Projects

Computer Science

Computer Science is a literacy all students must have. It is as integral to their lives as reading, writing, and mathematics. It is a literacy that has emerged at a rate far faster than anything we have seen before and has become a part of nearly all career paths.

It is because of this urgency that I led the work of partnering with Code to the Future to help us grow competency in our current teaching staff at the elementary level to teach Computer Science in an immersive approach across all disciplines. Our 5th grade students leave elementary school with fluency in block-based coding, programming robotics, and building in virtual reality.

The work we have accomplished at the elementary level has pushed our Computer Science curricular options at the middle and high school level as well. Our high school has been leading the way in our geographical area as well. At the high school level, students enter a Computer Science pathway that allows them to leave with certification from an industry partner like Cisco.

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Makerspaces and Library Media

In my first year with the Kettle Moraine School District, I partnered with the Library Media Specialists (whom I supervised) to reinvent the Library Media Center. The team is filled with creative and bold Librarians who had already transformed their traditional roles to one of support and innovation coach. This groundwork made for a great foundation to rethink library spaces and how we use them as well as the culture they create at the heart of the building. In the years to come, makerspaces were added to the renovated middle school and high school libraries. Each space fits the unique needs of its building and students.

"The best way to predict the future is to create it." - Abraham Lincoln

STEAM Programming and Learning Spaces

STEM/STEAM curriculum design and learning spaces at the middle school and high school levels began in the summer of 2018 under my leadership. The process began with hiring a team that would be dedicated to transforming the vision of career and technical education. In collaboration with my team, an innovative, problem-solving focus has been brought to students through an interdisciplinary approach.

The learning spaces where students would be tasked with solving real-world problems were outdated and did not provide access to industry-standard equipment and software. Community and district support for STEM/STEAM is of high importance and focus. To that end, Cisco Systems and Rockwell Automation have served as strategic partners to accelerate student preparation for industry expectations and engineering challenges.

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Conference Co-Host

The Teaching and Learning team at the Kettle Moraine School District, developed and hosted a conference for other school districts interested in learning more about how to implement personalized learning.

As a part of this team, we led sessions, delivered keynote addresses, gave tours of our learning spaces, and served as mentors to districts across the country.

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EdCamp Conference Creator

As any teacher will explain, sit and get professional development rarely has the impact it is intended to have. However, teacher-led and/or job-embedded professional development has an enormous impact and costs much less. Our teachers are experts in all kinds of things. Learning and leveraging their strengths honors their professionalism.

For all of those reasons, I started an EdCamp for our area. Using the "unconference" style really has made all the difference. Though the EdCamp was a great public event, we continue to use its philosophy for professional development days throughout the year. (Click the link to learn more.)

Recharge Ed Co-Creator

In addition to specific professional development days, I also lead a team of professionals who are job-embedded coaches for our teachers. This team strategizes using data to best determine what specific teachers need. Armed with this information, the coaches teach alongside and plan alongside teachers to model and problem-solve at the time of instruction and need.

Our model of professional development has had so much impact that we decided to offer our own conference to other teachers and leaders. Recharge Ed is a free event where educators learn from each other. (Click the link to learn more.)

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