Self Introductory Information

I am in my twenty-first year of teaching US History at the High School level. I am currently working towards a graduate degree relating to Technology in Education through Lesley University. As part of the requirements of that degree, I have created this digital portfolio featuring components of the Assessment Using Technology course. I have learned a great deal about the process of designing assessments as well as the proper matching of appropriate assessments with learning targets. I hope to showcase that progress here. I began teaching two decades ago with an optimistic approach of trying to make a positive impact however small or large on each young person I encountered. Now twenty years later, with some experience to pepper my attempts, I try to adhere to that same philosophy. The words of Hiam Ginott often help to remind me of my place in the world:

I've come to the frightening conclusion that I am the decisive element in the classroom. It's my personal approach that creates the climate. It's my daily mood that makes the weather. As a teacher, I possess tremendous power to make a student's life miserable or joyous. I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration. I can humiliate or humor, hurt or heal. In all situations it is my response that decides whether a crisis will be escalated or de-escalated and a student humanized or de-humanized.