I am an Arabic teacher at an inner-city high school in Boston. I knew that I wanted to teach ever since graduating from high school, but I also knew that I needed to learn more about the world and how it works before stepping into the classroom as a teacher. I wanted to build myself into the best teacher I could be: a teacher-scholar. Formal education is very important to me, both in terms of building my students' skills in negotiating higher education as well as my own experience. I have three master's degrees in linguistics and education and I am currently pursuing a doctorate degree in education at Boston University.

My background in linguistics helps with breaking down Arabic grammar into pieces that my students can understand, but even more important is the experience of having been in school for so long. I have seen enough teaching that I have a rich fabric of models from which to distance myself, improvise, or copy. I also have had teaching experience in non-traditional systems, such as an alternative high school for at-risk students, a juvenile correction center for adjudicated boys, and a refugee camp. These experiences have taught me the value of non-linear curriculum design, and I have used this learning to support my students' particular learning needs.

In addition to teaching I am the principal investigator for the Department of Education-funded Marhaba! Project, a three-year program to develop curriculum for high school Arabic. Also, in the summer I direct the Arabic Summer Academy, an intensive language program for Boston area high school students.

Together with TAF alums James Liou, Jenny Cloud, and Anna Walker, we formed the New England Regional Teacher Leadership Initiative, a collection of interlocking groups that empower teachers to make positive change in education policy.

I am proud to serve the Boston community as a public high school teacher. Since joining Charlestown High School I have had the pleasure of co-advising the debate team, Japanese club, and Europe trip club, as well as the honor of representing the teachers as chair of the faculty senate. I also serve as a member of the Educator Advisory Council for the Outreach Center at the Harvard University Center for Middle Eastern Studies, and the Advisory Council for the Leventhal Map Center at the Boston Public Library.

Outside of teaching and studying, I enjoy traveling with my fiancée Raquel, a recently minted doctor who is training in internal medicine and pediatrics. We live with our cat, Francis, in Boston's historic North End neighborhood.