Why I am an Educator? Why I Lead? #SAVMP

Many years ago as I was starting out in college, I dreamed of going into accounting and being a successful business woman.  As I continued to take the first few accounting classes, I very quickly realized that this was not going to be the career for me.  At the time I was working to help pay my way through college as a daycare assistant, nanny, and home health aide for the state with adults and children with disabilities.  I would help with range of motion exercises, learning activities, and general care.  I had always told my family, "I will never be a teacher! That is the last thing I would ever want to do!"  To this day I have no idea why I ever said that when I was young. 

All I know is that as I worked with children of all abilities, I really felt a change in my heart.  I get emotional thinking about it because that year I knew without a doubt that I wanted to be a teacher!  I really wanted to help others learn and enjoy what they were learning about.  I loved working with children and knew that I would try my best to make a positive impact on as many students as I could.

I taught in elementary school for nine years in Frederick County Public Schools.  There were so many rewarding and challenging times along the way. I believe the purpose of education is not only to acquire knowledge, but more importantly to fashion productive citizens with character and to inspire individuals to learn and seek out information.   The school environment should enable students to seek out facts and construct answers to questions in their curious minds.  Constructing knowledge leads students to understand that there may be more than one way to solve a problem or may lead to new strategies and discoveries.  Learning is a lifelong process and students should be taught and encouraged to learn not only from their teacher, but also from their peers, their parents, their community, and from the world around them.  

As I was teaching I became enthusiastic about learning more about EdTech and how it could help my students to connect, publish, and collaborate. We blogged, created podcasts to share with others, increased our fluency through recording our voices and critiquing ourselves, and so much more.  My students were engaged and excited about learning. 

Blogging with Third Graders 2003 - 2006

I continued to learn more as I got my masters in Instructional Technology from Johns Hopkins.  That program was some of the best learning I have ever experienced.  As I finished my degree, a new position opened up in our county as a Teacher Specialist for Instructional Technology.  I was so fortunate to be able to work in this K - 12 position for six years with teachers, admin, students, teacher specialists, librarians, curriculum specialists, and other staff members. What a rewarding job to be able to help schools integrate technology through the curriculum.  I learned so much more in the six years in this position.  The strong team I was on learned from each other and helped foster growth in the schools as well. During the past year Technology Services in my county was restructured and our jobs were repurposed.  I am going to greatly miss working with such an amazing group of people!

The Technology Resource Teachers and our Amazing Boss

One of the many products we produced together is a website to help teachers as they integrate technology. - http://education.fcps.org/trt  

FCPS Technollogy Resource Teacher Webpage 2007 - 2013

Currently, I am on sabbatical this year pursuing a graduate certificate through Johns Hopkins University in School Administration and Supervision in Partnership with the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE). I am so excited to be able to learn effective educational leadership strategies and ideas.  

Leaders come in many forms:

• The student that encourages others to save money and give to help out others that are in need.
• The teacher that rethinks his/her practice in the classroom and shares experiences and ideas with their teammates.
• The custodian that goes the extra mile to make sure the classrooms are clean and inviting for staff and students.
• The Tech Coordinator that goes above and beyond to make sure all of the computers, printers, and devices are in great working order.
• The administrator that takes the extra time to encourage staff with kind words and notes.
• The parent that gets involved in the school to help bring about informative family nights and educational events for students.
• The teacher specialist that works hard to find solutions and ideas to help a teacher be more effective and productive.
• The curriculum specialist that brings devoted teachers together and works with them to create differentiated lessons and resources. 
• The leaders at Central Office that fight to get the best resources for our teachers and students and encourage others to make a difference.

There are so many others that I am missing.  We need more people that will help to make a difference for our students.  This is why I lead!