About Jennifer Hart

I have my undergraduate BA in English with a minor in Political Science from the University of La Verne in La Verne, CA. I also received my California State Teaching License through the University of La Verne while teaching full time at West Covina High School. Meeting Geoff during that first year and keeping a long distance relationship was a struggle and after 3 years, we decided to get married and I moved to Washington State. While I loved teaching high school, I also had a knack for technology and while in CA was able to work on a team to bring a $1 milliion grant to our school - getting a new infrastructure, a computer lab and a computer for reach classroom. I wanted to do more - I knew computers were coming to education, so I applied and was accepted into Azusa Pacific's Online Educational Technology Masters Program. I took a hiatus from teaching when I had my first son, Teddy (now 13) and when I was pregnant with Nate (now 10) I was offered a job at Wilkes University in Wilkes-Barre, PA. I have taught teachers for the past 10 years how to use tecnology in the classroom. I currently hold a teaching certificate for the State of Colorado, but decided that a traditional classroom job wasn't for me. I love Fireside, I love technology and when this position was approved, I knew that it was a good fit. Luckily, others also felt that and I have hit the ground running. I have a philosophy and a goal for this job:

Philosophy: Technology is here to stay. How can we enhance the lessons that our amazing teachers are teaching -- NOT replace the lessons. We need to find a balance where we are teaching our students to use this technology not just to communicate via text and play games, but as a educational learning tool.

Goal: Each time I am working with a teacher to integrate technology, it is linked to their curriculum. How can this technology enhance the lesson, and make it better. How can we use technology to reach a standard, help a student learn or create a new way for a student to demonstrate understanding.

Testimonies

Comments from Tech Para Survey

• I initially voted against a tech para last year. However after working with Jenn, seeing the kids Interract with technology and standards in really relevant ways, and learning from Jenn about how to utilize technology tools myself, in a firm “YES” that funding a tech para is an excellent use of our resources.
• Having a Tech Para has been amazing. I have always been a little timid to bring it into my classroom. I have used it more than ever because she has been open and willing to come in and help. She has amazing ideas. In our planning meetings she listens to us talk and throws out creative and fun ways to connect it to technology.
• Tech para has been a tremendous addition to Fireside. As classroom teachers, we want to incorporate tech into many lessons but simply do not have the time and energy to do that. Jenn has been available around the clock to take our questions and plan interesting lessons with us. The students respond to her and see her as the expert that she is. Jenn has become an integral part of my instructional planning. With all of the new technology and Maker-Space tools that have been brought into the school, we simply would not be able to use them to their potential without someone there to help with planning and integration. Thanks.
• Jenn has been such an amazing tech para for us! Not only is she knowledgeable about technology, but if a new high tech tool comes in, she will take it home, learn how to use it, and help us integrate these new high tech tools into our curriculum. Jenn also looks closely at our curriculum maps and comes up with ideas to integrate technology into our plan to enhance our curriculum and provide transformational experiences for our students. We are so fortunate to have Jenn. Sometimes, technology can be overwhelming for teachers and without Jenn, the amount of technology that is currently being integrated wouldn't be happening! Thank you, Jenn for all you do for us and more importantly, for our students.