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Samantha Cush

I am trying to not feel lost in this class. I have so much to learn.

Joanna Monfort-Torres

Hello Fellow Teachers!
What a fantastic opportunity this to meet and work with you all. I look forward to getting to know you. I started teaching 6 years ago in New York. I have been teaching 1st grade for the past 3 years at Bullis Charter School in Los Altos. Now I am changing gears and moving down to Kinder this Autumn! Oh no! Integrating technology is a vital part of our school's mission (and my teaching philosophy) and I always seek new methods to do so. I've found that I learn the most from my colleagues in the field. See my class website here: http://web.mac.com/msmonforttorres

Travel is a must for me. I've just returned from Finland and Estonia. My next big trip is to Cambodia for Christmas. In my free time I get bitten by my puppy Bamboo and potter about in my new home in Boulder Creek, in the Santa Cruz mountains.

Donna Taylor

Hi Everyone,

My name is Donna and I am one of the facilitators for the middle school group at this year's institute. I have 25 years experience in teaching middle school Technology, Science, Health and Skills for Adolescence. I also have worked with students on the Graham Middle School yearbook and as a Student Activities coordinator. I retired 2 years ago this month, and work part-time at KCI as a college instructor and as a member of the KCI staff doing whatever needs to be done. I have been fortunate enough be part of the KCI vision since it began, and actually worked with Gay when she first conceived of the idea for a state-of-art professional development center where teachers are treated like the professionals they are. As you can see from the pictures above, I am also taking advantage of my semi-retirement to spend time with my family, including my 3 beautiful and billiant (if I do say so myself) granddaughters . I am looking forward to opening day tomorrow and to a year of working with all of you on your projects and further professional growth. See you there!

Gayle Britt

Hi Everyone!
I'm looking forward to working with you all. Here at the KCI I teach online and face-to-face classes, design curriculum, facilitate EWYL Fellows, etc. Having taught both middle school and high school, I'm very excited about the sharing that we'll have in the next three weeks.
So far this summer the big event in my life was my daughter's wedding July 1.
See you Monday.
Gayle

Samanta Cush

Hello everyone,

I am excited for our class to start and I just got a
new car so I will be enjoying breaking myself into the
commute from Santa Cruz. Chris has offered to post
this entry for me because I couldn't figure out the
blog thing on my own which shows how much I know about
technology, but I am eager to learn, and see this
class as a great opportunity to gain much needed
skills that will help both myself and my students in
the future. I am looking forward to meeting all of
you and working with you during this summer course.
See all of you on Monday.

Sincerely,
Samantha Cush

Thomas Ochoa

I'm a 6th grade Language Arts-Social Studies teacher at Crittenden Middle School in Mountain View. I teach with Naomi and Marisa, (see below). Prior to teaching, I earned my BA In Communications/Journalism at UC Berkeley. I worked in public relations and real estate, before earning my teaching credential at San Jose State in 2003.

I'm excited about the EWYL Program, and look forward to sharing ideas and visions. I'm passionate about the students in my community, and hope to enrich their learning through technology.

Most of my summer so far has been devoted to a rededication to body and mind and a little something called CI Training. My interests include exercise, social activism, music, documentaries, reading foreign policy/ political/cultural literature.

Ryan Freed

Hello All-
I am a fifth grade teacher at Nimitz Elementary in Sunnyvale, I have been at this school for three years and enjoying every minute of it. I am writing from my home town of Detroit, Michigan. I am really looking forward to meeting everyone and jumping into the technological world of education. Prior to teaching I worked at Apple computers and USA Rugby. I hope everyone is enjoying their time away and I look forward to learning new and exciting ways to implement technology in the classroom. Cheers!

