About
A little background...
I joined the Scarsdale team in late August, 2014. Prior to joining Scarsdale I was a technology teacher and technology coordinator within the New York City Department of Education (NYCDOE), beginning in 2003. I taught at both the elementary and middle school level during that time (prior teaching experience also includes high school students at Boston University).
Before joining the education ranks, I was at the forefront of streaming media, working for Ziff Davis Media during the dotcom boom of the late 90s. I built broadcast facilities, media encoders, developed programming, shot and edited feature stories, and covered conferences such as COMDEX and PC Expo for PC Week/eWeek and ZCast.tv. Some highlights include being backstage and engineering live webcasts for such seminal tech events as Bill Gates crashing Windows 98, ZDTV's launch party with Devo, and President Clinton's remarks at COMDEX 2000.
Before joining Scarsdale I was at PS 10 in Brooklyn, a NYCDOE school, which I joined in 2009. I upgraded all the technology in the building, ensuring every classroom had at least one iMac and one MacBook. The school's computer lab had 32 server-based iMacs. I integrated Google Apps, iPads, and Chromebooks into the technology experience at PS 10. By June of 2014 all students in grades 2-5 were working within PS 10's Google Apps environment, having access to their work from any Internet-connected device in the world. PS10Tech was the online home of the computer lab, student projects, and the scaffolded curriculum I built to support the students within the building.
In addition, PS 10 became the leader in social media use within the NYCDOE, having a very active Twitter account and three school-based hashtags. All of this created a vibrant, transparent learning environment embraced by students, parents, and teachers alike. I was also an active participant on the committee within the NYCDOE that crafted the Social Media Guidelines for staff, staff, students, and parents.
I have brought my wealth of experience to Scarsdale but am also eager to learn and grow even further. I am a Google Certified Educator, Google for Education Certified Trainer and Google Apps Certified Administrator, as well as a Common Sense Media Certified Educator with a passion for mobile, the cloud, and social media.
In my time at Heathcote I have built the HeathcoteGateway and the HeathcoteTech blog to keep all of our technology initiatives at the fingertips of students, teachers, and parents alike. Teaching, running professional developments, and hosting parent workshops have not only pushed the technology use at Heathcote but it has also pushed me to continually refine by own craft and improve my skills and knowledge around all things instructional and educational, and not simply technology focused. True technology integration, and tech for purpose, has been the mission since I arrived at Heathcote School.
If you have any questions regarding my experience, skill set, or instruction experience feel free to contact me at any time.