About Mr. Lindner

Sculpture in Vancouver.

Welcome to the page all about me!  I hope you learn something interesting

I grew up in a medium-sized town called Moorhead, Minnesota.  Moorhead is located in along the Red River (one of the only rivers that flow north), which serves as a physical and political border between Minnesota and North Dakota.  Across the river from Moorhead is a somewhat larger city called Fargo, which a movie was named after in the mid-1990’s starring the amazing Frances McDormand.

I lived in Moorhead for 17 years before migrating to the Twin Cities of Minneapolis-St. Paul where I attended university at the University of Minnesota.  When I started at UMN, I planned to be a farmer, just like my grandparents.  After about two months, I decided that I really wanted to be a teacher.  I volunteered in a first grade classroom in Roseville, MN and it was decided.  I just had to become a teacher!  I graduated in May 2003 with my teaching credential, but no job.  I went on a few interviews, but nobody hired me (lucky for you).  In August 2003, my friend and I packed up a minivan chock full of clothes, books, and mementos and headed west!  We drove for three days an finally ended up in Santa Cruz, CA.  Two weeks after we arrived, I was hired to teach 1st grade at Hayes Elementary School in the Oak Grove School District in San Jose.  My friend had a job at UCSC and we lived there for a couple of months.  After about a year, I moved in to San Jose to be closer to school.

Last summer, I moved to San Francisco and decided that I needed to teach closer to the city.  Luckily, I was given an interview with PAUSD and Mr. Garcia took a chance on me (cue ABBA)!

Here are some fun facts about me:

I am the oldest of seven children; four boys and three girls.  My sister, Holly, is a speech teacher in St. Peter, MN.  My sister, Amber, is in graduate school in Vermillion, South Dakota.  My other sister, Katie, just started her freshman year of college at my alma mater, the University of Minnesota in the College of Biological Sciences.  She plans to become a pediatrician (a doctor for kids).  Chris, my brother, is a senior at Moorhead High School and wants to become an engineer.  David is a sixth grader at Horizon Middle School and Michael is a fourth grader at Ellen Hopkins Elementary School.  Michael is in the Spanish Immersion program at school.  David graduated from the program last spring before making the move to middle school.

I earned my masters degree in education from the University of Minnesota in the summer of 2005.

In August 2006 I completed Ironman Canada in 15 hours, 20 minutes, and 15 seconds.  I swam 2.4 miles, biked 112 miles, and then ran 26.2 miles and raised over $7,500 to help doctors fight leukemia and lymphoma, which are blood diseases. You can click on the ‘results’ page and put in my last name and the year 2006 and you’ve got your proof!

This is my seventh year of teaching.  I taught first grade for two years, then a first/second grade combination class for two years in a row, and then another year of first grade.  When I moved to Palo Verde, I switched to 3rd grade and am having a blast!  This is my second year teaching 3rd grade.  I frequently teach summer school as well.  I have taught entering first grade, entering second grade, and pre-kindergarten over previous summers.

I lived in a suburb of London, England for six months while I was going to school at the University of Minnesota.  When I was there, I travelled to a few other countries including: Ireland (beautiful), France, Germany, Austria, Italy, Switzerland, and the Principality of Liechtenstein (the last holdout of the Holy Roman Empire nestled between Austria and Switzerland).  The name of the suburb I lived in, Surbiton, can be seen on a train station platform sign near the beginning of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

I LOVE Vancouver, Canada.  The banner at the top of the page is from a picture I took while while walking around Yaletown (a neighborhood in Vancouver) in August 2008.

I try to work out frequently.  I enjoy swimming and weight lifting.  I don’t enjoy running as much, but I do it anyway.  It’s worth it for the feeling of being finished.  I started training outdoors with BootCampSF last February.  It’s fun to work out with others and leaves the planning off my plate so I can focus on having fun!

I love to laugh.  I used to get in trouble in school for laughing when it was inappropriate.  I used to get in trouble for laughing at the dinner table with my sisters when I was little, too.  My mom would get mad and leave the table.  It would take us a long time to settle back down and finish eating.

I spent most of my summers as a kid living and working on my grandparents farm.  I’ve milked many, many cows.  Over those summers I learned the value of hard work and routine.  I learned the realities of the cycle of life.  I watched (and helped on occasion) calves being born and learned how to take care of them.  I also learned that sometimes animals get sick and and there is nothing that can be done.  Life lesson #1: You can judge the kindness of people by the way they treat animals.  I wouldn’t trade those summers for anything.

Anything else you want to know about me, just post a comment and ask!  If I don’t want to answer your question, I’ll fabricate an answer just for you