My teaching philosophy is hinged on three main tenets. First, the world is a fascinating place. Lady Macbeth, the Krebs cycle, derivatives, the Spanish Civil War, the best way to pass a soccer ball -- those are all opportunities for wonder. Second, young people are full of breathtaking, wonderful ideas. I can honestly say that being in a classroom full high school students kept me more intellectually engaged (and delighted) than my studies at Harvard. Finally, words have the capacity to transform us. Whether we're reading a passage by Faulkner or writing a straightforward five paragraph essay, we're participating in a subtle form of sorcery. When students realize the power of their own minds and the power of the written word, English class becomes more like candy than medicine. That said, from my eleven years of teaching high school English, I know that not all students agree with the above tenets. For those students, I work to make the material relevant, palatable, and painless.