-rf

Zack Long

Name: Zack Long
School: Graham Middle - Mountain View
Assignment: Sixth and Seventh Grade Science
Teaching History: 4 Years in Mountain View; 5 Years Previously in San Jose
Family Situation: Wife of Five Years: Sara; Son of Two Years: Isaac
Hobbies: Hiking; Playing Trains; Writing; Playing Hide-and-Seek;
Best Thing About Teaching: Getting to Know Loads of Ridiculous Students
Favorite Film: Goodfellas
Favorite Cheese: Swiss
Favorite Places to Hike in the Bay Area: Rancho San Antonio; Alum Rock Park; Almaden-Quicksilver
Favorite TV Program: The Office
Favorite Band: Wilco
Favorite Vegetable: Brussel Sprouts
Additional Interesting Fact: I've had Three Different Sets of Teeth In My Life
Favorite Number: 49... What are you, Bazooka Joe?

Rajeev Virmani

Hello everyone! My name is Rajeev Virmani and I teach math at Gunn High School in Palo Alto. I have been teaching for 5 years and am interested in learning about more ways to incorporate technology in my class. It was really nice to read all of the posts and I am looking forward to meeting everyone. I have been keeping busy this summer learning and relaxing. Last week I took an AP Statistics seminar as I will be teaching Statistics for the first time next year. I am looking forward to the EWYL program. See you all soon!

Naomi Eckmann

Hello everyone,
Well, I wish I had a great vacation that I was writing from! If my camera had been more cooperative, I would have had some great pictures from my PSCubed trip to the recyclery in San Mateo last week. It was either that or the wastewater treatment plant, but you wouldn't have been able to smell it anyway.

I teach 6th grade science at Crittenden with Marisa and Tommy. Last year was my first year, and I can't wait for a new crop of sweet pre-hormonal students. Before I was at Crittenden, I did my student teaching in Campbell in 8th grade science, and before that I worked at the CLIP program in Cupertino doing dual-immersion with Kindergarten and 4th/5th grade.

Before I realized I was a teacher, I did a program in web design and development in Rhode Island, where I ended up teaching a class I had just taken my last semester (or was it quarter?) and before that I was a Linguistics major in college.

If I have more time than expected this week, I might start reworking my science standards website, which should allow teachers to see how science concepts build from grade to grade. There are a few JavaScript details that need to be implemented, and the whole thing needs to have a visit from the beautician. I might actually get around to planning our wedding this week instead, though... after being engaged for a year or so I suppose it's time! The iPhone in the picture is the fiance's, not mine... it's actually his pre-release prototype. Aren't all you middle school teachers excited to confiscate these?

Jonathan Entous

Hi All,

My name is Jonathan Entous and I am very excited to be part of the EWYL 2007 cohort. There are so many ways that I want to integrate technology into my classroom and I hope that EWYL will be a great opportunity to make these dreams become reality. I have taught in Cupertino for the last 11 years. My first 7 years were at Portal Elementary where I might have met some of you who came to visit the technology demonstration school (formerly ACOT). After 6th grade was moved to the middle school, I followed them to teach for 2 years at Cupertino Middle School. Middle School was certainly a big jump from the elementary. When the opportunity came to be part of the Lawson Middle School staff I went for it. It was a great move, and I am happy to be doing EWYL with two other teachers from Lawson (Danielle and Jenn).

Its been great being on vacation for the last week or so after participating in the CUSD technology training. I am hoping to continue working on my skills during the three weeks of the program. I have some projects that I worked on for my master's degree that I am going to adapt for use on the computer.

See you in a week.

-Jon

Judy Okolie

Hi Everyone,

I just returned from a great trip to Corsica and am currently in Versailles, France, using a French keyboard where the keys are in different locations. In other words, this post will be short and I don't have a picture to attach, sorry. Anyway, when I am back at home, in the Bay Area, I teach at Tennyson High School in Hayward. My colleagues and I created CMMA, the Community Multimedia Academy, an SLC, which has grown over the last seven years. I am a Social Studies and Computer Multimedia teacher, and teach Multimedia, United States History and Ethnic Studies. One of the things I like about our program are the integrated units we teach and hope to gain new ideas in project based learning through the EWYL summer institute. I love working with other educators who are interested in technology and project based learning, so I am very exited about meeting all of you.

