I believe an individual's drive to succeed comes from how they are raised and the experiences they have had as they have matured.

My parents have always believed strongly and value the power of education. They made the decision to send me to Catholic School in San Antonio, Texas and I believe this decision, along with their full support of my success in education, defined many of the values I have today regarding education.

Why did Catholic School have this substantial impact on me?

This substantial impact was a result of two positive educational experiences, each different, one in primary and one in secondary. My primary education took place at St. Luke's Catholic School, which provided a personalized educational experience by focusing effort and energy on daily success in individual subjects and avoiding single standardized tests. Teachers nurtured inquiry and held true to high educational standards for each child. This school debunked traditional private school concepts: behavior problems existed, not all kids were high achievers, and class sizes were on average 30 students. Even with these challenges.....

This school was successful because it had a defined vision that was understood by all staff members and effectively communicated to the parents who supported the vision of the school.

After primary school, I attended an all girls Catholic High School, Incarnate Word High School, where my educational journey was further enlightened. This environment is different than majority of the high schools in the nation. The focus of the school is on teaching responsibility: we took tests in a testing center during a testing window, we were handed assignments due weeks at a time, we had "free" time at school to meet with teachers and complete assignments, and we were encouraged to work with our peers at all times except in the testing center. At the time, I did not realize we were using the 6C's (Communication, Collaboration, Creativity, Character Education, Citizenship, & Critical Thinking), but now as an educator I see them entrenched in everything we did. It changed me as an individual and made me into the confident woman I am today.

This school prepared me to go out into the world after high school graduation to be extraordinary, to value community service, and to never settle for failure. It helped to create a "Growth Mindset" before I even completely understood what that means and how it would help me to become a successful adult.

My primary and secondary schooling experiences created me into a student who loved to solve problems and explore scientific topics. My first interest was to be a medical doctor and I strongly believe I would have succeeded, but my experience as a Teaching Assistant in the Department of Chemistry at Texas A&M University became my true passion. It combined everything I love into one job: helping others, problem solving, explaining difficult topics simply, and earning respect. It changed my career path and allowed me to continue to grow into a profession I absolutely love.

In truth, "yes, I have bad days", and "yes, I know that our educational system in the US needs work. The difference in my perspective versus others is I view the US educational system as being on the cusp of greatness with the potential to be amazing while others focus on how we are "failing students."

After graduating from Texas A&M University with a B.S. in Genetics I acquired my teaching certification through an online teaching preparation program. I thrived in this program, because I loved the availability of the online platform and the opportunity to work at my own pace which at this time was accelerated and focused on completion. During my interview I was immediately offered a position with Austin ISD and later placed at Akins High School. This large high school was divided into academies which provided a more personalized educational experience for students and parents with a defined path and teacher sequence. Academy structure, modified standards based grading, rigorous parent communication requirements, and strong teacher collaboration allowed us to be able to provide a strong education in a Title 1 school setting. In my second year at Akins, I moved academies and joined the New Tech Academy. This academy was supported by the New Tech Network and immersed students in a 1:1 computer project-based learning (PBL) environment. I quickly grew to enjoy this new teaching style and thrived in the culture of collaboration and creativity.

This experience began to form my expectations of what it takes to make a successful school: collaboration, authentic technology integration, PBL, standards based grading, and parent communication.

Four years later, my view of education has only expanded to include more administrative expectations I had not previously held. In South Texas, I interviewed and was offered a position to be a Digital Learning Coach for two elementary schools in Brazosport ISD. This role allowed me to help teachers learn how to best implement technology into their classroom while following and supporting district initiatives. By reflecting on my experience in Austin plus my current experience in South Texas I see a universal struggle to implement digital technology into a students educational experience authentically. Thus, I find myself asking, "Why?" on a routine basis.

Why are we, as an educational system, not further along in implementing technology than we are now?

My best guess, because any change in an educational system, especially a change which requires substantial funding, happens gradually. I also think the improper implementation of technology into classrooms has also slowed the acceptance and growth of 1:1 classroom environments. Technology implemented into a classroom without consideration of the 6 C's or knowledge of a "Growth Mindset," will see little success in standardized test score improvement.

So how can we as educators and parents increase the rate at which technology is used in classroom authentically?

Educate ourselves on what good technology implementation looks like and hold each other (parents, teachers, and administrators) accountable to high standards of technology implementation. Social media is a tool when it comes to learning about the latest and greatest educational technology trends. Here are a couple of my favorite people or organizations to follow in order to expand your view of technology implementation.

ShakeUpLearning, DitchthatTextbook, Edutopia, friEDtechnology, Catlin Tucker

So... Why do I educate?

I educate because I believe it is my calling to help others seek educational excellence in order to improve their lives.