relationship in a positive way. I value people for their individuality and if I can help them achieve their potential by teaching them a few skills that will help them along the way then that makes me happy. I would describe my personality as youthful, being as I don't think I've ever fully 'grown up' and I hope that this will help me relate to my students. I like modern music, modern fashion, modern movies, pop-culture, video games, comic books, and of course modern literature, so I hope that these interests will work as a bridge to my students because I am (theoretically) interested in the same things they are. 

How will my teaching and learning style affect my teaching and my students' abilities to be successful? I don't believe in the theory of multiple intelligences, mainly because I believe that everyone has multiple intelligences, some are just stronger in certain areas than others are. I enjoy audio, visual, verbal, textual, and experiential phenomena when it comes to learning and I think that lessons that incorporate all of these elements are the most effective. However, from experience, I believe that class discussion has the biggest potential to stimulate classroom learning because it allows students to make connections to their own life through example, wrestle with the material (especially if it is of an ethical nature), and also connect the subject to other curriculums. I plan to use every strategy and tool in my possession to teach my future students and hopefully this will assure their success. 

Cheers!