Outside of school, I enjoy spending time with my husband and two-year old son. After my family, my other interests are traveling to other countries, documentary films, walking through great cities-especially Chicago and London, Mac computers, and I absolutely love, This American Life, on public radio.

Barney Desroches

Hello!

Last week I was in Tokyo, Japan on vacation when I placed my initial post to our EWYL blog -- from a Kinko's Copy center on a pay-by-the-minute computer (yes, Kinko's exists in Japan, along with KFC, Starbucks, Seattle's Best, and just about every other common franchise). Anyway, now that I'm back to San Mateo, I can finally include a photo.

I work at The Carey School in San Mateo, an independent Pre-K - 5th grade school. I am the technology director, which means I do a little of everything to support the faculty, staff and students. In addition, I teach computers to all students in our Mac computer lab on a weekly basis. I really love my job, and the enthusiastic kids I teach. I look forward to incorporating the new technologies and curriculum we develop in the EWYL program into my classroom.

I've enjoyed learning a little about each of you via this blog, and can't wait to meet all of you July 9th! What an interesting and dynamic group!

See you soon!

Barney

Jennifer Yuen

Hi there!
My name is Jennifer Yuen and I have just survived my second year of teaching! I teach 6th grade english and history, but will be teaching math and history next year. Woohoo!! Through EWYL, I hope to learn more about technology and walk away feeling that I, for once, know more about it than my students!!

So far my summer has been hectic. I spent a fabulous week in Hawaii and upon return, I have already had "team" meetings to start planning for next year. (Trust me, it's not me who's eager to begin thinking about school again!) Also, I have been juggling my time between helping my cousin get ready for her 7/7/07 wedding, along with hanging out with my 10 week old niece who is the most adorable thing ever!!! I still haven't managed the whole changing dirty diaper thing yet. I muster up the courage each time, but literally gag at the smell alone. I know...TMI! Other than that, with one more week of supposed "free time", I am looking forward to learning all that I can from EWYL because I've just seen all the amazing projects teachers design after taking this course! I'm also excited that I get to work with some familiar faces, Danielle and Jon. :)

Scott Forbes

'Am looking forward to beginning the EWYL program. I've been something of a hermit since the school year ended. I just received a job offer from a new district. I'm a science teacher and the new district wants me to teach both science and math so I've signed up to take the CSET in math this summer. I've been pouring over my old math books and hoping that I'd remember some trig and things about polynomials ... yikes; I feel like I'm back in college.
The main difference is that I now have a four year old ... so when I'm not hitting the old precalculus books I'm sitting down to a tea party with her and some stuffed bears.
'Hope everyone has been enjoying their summer so far. I posted a link to my website in my profile. It is a pretty basic site but it kept parents informed during the school year.
http://www.geocities.com/skforbes@sbcglobal.net/

Take care all and see you in a few weeks.

Scott

Marisa DaSilva

Hello All,

My name is Marisa DaSilva. I teach 8th grade Language Arts. I prefer talking to people in person, rather than this "blogging" thing. But, if I must, I must. I'm still hesitant when it comes to using technology to communicate. I'm hoping that the EWYL training will help me embrace all the good things about the Internet and technology.

Does anyone else feel like time is running out? I know my summer just started, but I'm already planning for the Fall and feel like the summer isn't long enough. Maybe I just need to relax, chill out, and enjoy everyday as it comes. Now there's an idea! A teacher who can relax. What a concept.

I absolutely enjoy teaching and hope I can improve my skills so my students can benefit. I think that is all I want. I don't want to fail my students. I don't want them to fall short, because of something I did (or didn't do). Yeah, 8th Graders can be difficult students to teach (to say the least), but I wouldn't teach any other audience. I enjoy their energy, humor, and the "off beat" vision they have on life.

Well, that's it for now. Looking forward to meeting everyone at the training. I'm excited.

