About
After presenting his first phase of research at the 2019 Hawaii International Conference on Education, Tom has presented panels at PAX East, San Diego Comic Con, GenCon, and PAX West. More recently, Tom has been busy creating content as Mages and Mentors. Mages and Mentors is podcast and Twitch channel featuring Dungeons and Dragons and Magic the Gathering content for veterans and novice players alike, emphasizing a development and growth mindset. When not playing Dungeons and Dragons or fighting with his recording equipment, he is on the hunt for sushi and burritos.
Employment
Over the past four years, Tom has worked in a hybrid instruction and STEM administration role in a private K-8 school. There he spearheaded Chromebook deployment and SMARTBoard instructional sessions while instructing various grades levels with projects taking advantage of Google Applications and coding. Tom also manages a few after-school programs, including a MakerSpace program that combines Legos and coding using Scratch, a Bay area coding camp, and student Dungeons and Dragons campaigns.
Doctoral Work
Whether inside or out of the classroom, Tom is always looking for new ways to improve his craft. As a doctoral candidate that now in the final stage of dissertation work, he has been developing his research writing, understanding of data collection and creating presentations to discuss findings. He has conducted research and presented findings on teacher self-efficacy and is currently in the process of conducting a small mixed-methods study on using non-digital games as an instructional methodology.
Tom brings to the table a commitment to education, seeking to ensure personal development and helps to promote a community that utilize creativity and innovation. He gets excited at all the possibility of becoming more involved with the educational world and loves opportunities to be challenged. Feel free to drop him an email and see what magic can happen.
Magic the Gathering Judgeship
2019 was a breakout year with Tom working the MagicFest and Convention circuit. Whether it was floor judging or team leading, Tom was there getting things done to ensure the players were enjoying their events.