A Lifetime in the Classroom

I can’t remember a time when I didn’t want to be a teacher. While other kids were dreaming of being stewardesses, I was imagining how I would create suspense for my students while reading aloud the “Charlie Finds the Golden Ticket” chapter (with well-placed dramatic pauses, of course). I can track my own life—the growth, the life experience, and the occasional step backward—through the different classrooms I’ve taught in.

My first job was in the ’90s as a high school junior English teacher at Brighton High School. I taught students how to write research papers by sending them to the University of Utah library to sort through magazines or to Barnes & Noble to purchase books. We did what we knew, completely unaware of how outdated that entire process would look in just five years.

Next, I hit the road in southern rural Utah for the regional educational service center. I drove across six counties showing teachers and students how to use this brand-new thing called the internet. My best trick was putting teachers and students in the same room. I’d teach them both at the same time so the students—the “native users” who could remember all the places to click—could help the teachers remember how to use the tools after I left.

After that, I spent seven years as a theater and English teacher at Cedar High School, where I also taught the required half-year computer class to freshmen. Flip phones were the big distraction then. I confiscated my fair share of them, sometimes on a Friday just so they’d have to go the whole weekend without one. (Yikes, I was that teacher-sorry Brandi.)

A memorable moment was our first day back from winter vacation in January 2012. The school’s internet completely crashed. It took us two full days of frantic confusion to figure out that the students’ shiny new Christmas iPhones, sitting quietly in their pockets, were grabbing every single IP address the school had. Looking back, it’s obvious. At the time, a total mystery.

Leading the Charge in Ed Tech

From there, I moved on to teaching and coaching middle school math, seeing firsthand how technology could either be a brilliant teaching tool or an unfortunate crutch. Eventually, that led me to the Utah State Board of Education, where I spent 7.5 years as a digital teaching and learning specialist. I managed a $20 million portfolio, getting technology funds into districts and charter schools across the state. I’ve seen all the tools, all the teaching tactics, and all the systems that make schools work. I’ve seen teachers and principals use technology and human ingenuity to create countless astounding learning opportunities for students.