Kind regards,
M---

Charles Schletzbaum

I'm an 8th year teacher about to start my 7th consecutive year teaching Physics at Milpitas HS.

I met my wife on a MUD when I lived in Massachusetts and she in Alabama. (for those who don't know, a mud is an old TEXT based MMORG like world of warcraft and Evercrack). Of course, Mudding was also the reason I was on the 7 year college plan like Tommy Boy. I am married to Jammie and I have 3 children; Michael 14 (ACK a teenager), Alex 7 (and mildly autistic) and Brandon 5 (cute but sneaky). My summer so far has been 2-4 DVDs a day, playing LAN videogames against my 14 year old, and introducing my oldest to tabletop miniature games. I am looking forward to this, but I am also wondering if anyone lives in the FAR east, as I commute from Manteca daily for school, and if there is anyone who wants to carpool, that would be awesome (even though I snore in cars :-) )

Dana Gaudio

My name is Dana Gaudio. I teach at Graham Middle School in Mountain View. Next year I will be teaching two periods of 7th grade Social Studies, two periods of 8th grade Social Studies, and Leadership. I have been teaching for 11 years. As I enter into my 12th year, I've decided that I needed to work on the amount of technology that I use in my classroom. I am really excited to be part of the EWYL program this year. When I am not teaching, I spend time with my new niece who is 3 months old tomorrow and I coach many sports for Northern California Special Olympics! I look forward to meeting everyone in a couple of weeks.

Ilka Handler

Hello Everyone! My name is Ilka Handler and I teach Integrated Science and Biology at Woodside High School. For now, I am keeping busy teaching summer school but I will be well rested by the time we meet next month. I am taking a short trip to Mexico.
I do not have a pic to include at this moment. My son Maxwell, 15, took the camera to Mississippi (his first trip away from home) for Katrina relief. I also have a 13 year old son, Jacob.
As I learn and develop my skills I continue to incorporate more technology in the classroom. I am eager to learn ways to engage, motivate and challenge my ELL students as well.
I am looking forward to meeting all of you soon; I've enjoyed reading the bios.

Ilka

Jenni Cummings

Hi everyone!!

My name is Jenni Cummings and I am a kindergarten teacher at Monta Loma School in Mountain View. I have been wanting to make a post on this all month but incredibly, this is my first opportunity to do so. In addition to being a teacher, I am also a photographer. I am actually off this weekend to photograph a friend’s wedding in Redding.

I love taking pictures of my students, and using them to help them learn. I am hoping to find new ways to use technology and photography to help teach my students this summer. The ironic thing is that even though I am a photographer, it took 3 weeks to find a photo of myself. It seems that I am always behind the camera these days and rarely in front of the lense. This photo shows me having fun in a hobby of mine…karaoke. I was so excited to find a group of friends at work that love karaoke as much as I. Don’t be fooled by my love of singing however. As much as I love it, and do it, I will never be found on American Idol, or even Bay Area Idol for that matter. It is just a lot of fun. I look forward to meeting all of you next month.

:-) Jenni

Melissa

Hello Everyone!

I am so excited about participating in this year's program. I just finished my first year of teaching in a sixth grade classroom at Allen Elementary School in San Bruno. I was chosen to pilot the Promethean Activboard in my classroom and I think this program will help me use it effectively. I think that it is so important to incorporate technology into the classroom and I can't wait to get started. My other passions are animals and conservation. I am posing with my cat Phoebe in this picture. Anyways, I can't wait to meet everyone and to share ideas. See you all soon!

--Melissa

Angie Cary

Hello! My name is Angie Cary and I teach 5^th grade at the Charter School of Morgan Hill. The charter is based on Project Based Learning. I believe technology is an integral part of this process which is why I am really looking forward to EWYL. I just completed my first year of teaching… I survived, better than I expected… and I am looking forward to doing everything different next year! I look forward to meeting you all after my visits to Alaska, Canada, Boston, and DC in the next 3 weeks. My first video (edited with iMovie) explains about my growth as a young teacher: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4L-MJQxflKk I look forward to meeting you all!

