Hey, y’all! I’m a small town South Carolina girl who’s a wife to my high school sweetheart, mama to three crazy kids, Honey to my new grandson (yes, I’m a grandmother!), BFF to my BFFs, and 2nd grade teacher turned instructional coach trying to make geek chic!
When I’m not at school coaching and teaching educators and students, I probably can be found in the kitchen cooking for and spending time with my family; with my friends at the gym, the coffee shop, or on outdoor adventures; or in my craft room cutting with my Silhouette, creating a new t-shirt or vinyl sticker design for friends and family. I also enjoy reading, scrolling through Instagram reels, and binge-watching Netflix!
I went back to college at 27 to get my degree and started teaching at 32. As soon as I got into the classroom, I was stirring things up with my grade level peeps because I knew that “the way things had always been done” was not the way! I got my master’s in instructional technology in 2015 because I knew that the digital world would soon be changing our physical classrooms.
I had one laptop, one desktop and one iPad in my class, and those were technically all teacher devices! So I wrote a grant to get 4 iPads for my classroom and another grant to get another iPad, and I started transforming my classroom and how I was teaching my students!
I made a lot of mistakes along the way but I also came to so many realizations through taking risks and just trying new things. My efforts did not go unnoticed as I was named South Carolina’s PBS Digital Innovator and a Seesaw Ambassador in 2017! My last year in the classroom I worked with an amazing instructional technology coach (now one of my best friends) who helped me gain so much insight and experience using digital tools creatively and teaching students to use them to create!
I knew I wanted to help other teachers come to the same realizations that I had! The very next year, my dreams came true as I moved into a new role at my district: digital learning coach. I was given the opportunity to reach more teachers and share what I’d learned. I was also able to apply my skills and knowledge to become a Google for Education Certified Trainer in 2019.
But I really wanted to grow my reach and impact even more teachers’ lives! I had a blog that I started while in my master’s program, so I started reflecting on my instructional technology use there. Over the years, I tried to contribute to it when I could, but I never had a focus and always let other things get in the way. But recently I discovered my true passion wasn’t just integrating tech but creatively using tech to engage students AND teaching students to use tech to create! And The Creative Tech Coach was born!
You are here because you are . . . .
An administrator or instructional coach looking for training or support for your educators!
I use my educational and technological expertise to design resources to help you and your students creatively integrate technology (no digital worksheets here!) OR use technology to create amazing things to transform classrooms and the world!