Career Timeline
I have been working in education since 2004, and every job on this list has been a different way of trying to make learning more human.
Independent App Developer
I design, build, and ship native apps as a one-person studio: four apps for phones, TVs, desktops, and the web, each from one shared core. Swift and SwiftUI, Kotlin and Compose, C# and Avalonia, BrightScript, and plain web. No servers, no paid tiers. Store submissions and content pipelines run on GitHub Actions. I wrote the method down as an open-source app template so that I do not have to solve the same problems twice. See the apps →
Associate Director of Admissions Operations
I lead admissions operations for a department that reads 25,000+ applications a year, with a team of 50+ in 7 hubs around the world. I built the data dashboards, the AI-assisted evaluation tools, and the playbooks the team runs on, including how we use Claude and Gemini in the work without losing the human judgment. I also train the team live in Minerva's Active Learning Platform and design the routines that hold a distributed team together across time zones. I joined in December 2019 as Senior Operations Manager for Admissions and was promoted to Associate Director.
Program Manager, Digital Education & Academic Technology
Academic technology lead for the dental school. I designed teaching environments around VR, XR, and haptics, and I advised faculty on instructional design, digital media, and which new technologies were worth their time.
Director of Blended & Personalized Learning
I led blended and personalized learning in Denver (2013–2016), then Aurora (2016–2018), two large urban districts, supporting 8,000+ teachers through coaching teams. I rolled out 1:1 iPad and Chromebook programs, built standards-based data systems for instruction, and designed a district-wide micro-credential program for technology skills.
Vice President, Board of Directors
I ran the program side of InnEdCO, Colorado's largest edtech conference for teachers (about 1,000 of them a year). I built the Google Workspace databases and the app integrations behind 200+ sessions, the livestreams, and the conversation around them.
Online Community & UX Manager
Edmodo had 85 million users when I was its 13th employee. I designed what became its Help & Training Center, hosted a webinar every week, and ran online communities of teachers from around the world. I learned a great deal there, and I stayed less than a year.
Online Learning Specialist
Project manager and instructional designer for eDCSD, the district's K-12 online school. I moved its content across three learning management systems and ran Google Workspace training for the whole district.
7th & 8th Grade English Language Arts Teacher
Where it started. I taught 7th and 8th grade English Language Arts and put wikis, blogs, and podcasts in front of middle schoolers before that was a normal thing to do. I started this blog in 2005, and in 2007 Edutopia and Yahoo named me their “Totally Wired Teacher of the Year.”
Learning is Change
I started blogging in 2005 and never really stopped: over 3,600 posts, 400+ videos, and lately a set of shipped native apps. Making something and sharing it, most days, is the practice underneath every job above.
Recognition
Totally Wired Teacher of the Year
Edutopia Magazine and Yahoo, 2007, for what my students and I were doing with technology in an eighth-grade classroom.
Google Certified Innovator & Trainer
Google Certified Innovator (Chicago cohort, 2013) and Google Certified Trainer (2016–2019).
EdSurge Contributor
Articles for EdSurge on blended learning and on how teachers learn.
Published Book Chapter
Contributing author to Personalized PD: Flipping Your Professional Development, a book about letting teachers learn the way we ask students to.
InnEdCo Board Leadership
Programming Chair and then Vice President of the Board for InnEdCo (Innovative Education Colorado), 2013 to 2019: the conference where Colorado's educators go to learn from one another.
Public Speaker
30+ talks and sessions at conferences and schools on blended learning, authentic assessment, and building places where people want to learn.
Education
BA, English, summa cum laude
University of Denver, Class of 2004. Graduated with a Secondary Education Endorsement.
Speaking
30+ talks at conferences, schools, and events on authentic learning, technology, and change. If you want me to speak, write to me.