New Teacher Profile: History Teacher Dan Marcoux

This is part five of a series in which we interview the new teaching staff at Pomperaug High School this year.

Dan Marcoux teaches US History and World History 2.  A history and economics graduate of UConn, and the master's program at UConn Waterbury, this is Marcoux's first real job teaching.

Q: How did you get into teaching?

A: Oh, man that's a long story….basically I didn't really know what I wanted to do. I knew in high school that teaching was always an option for me. I went to school for pre-marketing, and went to a marketing session about what people in the profession do and I didn't like it; it didn't sound interesting at all. So I decided to switch my major from marketing to History and Economics. Then I still thought I wanted to go into business, so I did a financial internship in Maine in the summer of 2008 and I hated it (laughs) so I started to tutor kids at middle schools around UConn and I really liked doing that. So I said I'm going to go for my master's at UConn and I did, and student-taught. I loved it, and that's where I am now.

Q: Why did you decide to teach history?

A: I like history….I don't know, it's something that I wasn't really passionate about all my life. In college I had some really good professors who really made things clear, like why it matters. From that, I started reading the texts and researching the subject a little bit more, and I bought into it. I think it's important because it allows us to know who we are as people. It's not so much about studying the past so we don't make the same mistakes, but studying the past so we can progress in the future; that's how I see it.

Q: What's your favorite part about teaching history?

A: Definitely not the grading (laughs). My favorite part of teaching history is probably when kids realize that it's not just about the memorization of facts. I think a lot of people have the preconceived notion that history is only names, dates, people, and places, when really it's well beyond that, and every little thing impacts something else, and to have kids realize the importance of a decision, and the two sides of that decision, that's something that's pretty neat.

Q: Any prior teaching experience?

A: I student taught, but this is my first full year of teaching.

Q: What are you looking forward to at Pomperaug?

A: I guess just getting to know the school, my colleagues, the kids a little bit better….just getting through the first year is going to be very tough; it's going to be tough in any job, but I think I'm going to have a lot of fun doing it.

Q: How do you like it so far?

A: I do like it a lot. I'm still kind of figuring out exactly what the best way to approach certain subjects are, but the kids are awesome.  We've had some really good discussions so far, and it's only been what, week one and one day? So, that's pretty good.

Q: How does PHS. compare to your prior experiences?

A: Well I student taught at Memorial Middle School, so the similarities are pretty big, dealing with a lot of the same families and the same expectations. I know that the expectations are very high, but the big difference is just the ability level of the kids. At Memorial you do a lot of handholding and a lot of explaining stuff, and now at Pomperaug the kids get it, and now we can look more at the sources rather than just the content, the text.

Q: What's your overall attitude towards education?

A: I come from a pretty middle-class background, and I can always remember my parents saying  that it's so important to do well in school because an education can give you endless possibilities. I could've been a doctor, a lawyer, a teacher, a businessman; I could've been anything I wanted to be, and I think education allows people to do that.

Q: What's your favorite band or recording artist?

A: Loaded question; seems like it's changing every day. I really like the Black Keys