About Me
My name is Tiffany Trent. I live in Apex, North Carolina. I am a STEM teacher and technology facilitator for Laurel Park Elementary School. I love to learn new things! This year I have been involved in a few opportunities with NC Department of Public Instruction. I was invited to be a part of the Coaching Cohort where we are collaboratively creating coaching resources to be shared across the state in GoOpenNC. In addition, I was invited to be an ambassador for NCBOLD to train teachers in the Eastern part of North Carolina.
I have been teaching for more than 20 years with most of that as a technology teacher. I am the leader of a district-wide K-12 PLT for technology contacts and media specialists. It is a forum for teachers to ask any media or tech related questions. Certified as a technology facilitator, I try to help the teachers in my school by becoming an expert on educational tools. Certification as a Google Educator (1 and 2), Seesaw Ambassador, Screencastify Genius, and more help me become a better trainer. I just finished my second masters degree in Educational Technology, the first was in Elementary Education.
In every school I have been a part of, I try to provide at least 10 hours of digital learning to teachers. This has been in small groups, PLTs, individually, and to the whole staff. At the beginning of the pandemic, I answered emails, texts, and calls for around 14 hours a day. Since many of the questions were the same, I created a document called Answers for Everything. This enabled my staff to use as a reference so they could get the just-in-time training they needed without having to wait on me for an answer. I also created on for parents called LPES Parent and Student Tech Questions Answered so parents could find answers for their questions too. Currently, I am offering a weekly in-person training session and an asynchronous Google Classroom class.
Before Laurel Park, I taught for 3 years at international schools in England and Germany. I got the opportunity to shift from teaching strictly computer technology to STEM. I have been able to train teachers on the Engineering Design Process, how to integrate STEM into many other subjects, and collaborated with them to make sure lessons were rigorous and effective. In Germany, I integrated technology with Pre-K - 12th grade teachers and taught Informational and Communications Technology (ICT) to 6 - 10th graders.
On a more personal note, I grew up in a small town in Upper East Tennessee. My dad created a program system for land surveyors, so I had a computer in my home when not many people did. My passions are travelling, learning new things, and pickleball. Pickleball is a cross between tennis and ping pong. I try to play as much as I can and may be addicted to the sport. I have lived in 5 countries and I have traveled to more than 40 countries. Anytime I have a vacation, I usually go abroad. I am always excited to learn new things and to share those things with other teachers. Sometimes people laugh because I get so excited about new technology or tools, but I find it exciting to discover new tools for teachers and students.