Let me tell you about myself....
I hope you will enjoy reading a little about me! I invite you to tour my personal page as well as the pages about my classroom and our exciting projects. If you have any questions, please feel free to e-mail meat [email protected].
This page will take you on a journey through my life from early childhood, my elementary and secondary education in the Lake Hamilton School District, my undergraduate college education at Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Oklahoma, into my professional career in teaching, starting with the Lake Hamilton School District for 14 years (1987 - 2001) and moving on the Hot Springs School District (2001 - present) and into my masters program college work from University of Phoenix where I received my Masters in Curriculum and Technology.
I have been blessed with a wealth of experiences and friendships along the way. I hope you will enjoy getting a view of some of them!
Let me tell you a little bit about myself. I was born in Hot Springs, Arkansas, the hometown of President
Bill Clinton and the only National Park in which people actually live, on October 25, 1964. Here is a picture of me when I was a baby. I have two sisters and four brothers. All of them and their families live in Hot Springs. One of my sisters-in-law teaches at Lake Hamilton High School. I have a nephew who teaches high school at Caddo Hills. I have several nieces and nephews that have attended Lake Hamilton Schools and some who are active in the Home School Program. My mother is originally from Texas. My parents have lived in Hot Springs for many years. My father passed away in January of 1996, but my mother still lives here.
The picture at the side is one of me when I was just a little boy! :-)
I started school at Lake Hamilton in 1971. I attended Lake Hamilton all twelve years. (There was not a kindergarten at that time.)
I really enjoyed my years at Lake Hamilton as a student. I was in Mrs. Wright's room in fifth grade. Here is the picture of me and my fifth grade class. See if you can find me in the picture. You can e-mail me and tell me which one you think is me. Just tell me the row (1st, 2nd, 3rd, or 4th from the front) and the number from left to right that you think is me. See if YOU can find me.
The picture at the side is one of me when I was in the Lake Hamilton High School Band.
I graduated from Lake Hamilton High School in 1983.
I attended college and received my Bachelor of Arts Degree in Elementary Education from
Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
The picture at the left is one of me and some of my friends in college. We were in Manila in the Philippines. We are dressed and have on theatre makeup for a play that we performed on the streets and in schools and colleges there about the life of Christ. We were there for two months on a summer missions trip. Here is a picture of part of the Oral Roberts University Campus.
I received my Masters of Arts Degree in Curriculum and Technology from the University
of Phoenix. Appropriately enough, for a degree in curriculum and technology, I did my masters program through on-line courses offered from the university.
It was a GREAT opportunity to learn new technology skills and put them into practice as I earned my degree. It proved to be a very rewarding experience and one that has been a benefit to me as I incorporate technology into teaching and helping to make connections between traditional curricular studies and the integration of technology.
of Phoenix. Appropriately enough, for a degree in curriculum and technology, I did my masters program through on-line courses offered from the university.
It was a GREAT opportunity to learn new technology skills and put them into practice as I earned my degree. It proved to be a very rewarding experience and one that has been a benefit to me as I incorporate technology into teaching and helping to make connections between traditional curricular studies and the integration of technology.
I am now in my thirty-fifth year of teaching. I had worked in the Lake Hamilton School District for fourteen years before coming to the Hot Springs School District. I taught my first year at Lake Hamilton in first grade as a full time substitute in Mrs. Jackson's classroom. I then taught 3rd grade for eleven years and 5th grade for two years.
My first ten years in the Hot Springs School District were as the Technology Coordinator/Instructor. I then switched to the EAST classroom at Gardner STEM, which has now moved into the Oaklawn building to become Oaklawn STEM Magnet School Pre-K-6th.
My first year teaching in my own classroom was in third grade. The above headline is from the newspaper after I received the Sallie Mae Award
for Outstanding First Year Teachers.
Below you can see a picture of one of my students, Ryan, and myself that appeared with an article in the newspaper about the award. I taught third
grade at Lake Hamilton for eleven years.
After teaching third grade for eleven years (five teaching all subject areas and 6 being departmentalized - teaching language arts), I moved to fifth grade at Lake Hamilton. I taught fifth grade for two years as a part of a departmentalized fifth grade. I taught reading, language arts, and social studies (reading, language, spelling, writing, social studies, and McRAT). I loved my time there and had a GREAT group of students and parents with which to work. My coworkers were also a TERRIFIC bunch to work with!!
I am in my twenty-first year with the Hot Springs School District this year. I am currently the EAST (Environmental and
Spatial Technology OR Education Accelerated by Service and Technology) Facilitator and Social Media/Technology Coordinator for Oakalwn STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, & Mathematics) Magnet School. I work with students, teachers, and parents from grades three through six.