After 17 years of marriage to a wonderful woman, I have three beautiful children ages 13, 8, and 4. We live on a small farm surrounded by free range chickens and ducks, goats, a pig, a llama, cats, and dogs in Maine. Everything on the farm is accustomed to lots of attention and plenty of holding. The joys of living in the country comes from the close connection to the environment. We play indoor soccer on Sundays at the school gym during the winter. All year, we find lots of time outside enjoying the tranquility. The picture above is taken by my son after we climbed to the peak of Mount Katahdin in Maine's Baxter State Park in 2007 to celebrate his 13th birthday.
Technology is an important component of communication in the 21st century; thus, it is important to be able to understand the language.
It is
my hope that completing a Masters of Education through the University of Missouri's School of Information Science and Learning Technologies
will better prepare me to
incorporate this into my activities successfully. I completed the EMints program in 2007 and quickly discovered the increased possibilities
gained from greater connectivity through the Internet.
As a teacher, the Internet allows me to bring further experiential learning opportunities to my small, rural high school science courses. Through
information exchanges, research
opportunities, and communication pathways, my students have been able to improve their readiness to participate in global conversations.
I was able to bring a course exchange
in environmental science to several students that allowed them to travel with a college group to Bermuda to carry out field research.
Students have been able to
develop collaborative exchanges of ideas and understanding to foster greater comprehension. One area this is evident is in the course
Moodle environment where they post and share their science fair projects. Teaching is a wonderful way to support and share the experiences
available to children. They are interested in learning but need to be challenged and involved to bring that potential to the front.