at Google Certified Innovator Cohort #LAX18   |  photo by Andrew Weeks Photography

JENNIFER LEBAN | SPEAKER | PRESENTER

Jennifer Leban, NBCT, is an instructional technology coach with 20+ years of K-8 classroom teaching experience in visual arts, technology, and library/makerspace classes. Jen is a Google Trainer, Innovator (#LAX18), and Coach who lives in the Chicago suburbs with her husband and son. Jen is a 2020 IL State Teacher of the Year Finalist and 2020 finalist for the Presidential Award for Excellence in Math and Science Teaching (PAEMST) for her work in K-6 computer science education. Jen is an ISTE-Certified Educator and Teach Plus IL Policy Fellow. She is also a leadership team member for the Chicagoland Google Educators Group (GEG). 

Jen has presented and been a featured speaker at education conferences throughout the United States, such as ISTE, AMLE, IDEAcon, and CPS Googlepalooza. She has mentored new teachers and hosted several student teachers throughout her career. Jen is an education ambassador for WeVideo, Microsoft Flip, Wakelet, and Seesaw, as well as an Apple Learning Coach, Screencastify Coach, and Peardeck Coach. Jen has also worked closely with and traveled to present as an Adobe Education Innovator Leader for Adobe Education. 

Jen is interested in designing learning spaces, digital videos and storytelling, visual literacy, and discovering new ways to use digital tools for learning. She enjoys empowering other educators with the confidence to take risks and explore new avenues in teaching.

Jen has illustrated several children's books, including Coding to Kindness by Valerie Sousa (EduMatch Books), McKenzie's Time Machine and McKenzie's Bisabuela by Yaritza Villalba (X-Factor EDU Publishing), and Little Otty with Anxiety by Christine Ravesi-Weinstein (Runner's High Publishing).

Outside of school, Jennifer is a retired roller derby skater who coaches her local junior roller derby league. Jen earned her BA in Arts Education with honors from Elmhurst College and completed her MA in Educational Leadership through St. Xavier University.

“If we keep doing the same things we’ve always done, we’ll keep getting what we’ve always gotten. When we push ourselves outside of our comfort zone and try new things, we can reach a new level of potential previously unimagined.”