Tom Birner

Tom Birner currently teaches English as a Second Language (ESL) at Evergreen Academy in Annandale, Virginia. During the school year he also teaches at the GDS 360, the Georgetown Day School's after-school program. He also has several years' experience as an English Language Arts Teacher and is certified in English 6-12 with the Florida Department of Education. He has twelve years' experience teaching ESL both overseas and abroad and is well-versed not only in improving students' English skills but also helping them acclimate to American culture. Along with this, Tom has multiple TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) certifications.

Tom also has two years' experience teaching high needs. At Hampshire Country School, a small school in New Hampshire which specializes in twice exceptional students, he learned how to foster growth both inside and outside the classroom, emphasize socio-academic growth and integrate it with classroom lessons, and improve executive functioning skills without sacrificing academic achievement.

He received a BA in English at Pace University and subsequently became a successful journalist, finding regular work as an Arts and Entertainment writer for such notable publications as New York Press, Spin Magazine, and Filter Magazine. He has worked as a freelance copy editor for eighteen years and has had several short stories published in such literary magazines as North Atlantic Review and Marginalia Literary Magazine. In 2015, he published his first novel, April 4th, with Intuition Media Publishing House.

In his free time, Tom likes to ride horses and motorcycles, read, write, travel, watch movies, listen to music, check out new restaurants, explore Washington, DC.