This is a picture I took while visiting a stilt village in Ghana. They had no running water, no sewage system, and of course no electricity... Favorite community past time: watching a small black and white TV run off an old car battery. Ah... the things we do for technology!

Jan Chock

Hi
Last day of school was today. I teach 8th Grade physical science at John Muir in the San Jose Unified School District. Most of my teaching was done at private schools, the majority of them back east, followed by a few years at a an educational dot com in Sunnyvale. I look forward to meeting you all and working with you in July.
BTW - those little ones are my 8 day old twin granddaughters, Flora and Nadia.
Jan

Alex Brown

Greetings!

My name is Alex. I just finished up my first year of teaching at Woodside High School. I teach Integrated Science and Biology and I am loving it!

I am always looking for ways to incorporate technology into my classroom and I can't wait for this summer.

Steve Burrell

Hi everybody!

My name is Steve Burrell and I feel so fortunate to be joining the EWYL team this summer as an instructor. It should be a whirlwind, tech-filled three weeks!

As the year comes to end, I am winding up my fifteenth

year of teaching seventh grade language arts and social studies (sometimes I'm not sure who's crazier me or my students.) Currently, I just finished my second year at Lawson Middle School in Cupertino after spending the previous ten at Cupertino Middle School.

Technology has always been part of my career, all the way back to the lab full of Apple IIe computers. Besides teaching core, I've also taught computer electives, yearbook, and provided our campus with technical support. Three years ago I spent the summer as an EWYL participant just prior to beginning a Enhancing Education Through Technology grant at Cupertino Middle School. The goal of the grant was to use technology to level the playing field for special education students by mainstreaming them into a classroom with one-to-one computers for all students. This experience has truly been career changing as it accomplished what it set out to do--empower the less fortunate students!

During my free time, I love spending time at the beach with my wife and three beautiful kids (we live in Aptos and usually vacation on Kauai.)


I look forward to a fabulous summer with everyone...

Jeff Schmidt

Hi everyone!

My name is Jeff Schmidt. I teach Video Production at Central County Occupational Center (CCOC). My class is made up of mostly juniors and seniors in high school, however, we also accept adults and an occasional 10th grader as well. Diversity is an understatement in my classroom. I look forward to the EWYL program, learrning new tools and tricks to enhance my ability to be the most effective teacher I can.

I am also very excited about the on-going project that will come from the EWYL program!!!

I can't wait to meet you all and get the ball rolling.

See ya soon.

JEFF

Nichole Crawford

Hi, my name is Nichole Crawford. I am a fourth and fifth grade math and science teacher at Audubon Elementary School in Foster City. I am just wrapping up my second year as a teacher and like many of you, I am just trying to survive the end of the year. Before teaching I worked in the corporate world (Boeing, Teradyne, GAP Inc.) as a Process Engineer, and am enjoying the change into the teaching world. Teaching is definitely my passion.

At Audubon I am currently the technology liaison for my school as well as student council advisor, safety patrol advisor and treasurer for the social committee.

When I am not teaching I like to spend time entertaining friends and family, reading, traveling, photography, working out, trying out many yummy restaurants and drinking wine!

Last summer I was getting married, and this summer I am excited to learn lots of useful tools and techniques to use with my kiddo's at school.

(The second picture is on our whirlwind tour of Italy for our honeymoon last summer. We were very lucky to spend a very relaxing month in Italy...)

Can't wait to meet everyone...by the way I love reading through the bios.

Catherine Baron

Hi! Catherine Baron here,
I teach French at Mount Pleasant High School in San Jose.

I have just returned from a strenuous week of AP correcting in Louisville, Kentucky. This week is busy with finals. I am on survival mode till the end of the school year. Most of you probably know how it feels.

On Saturday, my husband and I will be going to France to visit my family. It should be fun and relaxing.

