I have been a leader in Instructional Technology since Henrico County Public Schools started the first one-to-one laptop initiative in 1990. We built the boat at sea” in a time where laptops were brand new, no one had ever heard of Apple, there was no Google, and no online resources. We created online courses when there were none, developed our own sharing servers when the LMS couldn’t handle 25,000 students logging on at once, and learned to be resilient and progressive because we had to. I’ve seen Google come to be, Apple become an ordinary household word, online testing platforms, and learning management platforms come to be and in many cases, come and go. Now Ai is the latest trend online but is just another in a long line of exciting changes that have happened over the last 24 years. Throughout all of this, my focus has been on how I can help children learn to be creative and be prepared for a life that we can’t predict. It’s been a bumoy, exciting ride and one of the best things I’ve ever been privileged to do. I’ve gotten so much more out of it than I’ve ever put in it. Over the years, I’ve had lots of opportunities to serve including:
- Currently a Google Innovator- one of 2200 people selected for this honor from 75 countries in 66 cohorts over the last 18 years. I am working on a project to help parents new to the US help their students during the first 100 days of school.
- I have had the privilege of working with over 65+ districts in 20+ states across the United States
- I have been a Google Trainer for the last 6 years done a variety of Google Trainings across the country.
- I am a Microsoft Innovative Educator and a Adobe Creative Educator and Trainer
- As former acting director and assistant director of Instructional Technology in Henrico County Public Schools, my primary duty was to supervise our Instructional Technology Resource Teachers as well as create a vision for how technology supported instruction in our schools. I supervised a staff of 39 and was part of the district leadership team. I worked closely with operational technology to provide easy to use systems for our students, teachers, and parents.
Projects of Note developed during my ttime in leadership include:
- Reflective Friends: assessment of 21st-century instruction in schools based on the Technology Innovation Progression Chart Rubric (TIPC); worked with schools to convert an external process to an internal peer observation and collaboration process
- TIP Chart: The Teaching Innovation Progression Chart helps provide teachers with a structure for self-reflection and growth, is designed to encourage conversation around 21st Century learning, and used to assess progress to meet the goal of full integration in a 21st Century classroom.
- Henrico 21 & Student 21: worked to include students and teachers at all schools in the annual recognition of outstanding 21st-century instruction (all lessons aggregated online)
- Strategy for purchasing Technology Resources (in collaboration with specialists and technology) using the RFP process on a 4 year rotational basis
- Technology Conference for Teachers
- Technology Conference for Leadership
- Creation of an online Instructional Design and Content website that aggregated all instructional resources
- Developed a county-wide committee consisting of teachers, administrators, and county personnel to guide the work of Helped developinstructional and operational technology
- Worked to develop a student data privacy rubric and filtering rubric
