At home, my free time is definitely used for reading books. I’m a little over half way through reading all of Stephen King’s books. When we have extra class time, I like to use it to have students make examples or giveaways in the Makerspace. Once a grading period, we do Makerspace Mondays where GenYES students go out into the lunchroom and show off and give away examples to get their peers more excited about using the Makerspace for school projects and for fun.

I have great admiration for people who devote their time and income to make the world a better place. I admire the Gates family for giving away billions to help with health care issues and access throughout the world. I’m inspired by YouTube’s Mr. Beast who uses his viral celebrity to plan acts of charity, like donating for surgeries to help the blind and organizing massive campaigns to plant trees and clean up ocean plastic. After my own cancer journey, I am inspired by others who have faced the same struggles, especially children who persevere through health challenges. I am inspired by Chadwick Boseman, who may have lost his battle with colon cancer, but still contributed so much to his art even while he was ill. In general, I look for inspiration from people who have found success in helping others despite their own challenges, and I admire others who use their good fortune to make the world a better place.

 

WHAT IS ONE TIP YOU COULD GIVE OTHER GENYES OHIO TEACHERS?

Find a way to make the program fit your school’s needs. GenYES can be a very flexible program. It could be a club. It could be a course like mine, or it could be a way to introduce freshmen to your school and to technology. Find a way to make it valuable.

WHAT DO YOU ENJOY MOST ABOUT BEING A GENYES OHIO TEACHER?

What I like most about teaching GenYES is being able to use the program to benefit the staff and students of Mentor High School in a variety of ways. I love that we have the flexibility to drop everything and assist with immediate tech needs to keep classrooms running smoothly. We save teachers time by creating products for them. We designed websites and videos to promote school clubs, which most staff members/advisors do not have time for. The course allows us to fill the niche areas that help a wide variety of classroom needs. The class is not just about technology but is all about service to our school community.

WHAT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT LESSON YOUR STUDENTS LEARN BY TAKING YOUR CLASS?

I think the soft skills GenYES students learn by doing a variety of tech lessons and activities are the most important things. My students work on communication and customer service. They learn how to teach and instruct others through monthly field trips to the Mentor Senior Center to assist their patrons with any personal device issues. Every year, we create resumes based on their GenYES experience (many of the students who take the course are sophomores who have never had a job before). The students are always surprised at how many bankable skills they have gained through the class that they can promote on a resume to make themselves more attractive applicants to any job.

HOW HAVE YOU TAILORED YOUR PROGRAM FOR YOUR SCHOOL AND STUDENTS?

 

The program began when we went one-to-one with MacBooks in 2016. With the cost of the added devices, administration looked for a way to get more tech support help without hiring more staff, so the GenYES national program was purchased. Over the years, it has evolved from straight tech support with the online curriculum to more of a jack of all trades program to meet building needs.

Students film concerts and sports events for the Mentor Schools YouTube Channel. They create slideshows and posters for teacher’s classrooms. They help create content for our hallway monitors for building-wide announcements. They learn all of the equipment in the Makerspace and assist staff and students with their projects on 3D printers, laser engraver, Cricut, Roland vinyl cutter, t-shirt press, button maker, and sublimation printer products. And they still provide basic level tech support.

I supplement the INFOhio GenYES curriculum with articles and TED-Ed videos on the latest technology. Additionally, we spend two months studying for the Google Educator Level 1 Exam. Students can earn their certification to show they are proficient with all Google Tools and can demonstrate how those tools can be utilized for classrooms.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE INFOHIO RESOURCE AND WHY?

The EBSCOhost Multi-Database Search is the best resource. It has the higher level resources that my high school students need for their AP class papers, for science research projects, and for CCP coursework. It always returns lots of quality results that can be filtered with lots of options. It also helps staff members to find articles for their graduate work.