ISTE Edtech Coaches Playground

My name is Caty Carmendy, and I am the Instructional Coach of Mooresville High School. I have previously been a beginning teacher of the year for both my school and my entire district. My teaching background is in high school math, but I now work with all core and elective subjects. I also have an extensive amount of experience as a technology liaison with other school districts to help with 1:1 or other technology initiatives as well as presenting PD at conferences not limited to but including NCTIES and ISTE.

Emily Cowan is an Instructional Design Coach at Forward Edge. During that time she has become a Google Certified Teacher, Trainer and Coach. She has provided professional development and coaching to a variety of PK-12 grade teachers in multiple districts across the Cincinnati, Ohio area as well as Columbus and Maysville, Kentucky. Prior to this role, Emily earned her degree in Middle Level Education, with specialization in Language Arts and Science. She taught for six years in South Carolina and Ohio. She has a wide range of experience having worked in both urban and rural settings.

Ms. Jaime Higgins was born in Upstate NY and has been teaching in Philadelphia for the last 13 years. She has a B.A. in Mathematics w/ Certification in Secondary Education from SUNY New Paltz and M.S.Ed. in Integrating Technology into the Curriculum from Walden University. She is certified in PA in 7-12 Mathematics and PA in Comp Sci. She is Google Educator Lvl 1 & 2 Certified and considers herself a Google Workspace Guru, Professional Mathematics Educator, EdTech, DigCit and CS Advocate, Webmaster, Rebel Teacher, Mathematician, Polymath, Futurist. Social Media(Facebook, Instagram, Twitter): @MrsMathMagician

Mandy is a life-long resident of Odessa, TX. She is married to her high-school sweetheart and they have two children. Mandy is currently enrolled in Texas Tech University’s PhD program in Curriculum & Instruction. Her current research pertains to personalizing the professional learning experience for adult learners.

Matthaeus Huelse is an Instructional Design Coach at Forward Edge in Cincinnati, Ohio. With a decade of experience teaching foreign languages from Kindergarten to University levels, he brings expertise in implementing new strategies and curating ed-tech tools to support teachers. Matthaeus has presented at World Language conferences and the Bluegrass Intelligence Colloquium, and served as President of the Kentucky Chapter of the American Association of Teachers of German. He holds a Master of Arts in Teaching from Northern Kentucky University, a Master of Arts from the University of Kentucky in German Studies, and a Bachelor of Arts from Transylvania University in Sociology.

Adam Juarez is a Technology Integration Coach and Consultant for AdaKat EdTech Consulting . He supports teachers through individualized coaching, demo lessons and professional development. Adam is a Google Certified Trainer and Innovator, CUE Board Member, Leroy Finkel Fellowship Finalist, co-founder of #CVTechTalk, 2020 30 K-12 IT Influencers Worth a Follow (EdTech Magazine), co-author of The Complete EdTech Coach: A Organic Approach to Supporting Digital Learning, and a 2022 ISTE Featured Speaker.

Cammie currently works as a District-wide Instructional Lead in a geographically vast rural Alberta district (Prairie Rose Public Schools) and with the district’s Distance Learning programs. She has over 20 years of experience as a high school English and Social Studies teacher and taught an EdTech college course for preservice teachers for 5 years. She is a proud ISTE Community Leader and puts her roles as Google Certified Trainer / Coach and Microsoft Master Trainer to good use as a member of Canada’s Cobblestone Collective edtech trainers.

As an innovative and passionate Instructional Technology Coach, I serve to support teacher and student growth. I transitioned from an elementary school teacher to a coach, where I currently support elementary teachers district-wide. With a Master’s in Educational Leadership and a graduate certificate in Instructional Technology, I use my skills to drive meaningful EdTech integrations. I work with educators globally as a Global Google Educator Group (GEG) leader and leader of EC Open Chat (coaches open chat group). I am also a co-author in the Amplify Learning: A Global Collaborative book series.

Ashley McBride, Ed.D., is a digital learning leader for the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction.She has experience as a secondary English teacher, instructional technology facilitator and director of technology. McBride has led districtwide professional learning and statewide initiatives that help promote the effective and safe integration of technology for administrators, educators and students. In addition to her work with the state of North Carolina, McBride serves on the board of the North Carolina Technology in Education Society (NCTIES) and is also a COSN Certified Educational Technology Leader. She holds a doctorate in educational technology from Central Michigan University where she researched technology-related professional learning and educational technology coaching. Her experiences in K-12 education and her research in the field informed her 2021 ISTE-published book, The Edtech Coaching Primer: Supporting Teachers in the Digital Age Classroom.

