Introductions

[Ben Anderson]

Please introduce yourself, let us know a little bit about you, and where you are from.

[Ben Anderson]

My name is Ben Anderson. I'm the Director of CTAP Region 3 and Instructional Technology & Learning Resources at the Sacramento County Office of Education. I spent 15 years as a high school teacher, coach, and administrator and for the past 14 years, I've been in leadership roles in educational technology and curriculum development at the CSU Chancellor's office, CTAP Regions 2, 3, and 5, and Apex Learning.

[Karolee Smiley]

Hi
I'm Karolee Smiley.
I have been involved in a variety of programs and try to stay on the bleeding edge with my district's technology: using JASON, teleconferencing, and video production. I am currently enrolled in iMet and working on a master's in Educational Technology.

I have been teaching Junior High students in the Grant District since 93.
I love the Middle School experience, which entails the whole K-12 gambit in one day: you can go from higher level thinking and abstract concepts to "he touched me" in 3 seconds. Gotta love it!

I look forward to hearing some new ideas and discovering some sites and tools others have discovered!

[Kathi Sisk]

Hi everyone,
My name is Kathi Sisk and I've been teaching for 25 years in grades k,1,2,and 3. I teach second grade at Lone Tree School on Beale AFB. This is one of 4 schools in the Wheatland School District. Our school has recently purchased LCD projectors, Mimio boards and Avervision document cameras for each classroom. I am integrating Inspiration, United Streaming and powerpoints into my Open Court lessons. I'm excited to learn from this group and share new ideas with my school district.

[Bonita Walker]

Hi, my name is Bonita Walker. Teaching was a career change for me. After 16 years in corporate America, I've taught first through sixth grade over the last 15 years. I think I've found my niche with sixth graders. I use Discovery Streaming, Edublogs, Inspiration, and Curriculum Companion extensively. As I'm learning new things, I share as much as I can with my colleagues. I am so eager to use technology in my classroom that I'm hoping I am not short changing my students in other areas.

[Joe Wood]

Hello,

My name is Joe Wood. I'm an 8th grade science teacher at the Jonas Salk High-Tech Academy in Sacramento. Jonas Salk is an Apple 1:1 school which basically means our all of our 600 students have their own Macbooks they take from class to class. Its a fantastic learning environment for the students and teachers. Every day is a new experience full of Moodle, blogs, wikis, and iLife. Prior to teaching at Salk I was both a middle school science teacher and technology coach in the Sylvan District in Modesto.

[Diana Ganju]

Hi all - my name is Diana Ganju. I have been a trainer / media developer for CTAP for about 3 years now. Prior to my work at CTAP, I was a graphic designer. I started teaching part-time at CSUS in the Department of Design and found my true calling - teaching! I received my masters from iMet and have been teaching technology and best practices ever since. It is my hope that through technology when can expand creative opportunities for our students. Thinking creatively builds one ability to solve problems and collaborate with others. Technology can play a large role in this process. You will find me mostly online teaching CTAP live online courses - I hope to meet you soon!

[Bob Lyons]

Hello EdTechers,

I'm Bob Lyons from the American School of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland. I'm the former tech director for the Dry Creek School District in Roseville (01-07), hence my connection to this group. We'll be returning to Roseville in June after 2 great years in Warsaw. My 9th &10th grade daughters don't want to move back so it's been a positive experience for them also. My wife is the elem counselor here and she's ready to roll.

I'm currently the HS tech integration specialist, IB Computer Science teacher and coordinate a HS 1:1 tablet program. Like Joe, we use Moodle extensively. I especially enjoy the collaborative features of the forums. As much as I enjoy technology, I also see the negative side... and the need for digital citizenship, my latest bandwagon. Hope to see you all at one of Ben's meetings soon.

[George Kastanis]

My name is Inigo Montoya, you killed my father, prepare to die.

What more can I say.

I am a 6th grade teacher at BEAUTIFUL John Still Elementary. I have been using technology since I started teaching in 1998.