• Hosting and Running A Conference – A Reflection

      I had the opportunity to work with a dedicated team of professionals to bring an educational technology conference to our local corner of Michigan. This first-year event was planned in the beginning of March, leaving us just four and a half months to bring it all together. It was an experience was something that…

  • Summer Coding Camp – Trying to build interest in STEM Field and Classes

    This post is long overdue. We concluded the Coding Camp at the end of June. I have been busy planning and running a conference. More on that later. But now, here is my coding camp story. In February, a colleague and I hosted a family coding night for our school district and the families. The…

  • Offline Coding Challenge

    At the end of the school year, I was asked to help at an “Amazing Race” style challenge for our 4th and 5th-grade students. Specifically, I was asked to do something that was coding related in a 15 minute time window with two teams. My mind began to race as I explored and thought about…

  • The Four Cs and the Need for EdTech

    This post matches content that I wrote and posted for a conference that is happening this summer. You can see the original post on the Lake Michigan Tech Conference website here.  The world is rapidly evolving. Our economy is changing. We are preparing our students for jobs that do not yet exist. As educators, we…

  • Why Blog? Joining #ETCoaches Blogging Buddies

    Over the course of the last few years, I have jumped on and off the blogging bandwagon. In fact, this is my third professional blog. Let’s not count when my roommates and I tried to start a sports blog in college. The other two have disappeared or I didn’t have the confidence to stay with…

  • MACUL Reflection!

    Last week, I had the opportunity to attend the 41st Annual Michigan Association of Computer Users in Learning Conference held at Cobo Hall in Downtown Detroit. The conference has been a staple of my professional development since I entered the teaching profession. It is the conference that re-energizes, sparks, and guides me through the “Ides…

  • PSEL (2015) – Ethics and Professional Norms – Balancing Act: My Role as an Instructional Coach

    For me, defining a specific moment or event during my internship in which I focused on ethics and professional norms of an administrator. As I reflected, I found it increasingly difficult to find the event. Sure, I could have shared my thirty-minute training video at the beginning of the year on mandatory reporting of child…

  • PSEL (2015) – Operations and Management – Working on a Budget

    While I have been fortunate to gain significant experience in a few categories during my internship experience, I have had to work extremely hard to gain experience in other areas. One area, operations and management, is difficult to get into as someone who is new the district as well. My mentor, who, as one of…

  • PSEL (2015) – Meaningful Family and Community Engagement – Family Code Night

    Meaningful Engagement of Families and Communities is an essential piece of any school success to be had. Having a transparent and open environment with stakeholders is an important piece to build the relations that need to be in place for a school to be successful. This reaches much deeper than a traditional community outreach event,…

  • PSEL (2015) Reflection – Professional Capacity of School Personnel

    Working in a Michigan public school is a tremendous honor and a tremendous responsibility.  Each year, it seems more and more is being added to the plate of many Michigan educators. That is why, when I was tasked with developing professional development, I looked for ways that I could make it more fun and enjoyable.…