Micah Joy L. Mitra, is a public school in the Philippines, Quezon Province, enthusiastic ed-tech advocate. Lead Proponent of Project Leads (Learning and Development Sustainability. It focuses on teachers' capacity Building. Twinkl Ambassador and Google Certified Educator, Trainer, coach, and Innovator. I also Lead GEG Quezon Province which empowers teachers in Bridging Technology and Curriculum.

Stephanie is an Education Innovation Leader for a K-12 District in Northern California, Google Innovator, Trainer, & Coach, Pear Deck Coach, co-founder of GlobalGEG, creator of CanWeTalkEDU, and author of numerous articles published on Edutopia and her own blog. Her TedX Talk “My Year of Yes to Me” is on Ted.com. Stephanie speaks at educational conferences around the world and was CUE’s Teacher of the Year for 2021. She is a contributing author in George Couros' #BecauseOfATeacher and contributor in Lainie Rowell's #EvolvingWithGratitude. Connect with Steph on Twitter and Instagram @StephRothEDU, or through her website www.StephRothEDU.com.

Amber Rowland, Ph.D. is an Associate Research Professor at the University of Kansas. She specializes in collaborative, practical and engaging adult professional learning with an emphasis on current instructional practices and the powerful integration of technology. She is Co-Principal Investigator on three USDOE grants focusing on designing powerful professional learning for educators, while also demonstrating student learning gains. Foci include virtual coaching and the application of the VECTOR model to increase coach effectiveness, VOISS, a virtual reality environment that teaches students social skills, and VOISS Advisor, a website that helps teachers support student generalization of learned skills.

Ted Samaras is an instructional technology coach (Franklin Township Public Schools, Somerset, NJ). He is also a Google for Education Certified Innovator (VIA20) and Trainer and Apple Coach. Ted is the host and creator of the “Ski Cap, Hoodie, and Shorts” podcast. He is also the creator of Recruit Helpers, a website and database providing student athletes information for college recruiting. He assisted in the development and implementation of various technology rollouts, including the district's 1:1 Chromebook initiative. He is a graduate of Rutgers University and also holds a Master's in Educational Technology from New Jersey City University.

Allie is a technology coach and trainer for Baldwin County Public Schools in south Alabama. She has a BA in Deaf Education and MA in Educational Technology from Michigan State University. She recently received her certification in Library Media as well as her National Board Certification. She also recently earned her ISTE Certification and her NISE STEM Teacher Certification.

An educator with over twenty years of experience, Debbie Tannenbaum works each and every day to “transform” learning using technology. During her time in education, she has served both as a classroom teacher in various grades and as an elementary technology coach. Outside of the classroom, Debbie promotes using technology tools to amplify student learning in her work as an educational technology consultant, author, blogger and speaker. You can connect with Debbie at TannenbaumTech.com .

Tricia has over eight years of teacher coaching and curriculum development experience, and 15 years of experience in education as a teacher and administrator. As an educator, Tricia focuses on building the whole child, one who understands compassion and kindness and is academically proficient. Her areas of expertise include coaching teachers on best practices in enhancing the classroom experience, as well as professional development, technology integration and STEM. Tricia is also a competitive gymnastics coach and dance teacher.

After teaching for 9 years as a middle school science teacher, I became a full-time instructional technology coach to serve our 1:1 program in Ypsilanti, Michigan. I love working with teachers and students and seeing the lightbulb moments when they do or make something cool and learn something new using a technology tool!

Nicole Zumpano has over 25 years of experience as a classroom teacher and instructional technology coach. Currently, she serves as the director of instructional technology coaching for the Learning Technology Center of Illinois. She facilitates statewide instructional technology coach meetings where coaches come together to share best practices. A Google Certified Trainer and Coach, Nicole leads Google Certified Coach cohorts. A National Board Certified Teacher, she teaches graduate-level educational technology courses for three universities. She’s an active member of the ISTE community and serves as an ISTE Community Leader.