Bios
Will Gibson is a fifth grade teacher of Advanced Academics students at Wakefield Forest Elementary School in Fairfax Virginia. He also works as a consultant for the nonprofit Ascanius: The Youth Classics Institute which advocated for the teaching of the classical languages and cultures in elementary school classrooms. He has an associate's degree in Computer Science from Northern Virginia Community College, a bachelor's degree in education from Radford University, and is working on his master's degree in Curriculum and Instruction from George Mason University. He has led professional development on the use of WebQuests in the classroom, and using Presentation Zen techniques with students. Email him at wgibson716@gmail.com.
Mel Rodriguez is a K-8 Spanish teacher at Nativity Catholic School in Burke, Virginia. She has been teaching at Nativity for eight years. She earned a bachelor's degree in Spanish from Randolph-Macon College in Ashland, VA. She is currently pursuing her master's degree in Curriculum and Instruction from George Mason University, where she is a member of a community of digital learners through the Designing Digital Learning in Schools (DDLS) program. In addition to teaching Spanish, she runs the 1:1 Chromebook program at Nativity and is a Google Certified Educator. She is a member of the AATSP, Diocesan Language Teachers, and GEG-Northen Virginia. Check out her blog, Mel's Digital Learning Community, where she explores digital learning, podcasts, social media and more. Email her at mcr301@gmail.com
Zack Cyphers is a native Pittsburgher living and working in Northern Virginia. He is a graduate of the Film & Media Arts program at Temple University, and earned his teaching license at the University of Pittsburgh. He student-taught English Language Arts at a nationally recognized Blue Ribbon School in Pennsylvania. He taught video production summer programs in two Philadelphia high schools, then moved overseas to work for the Department of Defense Education Activity (DODEA) in Germany. While living overseas, he worked in two American middle-high schools teaching grades 7, 10, 11, 12 and AP English Language Arts, and 7-12 Video Production. He moved back to the US in 2015 and now works as an education and multimedia specialist at the National Museum of the US Army. Zack is currently studying digital learning at George Mason University's Graduate School of Education. Email him at mistercyphers@gmail.com.