Mike Javanmard Craft Talk
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Club member Mike Javanmard provided a craft talk. He currently teaches economics at the Community College Level. Mike was born in Iran, near the Caspian Sea. From 1967-1978 his father traveled in Eastern Europe and behind the Iron Curtain. In 1979 the family came to America, and that is where Mike said he first saw a camel.
He served in the US Army from 1991-1995, and upon his return went to college, then worked for a bank as his first job, a week before the SEC closed it. He took the closing as an opportunity to travel to Mexico and backpack. He moved to Japan in 1995 where he taught English in elementary and junior high schools. It’s there he learned about kabuki and Buddhism.
He returned to the US in 1998 to go to graduate school after which he worked in China teaching accounting and marketing to Chinese MBA candidates. This is also where he met his wife who also teaching in China. They returned to the U.S. in 2004 where he started teaching Economics.
Over the years his teaching philosophy has evolved. He maintains that no once can really "teach" anything. All learning is up to the student. All a teacher can do is make the process memorable so the student remembers. His non-traditional teaching methods actually provide interest and direction to his students. Mike says he can also do the boring classes, too!