I am looking forward to meeting you all next month.

Sincerely,

Catherine Baron

Christine Chen

Hi Everyone!

Wow, this is a really varied group! (In case you're wondering, I'm the one in the black with the white skirt - the other two is my sister with her son). I'm finishing up my first year of teaching. Currently, I am in a 5th grade classroom at Stocklmeir Elementary in the Cupertino District. Before becoming a teacher I did a little work in consulting/market research for a non-profit business incubator that specialized in tech companies from abroad.

My interests are reading, writing, tennis, Asian pop culture, cooking, and of course EATING! ^_^ I also love playing/reading about new tech gadgets and have built my own computer as well as made/used several different websites over the years for clubs and classes in college, blogging, and a teacher website for parent communication. While I feel like I know a lot about technology, I have found it difficult to integrate into my class so I'm really looking forward to learning from the EWYL program about how to implement my knowledge into the curriculum. :o)

George Kwong

Hello everyone,

It is really neat reading all the different short biographies. I am a 3rd grade teacher at Schafer Park Elementary in Hayward. This is my 5th year as a teacher. I am looking forward to being part of EWYL this summer. I can't wait to learn about using technology more in the classroom because I am technologically-challenged.

A little bit of what I do at Schafer Park. I coach 3 soccer teams at my school (2 boys and 1 girls). Our last game is this Saturday the 9th. We have games at 9:00 am, 12:00 noon, and 3:00 pm. I am also partnered with another teacher in advising Student Council. With another teacher, we perform a Lunar New Years assembly around Chinese New Years with lion dancing, fashion show, dances, martial arts, etc. I organize and referee an intra-school soccer tournament where different classes play each other, one for grades 1 to 3 and another for grades 4 to 6. Fourteen games later, we have our champions. As the referee, you would think I could get my class to win but alas the trophy has not yet graced Room 23 in this 3rd year of competition.

Prior to becoming a teacher, I was an accountant and restaurant owner. My family has been in the restaurant business since coming to California in 1972 from the Bahamas. When my Dad reached retirement age, I took over the business to keep Mom gainfully employed until she could retire.

I am looking forward to learning from EWYL and all of you. Many of you are already so adept at using technology in the classroom. See you in July.

Best Regards,

George

Janey Vasconcellos

Hi ! My name is Janey Vasconcellos and I teach at John F. Kennedy High School in Fremont along with Olivia. We are team teaching on our project. I feel like I am the non-technology person in this group when I read all the experience that you all have. I am a RSP teacher and an Art teacher. Our school is going through some changes and I would love to use more technology in both of the areas I teach. I need the knowledge to help my special ed students be successful in their general ed classes and Olivia and I would love to team teach a class. We both love history and art. This is my third career. I was a graphic artist/designer for a computer company many years ago then I freelanced, then mom for many years until I got into teaching.

While many of you are starting out with your young families, mine is maturing and moving out. Thank goodness! My husband, Brook, and I will be married 31 years next week. Our sons are aged 26, 24 and 20. Two have graduated from college and the youngest is going to be a junior in college. My middle son, Brian, got married last November and I love my daughter Amanda. Tonight I had to say goodbye to her because they are moving to LA. I finally get a daughter and she is leaving. Their wedding picture is included because I thought the ceremony was beautiful and the other picture is of my husband and I at the wedding.

I am looking forward to taking this class and meeting all of you. Have a great time off, we all deserve it.
Janey

Cindy Lin

Hi everyone,


My name is Cindy Lin and I am teaching first grade at Meyerholz school in Cupertino. I teach in the Mandarin Immersion Program and I'm finishing up my second year. I'm very excited about this program and can't wait to learn more about technology and meet other teachers who also enjoy learning new technology.

In my free time, I enjoy hiking, running and going to baseball games.

Sophia

Hi!

