Hey everyone- this is Matthew Smith. This is a picture of me and my wife, Elizabeth. We just got married in June and are already expecting kid numero uno due March 31st. It’s a crazy time for us as she finishes off nursing school at UAA and I’m doing my masters at U.A.F. She works in the NICU at prov. and I’m doing my student teaching during the day in chemistry and biology at Service High in Anchorage and teach private music lessons at Anchorage Music and Dance Center in the afternoons/evenings. I’ve got some really rowdy classes here and I’m excited to learn some better classroom management skills. I’m a super laid back guy and only see the best in my students so sometimes they take advantage of that and act like crazies. I’d like to be a teacher because I love knowledge and I think an education is the number one most valuable thing someone can have. I think it is highly dangerous for our world to have people who are not critical thinkers and my goal as a teacher, regardless of content area, is to have my students develop a sense of wonder about our world, a depth of inquiry with which to probe it’s beauty, and the critical thinking skills to crack open it’s mysteries.