John Schmitt

State:

Pennsylvania

Testimonial from a participant

John Schnitt doesn't just teach good classroom strategies, he models and practices them. We are very lucky to have him as a resource in the Erie area.

— Fran Hayden

PLS courses I teach:

• Achieving Student Outcomes Through Cooperative Learning™
• Discovering the Power of Live-Event Learning™
• Meaningful Activities to Generate Interesting Classrooms™
• PRIDE™ (Professional Refinements in Developing Effectiveness)
• Project TEACH™ (Teacher Effectiveness and Classroom Handling)
• Successful Teaching for Acceptance of Responsibility®
• Teaching the Skills of the 21st Century®
• Teaching Through Learning Channels™

Years with PLS:

Since 1982

Why I love teaching PLS courses:

It is an awesome privilege to work with educators as they fill their tool boxes with practical and positive strategies that will improve their ability to reach even more of their learners.

Education:

• B.A. in social science education, Mercyhurst College (1978)
• M.Ed. in educational psychology, Edinboro University (1982)

Teaching experience:

Social studies teacher at McDowell senior high school in Erie, PA since 1979; taught U.S. history and American government for one year and psychology for last 25 years; currently teaching advanced placement and honors psychology; also created and taught a course called Effective Leadership (one or two sections for two years)

Related experience, recognition, awards, etc.:

• Student council advisor since 1996
• Basketball coach in Millcreek township school district 1979 - 1990
• Who's Who in Education
• Certificate of honor for excellence in teaching from Saint Vincent College
• Member of PLS 4000 club for training over 4000 teachers in PLS graduate education classes (to be awarded Fall 2004)
• Associate Designer for PLS courses Teaching the Skills of the 21st Century® and Discovering the Power of Live-Event Learning®
• Design team member for Successful Teaching for Acceptance of Responsibility®

What I love most about teaching:

The world can be divided into three kinds of people: those who make things happen, those who watch things happen, and those who wonder what happened. Teachers help create people who will make things happen!

My favorite moment in teaching:

Bill was a veteran science teacher nearing retirement. On the first day of Teaching the Skills of the 21st Century®, he described himself as an old dinosaur who didn't plan to really change his teaching because of the course. On the last day of class, Bill received applause from his classmates as he announced that the course had indeed changed his beliefs and how he planned to teach differently for his final years.

Personal information:

I love to spend time with my wonderful wife Karen who is a middle school art teacher and our three talented and active daughters Susann, Kellie, and Jenna.