I'm Sophia. I teach World History (1500 - 1938) to 9th graders at Mountain View High School. Yup. I've got 130 Freshmen every day, but I wouldn't have it any other way! I have been a teacher for 10 years, but this is my first year in the South Bay. Next year I will be piloting our new 3rd Semester of world history (Current World Studies: 1935 - present), and I am thrilled to finally have the time to really teach the modern era. (No more Korean War in 15 minutes or less for me!). I am the designated computer trainer for my department, so this year has seen a good deal of me learning how to use our district's programs, and then helping explain them to others in my department. I'll also be leading some trainings over the summer. You can see my school web page at: http://www.mvla.net/caramagno.

When I'm not teaching, I design and make costumes for theatrical groups (Renn Faire, Civil War, Dicken's Faire, Sci-Fi Conventions, etc) and I belong to a Pirate Reenactment group that performs in the Bay Area. You can see some of the costumes I'm working on at http://www.iphigen.com/PiratePhotos.html. That is my Pirate Costume show page. I also do period dancing, including Swing, Lindy-Hop, Victorian Ballroom and I've just started Belly Dance! Below is a picture of my husband and I at our October wedding. It was a Chinese-Western-Sci-Fi Wedding, so a bit unusual, but very fun!

Anyway, I'm really looking forward to the Institute this Summer and usung some of this fabulous technology (my last school didn't even have a computer lab) in the classroom.

See you all soon!

Steven Caringella

Hello everyone,

My name is Steven Caringella. I am one of the instructors for EWYL 2007-2008, and I am looking forward to meeting all of you this summer.

I teach Fourth grade at Zanker Elementary School in Milpitas Unified School District. I am also involved in training teachers to integrate technology into their curriculum at my school site, in my district, and at the Krause Center for Innovation.

I have been a participant teacher in both the Earn While You Learn and Earn While You Learn Fellows programs, and I guarantee you are about to have an extremely valuable time this summer and in the following school year. EWYL is awesome!

If any of you would like to get a taste of EWYL before it starts, and ideas for the project you will design, consider taking my June 16 LINC class at the KCI on using blogs and wikis in the classroom, and my June 23 LINC class on using Think.com for collaboration during student projects. Just go to http://www.foothill.edu/cfi/linc/ to register.

When I am not working, you can find me at the park with my almost-two year old son Chase, or relaxing with my wife Jen in the house we just moved into in Mountain View. I am looking forward this summer to a short commute to the Krause Center!

See you all soon.

Jackie Kawashima

Hi and Welcome to this summer's EWYL!

I'm Jackie Kawashima, and I have been associated with EWYL since it was originated. Reading your posts has been wonderful. EWYL participating teachers have been such a great resource and together we have had so many learning experiences each summer! This year promises to be every bit as rewarding.

My background has been in K-8 education, in the classroom and at the district level as technology curriculum coordinator. I'm currently teaching online courses through the LINC department at Foothill and working with teachers in two elementary districts. My summer 'fun' revolves around my role as a trainer for EWYL. While not working I love to travel, learn new technologies, and play with my children, grandchildren and pets. My favorite traveling companion is my husband Don, who puts up with my inability to 'just relax' and enjoy life. This picture was taken with the terra cotta soldiers in China...absolutely unbelievable.

Danielle

Hi all!

This is my sixth year teaching in the Cupertino Union School District. I've taught kindergarten, second, and sixth grades, all for two years each. Although I love the little kids, sixth grade is definitely where I belong! I teach math, science, exploratory and advisory at Lawson Middle School. For two trimesters of exploratory each year I teach technology-I can't wait for some fresh ideas and projects to add to the curriculum!

I am looking forward to a (mostly) relaxing summer. I was married last summer and it was very hectic and exciting, so I am happy that this summer there won't be quite as much to do. We've planned some rafting, hiking and camping trips, along with a few vacations, and the rest of the time will be spent reading and hanging out with friends. We're getting a puppy mid-July, so I'll have some time before school starts to train it. :)

I hope everyone gets a chance to relax before July. See you soon!
Danielle

Julia

This is my 5th year of teaching at Egan Jr. High School. Along with Reed, I teach World History. Our school did an Apple training and Reed and I got a laptop cart. It seems that my classroom has turned upside down! We've been blogging, making wikis, iMovies, Keynotes, Podcasts and more. Soon after, I became a Google Certified Teacher. There are so many great tools available!

