About Me

I didn’t know I wanted to be a teacher when I was growing up in rural Illinois. My mom was a middle school science teacher, and my sister and I have both always loved science. I graduated from university with a degree in physics thinking I would become an engineer. My first job after graduation was teaching English in Kumamoto, Japan. It was there, among Japanese middle school students, where I found my true calling. I returned home to Illinois, became a physics teacher, and never looked back. Since then, I have had the pleasure of working with students and teachers from grade 6 through university in Illinois, Mexico, and Singapore.

While teaching physics in Mexico, I realized the power that technology had to engage and inspire my students. This led me to become an education technology coach where I get to support teachers in using technology purposefully and meaningfully for student learning. The best part of my job is getting to share and learn with teachers and students throughout the school.

As a technology coach in Singapore, I played a large role in designing and implementing the 1:1 laptop program in our middle school. (Visit our laptop bootcamp site!) Through this experience, I learned how to support teachers and administrators in a changing landscape. I also had the opportunity to be part of my school’s research and development team where we visited schools around the world doing things differently to learn and bring back best practices to lead change at our school.

I was a mentor and program team member of the Dynamic Learning Project pilot program which led to the creation of the Google for Education Certified Coach program. The pilot program was created in partnership with Google, Digital Promise, and EdTechTeam. I joined the program as a mentor for instructional coaches and administrators in high need schools across the country before moving into a program leadership role. I love coaching teachers and facilitating discussion on how to inspire all students to be creators, thinkers, and lifelong learners. I am honored to support coaches and their teachers as they continue to push the envelope of what learning looks like in the classroom. I am proud to be an educator.