Today, I received a message on my Facebook account and found this message from Lisa Blade, a student of mine from twenty years ago:
So, I added you because I remember you as “Mrs Hooper” in the 91-92 school year at Indian Ridge Middle School. You knew me then as Lisa Nieves.
I’m 33 years old and I still struggle with math, but I do remember 3 total teachers in my 12 years of school that helped me actually understand math. My 4th grade teacher, Mr Mikalian, 8th grade math teacher, Mrs Hooper and high school, Mr Hutchins.
You’re also the teacher who introduced me to the predecessor to the internet and you’re wholly responsible for me receiving a modem for christmas of 91… We had dreams of meeting “Sven from Sweden!” Haha funny story that, since I used my modem to connect to the Rio Grande Freenet hosted by El Paso Community College and after I graduated, around 1999, I got to go to The Netherlands and meet all the people I had been chatting with since I was 14.
Being online helped me become familiar with technology, which had eventually put me in the career I am in now. I have worked for all sorts of technology companies including Hewlett Packard and Earthlink. I currently work at DHL in Business IT, doing, well, all of us wear a lot of hats in this place. I was even a technical trainer at one point, and I will be teaching again.
I know that it feels good as a teacher to make a difference in people’s lives, and you certainly had an impact, a significant one. I’m so glad to have found you again, even to see that you’re still in education, still showing more people how to use technology to further their lives. I’m super proud to have met you and I hope that your years past and years to come have been immensely happy and fulfilling.
Lisa
Once I caught my breath and wiped away the tears, I took a moment to reflect on what this means. Lisa has accomplished so much and clearly will continue to do so. She’s a success by all accounts. This is one of those days to celebrate and that gives meaning to what we do every day. This is the reason for the planning, professional development, revising, and rethinking. For sure, this is the reason that I believe in educational technology and why it is important to remember that we are more than just the content that we teach.
Lisa is referring to MathWorld Interactive (originally started as MathWorld FidoNet) which I wrote about here: Revisiting MathWorld Interactive International Math Problem-Solving Project. She even found the Fidonet announcement of winners for the project from 91-92 posted on FidoNet.
Thank you, Lisa, for the message.
Carol Mortensen has nearly twenty-three years of educational experience. She began as a substitute teacher as she worked toward her degree. Upon graduation, Carol began teaching middle school Math and Algebra I and served as the technology liaison for her campus. She served as a teacher for 16 years and was lucky to have taught at Hillcrest Middle School, a 1:1 campus where every student was issued a laptop computer. She also worked as an Instructional Technology Trainer for her district providing training and technology integration support for campus and district staff, faculty and administrators. Currently, Carol enjoys her position as the Campus Technology Integration Specialist for Deer Park High School – South Campus. Before taking this position this year, she served for three years as the Campus Technology Integration Specialist at Fairmont Junior High in Deer Park Independent School District. In this position, Carol provides integration support and training to the students, staff, faculty, and administrators at the campus and district level. In addition, Carol is an online Math instructor for Aventa Learning and K12. The Texas Computer Education Association (TCEA) named Carol the Classroom Teacher of the Year for her innovative and creative use of technology to create a 24/7 virtual classroom using her classroom website. Carol has presented at school districts throughout Texas as well as state and local conferences on a variety of technology integration topics. Her article on the use of websites as an instructional tool was recently published in the TechEdge Magazine. In February 2011, her article, Lessons Learning In a 1:1 Classroom, was published by TechEdge. The article was republished in ISTE’s Learning and Leading magazine in August 2011. She was named Fairmont Junior High’s Teacher of the Year for the 2011-2012 school year. Carol is passionate about the positive impact that technology has on student achievement. Her presentations are packed with real-life solutions, quality resources, and humor. She has an ability to connect with her audience and motivate them to take technology integration to a higher quality level.
