Professional Pursuits

Below I have included below my current professional pursuits.  I am always seeking to expand my professional learning network, so please contact me by e-mail with questions or opportunities to collaborate.

Flipped Instruction
During the spring and summer of 2013, I co-created and co-taught professional development that explored the pedagogy supporting flipped instruction and how to integrate technology to make the flip.  This course modeled a flipped and blended instructional method with participants viewing content online, editing a wiki to share their understanding, and meeting in person to discuss and extend our knowledge.  32 K-12 educators received 15 hours of professional development course credit upon completion of this experience.

Educational Technology: iPadded Instruction
I collaborate with 4 other teachers to share best practices while implementing a 1:1 iPad program with juniors and seniors at Hilton High School.  My students have begun exploring how to utilize screencasts to become more autonomous learners and to demonstrate their understanding and/or skills of English and media literacy content.

Educational Reform
While pursuing a degree in educational leadership, I became even more convinced that there is no longer a consensus surrounding the purpose of a free and compulsory education.  Building on Doug Lemov's insistence on purposeful pedagogy and rigorous, meaningful lessons and Salman Khan's insistence that we break free from the Prussian paradigm of education for a more portable, autonomous, and student-directed educational system, I continue to be a strong advocate for educational reform.  As someone skilled in managing the change process and leading educational reform, I am currently researching and responding to calls for submissions from ASCD, NCTE, and other professional organizations supporting a shift away from a teacher-directed, nationalized and standardized educational model such as the one supported by Common Core State Standards and President Obama's Race to the Top initiative.