What inspired me to become a teacher is the aha! moment – that moment where a concept that you believed was so complex suddenly makes sense because you were able to relate it back to something that you didn't understand. It’s a feeling of relief, accomplishment and eagerness to learn more. An amazing teacher was able to give it to me and I wanted to do the same for struggling students. Doing that, however, proved to be more difficult than expected once I was in an actual classroom. It wasn’t until I was able to effectively integrate technology into my classroom that I felt I was truly providing that moment for my students. My students, no matter their learning level, were able to showcase their learning in their own unique way while making real world connections. Both my students and I were able to find our voices and I knew I was helping to equip them with skills that they would be able to use long after they left my classroom. 

Seeing how transformative technology was for my classroom encouraged me to partner with teachers throughout my school and help them include more technology in their lessons. Although it wasn’t an easy task to get some out of their comfort zone, it was rewarding to be able to help other teachers create personalized learning experiences for their students with technology and witness the change it made on our campus.  

My goal as the PowerUp coach at Cullen Middle School is to build the capacity of our professors through continuous coaching, impactful mentoring and exposure to a variety of digital tools. This will result in increased student engagement, creative expression and mastery, ultimately creating confident scholars equipped with 21st century skills who are able to drive their own learning.