About Me
It’s always fun to know a little about the person behind a blog, and here’s your place to find out. This page is pretty much the standard bio stuff; if you’re looking for a different perspective, check out my 8 Random Facts About Me post.
I am an instructional designer for Performance Learning Systems, where I develop online graduate courses for K-12 teachers. Although my career has always been related to education in some way, I have bounced around from public school teaching to corporate training and now online instructional design. This blog won’t be restricted to any one of those areas because I’m interested in all of them. I’m in higher education, but it’s for profit and we don’t offer the classes directly; I create fully online courses, but I create them for teachers with physical classrooms.
Standard type disclaimer here: This blog is my own work and my own opinions. I don’t represent any official position of Performance Learning Systems or any other company.
How did I end up doing this work?
Want the quick version of my work history? Check my LinkedIn profile.
I have a Music Education degree with a German minor from Illinois Wesleyan University. During my first year of teaching, I taught music and band in a rural school where all grades K-12 were in the same building. My course load included high school band; high school music appreciation; junior high band; fifth grade band; fifth grade band lessons; and general music for kindergarten, first, third, and fifth grades; plus high school lunch supervision. It certainly gave me a lot of experience juggling multiple responsibilities at once!
My next teaching job was at a middle school managed by the Edison Schools corporation. One of the benefits of teaching for an Edison School was that every teacher received a laptop and regular technology training. I loved being able to experiment and learn new technologies and apply them in the classroom. I also became an unofficial “resident expert” for other teachers’ computer questions. One of the teachers attended a workshop on using Excel for tracking grades. When she asked how to manage weighted grades in Excel, the workshop presenter told her it wasn’t possible! Since this teacher knew I was doing exactly that for my own classes, she came back to me after the workshop and I showed her how to create her gradebook in Excel. A number of other teachers asked for the same coaching as well, and I really enjoyed being able to help them.
There are people in the world who have the gift for teaching middle schoolers, but I realized after a few years that I am not one of them. I have immense respect and admiration for all of you who are in those classrooms daily. I was able to find a way to use my skills working with adults and technology, plus my previous teaching experience, by moving into corporate software training. I loved working with adults and helping them use the software tools more effectively, but I missed designing and developing my own lessons.
Fortunately, a few years later I was hired as an instructional designer for Career Education Corporation, developing online university courses. I learned so much about instructional design and writing for the online environment while I was there. Through promotions, I also had the opportunity to create curriculum for full programs and manage development projects.
What about outside of work?
On a personal note, I grew up in Janesville, Wisconsin, where my parents still live. My sister graduated from seminary in May and hopes to find a church to serve soon after that. My brother graduated from culinary school in 2005 and currently cooks for a restaurant. My father is a software engineer for a company in the dairy industry (it is Wisconsin, after all), and my mother is a substitute teacher. My husband, David, and I were married August 26, 2006, and we’re thoroughly enjoying our newlywed status! David recently started working in the help desk for an education-related software company here in the far northwest Chicago suburbs where we live.
I am a sci fi/fantasy geek. Farscape was my favorite TV show before it was cancelled; Doctor Who is probably my current favorite. On my first day of work at CEC, the department director asked me if I was a Star Trek fan. My response? “Well, it depends which one.” I’ve read lots of SF over the years too, from more authors than I care to list here. And just in case I haven’t established my geek credentials sufficiently yet, my husband and I initially got to know each other and became friends while playing Dungeons and Dragons.
Well, now you know quite a bit about me! Why don’t you go back to the posts and comment so I can get to know you? Feel free to contact me using the form below if you’d like to send me a private message. Thanks!
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