About Me

Please feel free to call me "Mr. Arnold" or by my nickname "Mr. A."  

After you've spent some time in Room 71, you will see many items hint at

my favorite things.  We may even have some favorites in common.  Or we may not. Nevertheless, all non: Trojan, Cowboys, Rams, Dodgers, Lakers, and Bayern Munich folks

are always welcome in Room 71. 

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• I completed my Bachelor’s Degree at the University of California at Irvine.  My professional clear, multiple-subject teaching credential with CLAD emphasis was completed at California Lutheran University.  I have a Master’s Degree in Education as well as more than 75 units in professional graduate courses—specifically for education. I also have a supplementary credential in secondary level History/Social Studies.

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• All sports fans and their respective teams are quite welcome in Room 71-so show your team spirit as you wish. Just remember--respect is most important.  So all must be in good fun and make sure your team spirit doesn't bring down someone else's team spirit. 

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• Pretty much anything involving water is great fun for me! I am a huge water sport fanatic.  Waterskiing, wakeboarding, or just floating on the lake or river in 100 + degree weather are all right up my alley. My family and I really quite enjoy going to the beach. We visited Zuma several times this summer and we have a special collection of shells and rocks to prove it. We also made it up to Avila Beach for a week--it was a great time with family. 

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• I also really enjoy foreign language and culture. English happens to be my first language, German is my second, Spanish is my third, and I have practiced a bit with Swedish and Norwegian. If you or your child happens to speak a language other than English I’m all ears and would enjoy chatting with you and learning more. ☺  Most of my students who speak Chinese tell me that even though I try hard, my tones are still not quite how they need to be for the Mandarin dialect.  I think my students who speak Hindi would agree that my pronunciation needs more practice. ​

 

• I'm proud to be a Star Wars, Hobbit, & Lord of the Rings fan.  I guess I lean toward the sci-fi end of things.

 

• I love amusement parks, roller coasters, et cetera.  Disneyland, California Adventure, Walt Disney World are among my favorites. Magic Mountain is up there too, but it's been a while since I've been there.

 

• I love Legos!  I still have my childhood ones as well as newer sets that I've built or still need to build. I've a Boeing 787 Dreamliner and a Tie Fighter in the classroom. I still need to build my Volkswagen Bus and Lone Ranger sets.

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• I'm a foodie.  I really enjoy all kinds of food.  I always look forward to meals.  I especially enjoy American, Mexican, Italian, Indian, Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, German, Swedish, and Norwegian cuisines. Sharky's is probably the place my family and I get our "fast food" from the most.  Don Cucos or Frida are two of my more favorite places to get some scrummy Mexican cuisine. (Actually my mom's cooking is the what I crave the most!) Edelweiss has good German cuisine--I go for the schnitzel, red cabbage, potatoes, and black forest cake for dessert. But really I'll eat anything off the menu. Proper Indian cuisine is what I enjoy--properly spiced but not spicy. Korean BBQ is fantastic and kimchee is delicious. Pho is wonderful--I like soup and pho is a wonderful version of this for me. I love all types of Italian food--pasta, meats, veggies, pizzas are all yum food. Swedish Meatballs and mashed potatoes with lingonberries are delicious. Norwegian lefse and Smobrod are great too. I'm a fan of all delis--so Alpine, Brent's, and Lovis are great fun. The patty melt and french dip at Bazille in Nordstrom are fabulous. 

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• I've a major sweet-tooth.  Chocolate is my downfall.  Sees, Ritter Sport, Ghiradelli are all wonderful.  Two lumps of sugar in my tea.  At least one spoonful of sugar in my coffee.  And yes to Sweet Tea! And while I can't have much of it, I do enjoy a scoop of ice cream from Baskin Robbins. The new vegan choice isn't too bad, although regular plain old mint chocolate chip or rocky road are pretty delicious!

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• I love chips and dip!  All kinds--potato chips, corn chips, hot dips, cold dips.  I really enjoy the chips and dip in some vintage chip and dip glassware. 

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• I love cars!  Especially German cars, but I'm also a diehard when it comes to certain American cars and trucks. And if the cars are classics--oh boy! Even better. A 1980 450SEL 6.9, a 1985 Porsche 911 Turbo, a 1979 Volkswagen Bus, a 1991 Volkswagen Vanagon, a 1984 Cadillac Sedan de ville, or a 1972 Chevrolet Malibu 454 SS are all cars I'd like to take another ride in someday.

 

• I collect PEZ candy dispensers.  Especially the limited editions. I'm looking for the Thomas and Friends set that is retired, and there are a few new sets like Trolls and the latest Star Wars and Solo sets that I need to get a hold of.

 

• I love cereal.  Especially the limited editions. I'd eat Cocoa Puffs everyday if I could. But even plain-old Cheerios work for me.  The only catch--no milk.  I'm not a fan cow milk, so it's rice or almond "milk" for me. 

 

• I listen to all kinds of music.  I feel it's important to be cultured in most if not all music genres. The 1980's is probably my favorite decade. A-ha is my all time favorite pop group. Van Halen is my rock group. Enya is my calm choice. Muse is my alternative. And I can even handle some country like Brad Paisley, Tim McGraw, Reba, and Faith Hill. I'm all over the place with my music choices. For King and Country, Toby Mac, Depeche Mode, Imagine Dragons, Jack Johnson, Coldplay, New Order, Owl City, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Sigur Ros, Sufjan Stevens, U2, Darlingside, Beach House, and Weezer are several groups that are on my playlists.