The Instructional Innovation team, part of BSD’s Teaching & Learning department, leads professional learning, coaching, program development, and content creation centered on technology-enabled 21st century learning. Explore this site to learn more about our programs and initiatives.
JOHN PEPLINSKI
District Administrator for Instructional Innovation Team
John leads the Beaverton School District in innovative teaching practices and cutting-edge developments in pedagogy, educational technology, and digital learning, and brings collaborative teams together to identify and implement a common vision for integrating technology into instruction and converting curricular content into a digital format. John oversees the District’s Future Ready and Digital Curriculum Team, central Teacher Librarians, and our Career and Technical Education programs.
NICHOLE CARTER started in education as a middle school language arts teacher where she integrated the flipped classroom model in a 1:1 iPad environment. As a part of the Future Ready team in BSD she has worked to create digital content for K-12 in language arts, SEL, and social sciences. She is also a part of the group that is working on the Digital Learning Scope & Sequence vertical alignment and lesson design. Nichole is currently a part of the team coordinating the Digital Learning Cohorts for Canvas Trailblazers and Seesaw Scouts with two more cohorts coming in Fall of 2022. She is an International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) author of two books on Sketchnoting & Creative Journaling for Teachers, a Google Certified Educator, and an Apple Learning Coach. She strives to create a personalized and engaging classroom experience for both teachers and students.
Contact Nichole with questions on:
UDL &Information Design
Content Creation & Lesson Design
Adobe Creative Cloud Express
Canvas & Canvas Studio
Google Drives, Docs, Sheets, Forms, Youtube
Kami
Read&Write
Sora
Cohorts: Seesaw Scouts Cohort, Canvas Trailblazers, iPad Innovators
Chris Giles has over 22 years of experience in education, including 15 years of teaching in Arizona, 2 years in Brazil and 2 years as the K12 Technology Integration Specialist at the Arizona Department of Education. Chris enjoys working with educators, a role that allows him to combine his passion for promoting integration of technology in the classroom and facilitating technology rich staff development. His current role is the Canvas administrator, as well as helping to coordinate district communication on Canvas and helps support the Digital Learning Cohorts for Canvas Trailblazers and Canvas Facilitators. Chris is also on the software review team. Little known fact, Chris loves bargain hunting!
Contact Chris with questions on:
Canvas District Admin
Canvas Facilitators Lead
Dropout Detective
Adobe Spark
iQWST
Kami
Newsela
Padlet
Turnitin
Draft Coach
WeVideo
Software Review Team
Dawn Guildner has over 20 years of experience in education and taught 13 years of High School Science in the Portland Metro area before transitioning to the Future Ready team in BSD. She has supported science as a K-12 Science TOSA and Instructional Innovation TOSA for K-12. Dawn continues to provide support in STEAM, coding and 3D printing throughout the district. She is the director of BSD's film festival, Signal to Noise, supports the Library Instructional and Technology Teachers (LITTs) at the secondary level, and the Technology Instructional Assistants (TIAs) at the elementary level. She is also coordinates volunteers from the Nike Inventor's Club for the micro:bit project and make-a-thons. Dawn is also a part of the team developing BSD's Digital Learning Scope & Sequence vertical alignment and lesson development. Dawn is part of the software review team and a micro:bit champion for 2022.
Contact Dawn with questions on:
Facilitator for PD with LITT's
Director for Signal to Noise
Facilitator for PD with TIA's
STEAM
Coding
micro:bit
Typing.com
Tinkercad
3D Printing
CARRIE KUNERT was an elementary classroom teacher for 20+ years, school-level technology integration support and co-teaching as a LITT (Library Instructional Technology Teacher), Wonder Workshop Coach of Oregon's top scoring Wonder Workshop challenge team, established a Makerspace for Scholls Heights Elementary which has become a model for other schools. Carrie is a part of the group that is working on the Digital Learning Scope & Sequence vertical alignment and lesson design as well as Digital Citizenship. She is currently a part of the team coordinating the Digital Learning Cohorts for Canvas Trailblazers and Seesaw Scouts with two more cohorts coming in Fall of 2022. Carrie is a Google Certified Educator, and an Apple Learning Coach.
Contact Carrie with questions on:
Cohorts: Seesaw Scouts Cohort, Canvas Trailblazers, iPad Innovators
Canvas for Elementary
Dreambox k-5
Epic
Google Jamboard
Google Slides
Kahoot
JENN MANN was as a middle school math teacher for 17 years before transitioning to a tech coach role at Meadow Park for 2 years and then as a TOSA on the Teaching & Learning team. Jenn works to support 6-12 math teachers and students as well as being a part of the digital curriculum team. She is the Formative admin, and facilitates and collaborates with math leaders and teachers focused on supporting the Math adoption, best practices in math instruction, and loves to arrange and deliver math PD. Jenn is a Google Certified Educator, and is on the Formative Educator developer group.
Contact Jenn with questions on:
ALEKS 8-12
CPM
Desmos
Dreambox 6-8
Formative
OpenUp Resources
KRISTIN MCCARTNEY started her teaching career as a middle school science teacher before becoming a MYP coordinator/ Design teacher. She then transitioned to her current district role as a part of the Digital Curriculum team. Kristin is part of the group working on Digital Learning Scope & Sequence vertical alignment and lesson design. She is one of the points of contact between IT and Teaching & Learning and is coordinating the effort for the Digital Backpack student experience. Kristin also supports the middle school technology and and MS Future Labs. Kristin has certifications in Kami, Seesaw, and is on the Formative Educator developer group.
Contact Kristin with questions on:
Apex
Code.org
Design Thinking
EVERFI
Lightspeed
Zoom
Steve Simpson spent eleven years as an Elementary teacher here in Beaverton School District before moving into digital curriculum, he has been with BSD for 17 years. In 2015 Steve got his Doctorate of Education in Educational Methodology and Policy and Leadership. Steve has been integral in helping to discover and evaluate digital tools for the district. He works closely with IT to help support Clever and Seesaw and is helping lead the way in the transition from TeacherSource to a new program. He is also currently a part of the team coordinating the Digital Learning Cohorts for Seesaw Scouts, and is a part of the software review committee. Steve loves looking for solutions to tricky problems.
Contact Steve with questions on:
Clever
Seesaw
Schoolpace & Bookshelf
Code.org
Dreambox k-8 (rostering)
Great Body Shop