I look forward to the time we will get in EWYL to create fun and exciting projects. It will be great to learn how to be a 21st century teacher to 21st century learners in a 21st century classroom.

Vanessa Vitug

Hey Everyone!

I'm enjoying all the mini-bios. Being completely new to blogging, I'm already learning something new.Currently, I am teaching at Mt. Pleasant High School in San Jose. This year my classes are Physiology and Integrated Science, which is a challenge but it never gets boring. I love to challenge myself to new things but have a hard time saying "No! I won't have time," when I'm asked to take part in multiple projects. Aside from teaching my classes, I am the AVID Coordinator for MP, a Freshmen advisory teacher, a WASC leader, a MESA (mathematics engineering and science achievement) advisor, and People to People leader. Wheew, I exhausted myself just listing that. I'm looking forward to expanding my technology classroom integration this summer by learning to incorporate websites, videos, and video-editing into my lessons. I hope to soon create my own website for all the programs I take part in.

When not running the marathon race called a school year, I am slowing taking flying lessons and travelling. I'm finally going to France & England after the Institute, so YEAH!

Valerie Arbizu

Hello!

My name is Valerie Arbizu and I am currently teaching AP English Literature at Evergreen Valley High School in [East Side] San Jose. I have been teaching for five years after leaving the corporate world and love it!

A few of my crazy colleagues have given me the rare opportunity to be the English Department Chair and the Professional Development Coordinator for the past two years (after spending two years as the Tech Lead for the Professional Development Committee). After four years as a trainer of teachers, it's time to focus back on my own learning and recharge. :)

My good friend Mark Gross once commented on the marginalization of students as we make them put their iPods and cell phones away during the school day - that doing so is in essentially telling students that what matters to them isn't acceptable in an educational environment. I want to make my classroom as relevant and accessible to both teens and teachers - and that means embracing all of the technology that my students use.

When I'm not teaching, I have a four-year-old son (Maxwell) and my husband of nearly eight years to keep me busy. We're so excited that Maxwell is finally completely potty-trained and reliable enough to take on longer trips - so travel is finally a prospect for us once again! We also love movies, the beach, and anything that makes our son dance.

Looking forward to meeting and working with you all in a few short weeks!

Reed Smith

Pancake Breakfast at School!

Greetings fellow EWYL'ers! I am really happy to be joining all of you this summer in order to update my curriculum and get much work done creating fun and educational projects for my 7th Grade World History students in the 2007-8 year. I am entering my 12th year at Egan Jr High in Los Altos and it will be about my 20th year of teaching overall. I have much to learn about intergrating technology into my class in a way that enhances, not encumbers, the students' learning; therefore, again, I am happy to be enrolled in the EWYL summer. I have a credential to teach English, Social Studies, and Mandarin Chinese. I am currently trying to learn Spanish. This is me (far left) helping chaperone the school Disneyland trip for music students:






See you all soon! : )

Sarah Cullom

Hi everybody.
My name is Sarah and I teach 4th grade in San Mateo. This is my fifth year teaching and in my third district. I've moved around quite a bit the last few years. I started teaching in LA after getting my credential and masters from UCLA (Go Bruins!). Then I moved to the bay area so my husband could go to law school here. He finally graduated a couple weeks ago! I'm happy that I'll be keeping busy with this program while he's studying for the BAR. This summer I'm also looking forward to traveling, watching movies, dancing, and taking pictures/scrapbooking.

I can't wait to learn more about technology and be able to integrate it with my curriculum. This year I worked with my students on i-movies (which was so much fun!) and each student got their own email account through gaggle.com - a great school-only website.

I look forward to meeting all of you!

Sarah