I was a kid who was good at everything, but never great at anything. I grew up in a small town where I was able to play varsity volleyball, play French horn and trumpet in band, star in community theater productions, and participate in every possible extra-curricular activity offered. I got to college and found another whole world of opportunities and after officially changing my major 11 times I finally settled in with English Education and a minor in Educational Technology. At the time, I had never even heard of Educational Technology, but my advisor recommended it because my previous major, Management Information Systems, had a lot of computer courses and she thought they would transfer into the minor, they didn't, but I was hooked. Under the instruction of Dr. Leigh Zietz and Dr. Sharon Smaldino at the University of Northern Iowa, I found that I loved the applications available for educators, and that through technology I could immerse myself in a multitude of subject areas.

After one semester of teaching high school English I found a job teaching middle school computers in rural Iowa and finally found something for which I could sustain a passion. My sixth through eighth grade students had computers every other day. I had to build the computers from refurbished donations, maintain the computers for my entire building, and as if that wasn't enough I also did the yearbook, newspaper and coached volleyball. I loved it. I got to dabble in everything and through teaching computers I was able to create units around all subject areas. However, I knew that there was so much more out there in terms of teaching technology so I started looking for programs. I had already taken many of the offered courses at UNI as an undergrad, so I broadened my search and found SDSU. I had written an article on WebQuests for our Area Education Agency so I was already familiar with Dr. Bernie Dodge’s work and the EDTEC program seemed perfect.

I started the program online and eventually moved to California to take the courses on campus. I got a job teaching Computers and English in Calabasas, CA and continued my courses online for another couple of years. Through my multimedia courses with Dr. Bob Hoffman I was able to learn a number of different programs and come directly back to my classroom and teach them to my students. It was a perfect fit. Then I  got antsy and decided I needed to complete my Master’s program, and so I looked for a program locally. I ended up enrolled in CSUN’s EDTEC program. I took a couple of courses through them and found that the courses offered were redundant to skills I already possessed, so I decided to take a leave of absence and attend SDSU full time on campus. It was the best academic decision I have ever made. The online program at SDSU is superb, but the on campus program is phenomenal. I learned how to collaborate and feed on the passion of others. I found people who were not going through the motions of school, but were working to get as much out of it as possible. I was overwhelmed as every projected I worked on, every idea I came across, seemed to apply directly to my teaching practices. It was amazing that as I learned new ideas and technologies I could immediately turn around and teach those concepts to my middle school students – and boy did they pick up on them much faster than I did! It was a fantastic motivation.

After taking a leave of absence from my teaching job I returned fall of 2007 to Calabasas and began teaching computers and yearbook until October when I was approached to apply for the position of Teacher on Special Assignment for Secondary Technology. I got the job and moved to the District Office in November. My district had a massive technology rollout and every teacher was given a laptop, projector, digital overhead, speakers and a DVD player and my job is to help them integrate this new technology into their classrooms. It's been a challenging and rewarding experience as I've learned to take the lessons I did with my middle school students and modify them to meet the needs of my adult learners.

Given the huge budget crisis in California, my department has been drastically reduced for next year and it looks like my new challenge will be covering all of the elementary schools as well as the secondary schools next year. Wish me luck!

To view my online resumé click here. Download pdf here.