I hold my undergraduate degree in Music Education and Spanish from the University of Michigan, a Masters of Arts in Spanish Language and Pedagogy and an Ed.S. in Curriculum, Teaching, and Educational Policy from Michigan State University. I taught high school Spanish for 13 years, and was the Technology Media Coordinator for the Career Services and Technical Education division at Ingham Intermediate School District in Mason, MI for 6 years; and now am a consultant, assisting organizations, school districts, educators, parents, and students with all aspects of technology, its integration, and technology literacy. Currently I am the Conference and Communications Coordinator for the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese.
An avid fan of technology, I seamlessly incorporated technology into my teaching and continue to frequently present workshops and seminars designed to teach technology skills and technology integration as well as standards-based curriculum development and assessment. My philosophy is that it really isn’t about the technology, but rather the opportunities the technology provides. It is about what you can create via the technology.
I have designed and facilitated numerous institutes for the National K-12 Foreign Language Resource Center (NFLRC) and am an Advisory Board member and founding editor of the NFLRC’s electronic newsletter—The Alumni Connection. I am a frequent presenter at national, regional, and state conferences, and I provide custom professional development at the district level. I am a past President of the Michigan World Language Association and currently serve as the organization’s Website Manager. In 2007 I served as Program Chair for the Central States Conference on the Teaching of Foreign Languages. I am also a volunteer translator and team leader for Kiva.org, translating descriptions of micro-businesses from Spanish to English to facilitate loans to budding entrepreneurs in developing countries in Latin America.
In my free time, I enjoy traveling, playing piano, exploring new technologies, and being a parent to two awesome teenagers.