I am excited to be teaching at Swann Middle School again this school year! Lions, I am looking forward to an amazing, fun, and productive school year. When we enter my classroom, learning is fun and cooperation is expected. Your positive attitude and mutual respect are part of everything we do and say. In order to succeed students are to perform at high-levels, certain basic classroom behavioral expectations must be in place. Students, you are expected to fully participate and be engaged in class lessons, and complete all assignments in a timely fashion. You are to follow the classroom expectations and procedures established to promote participation and learning in the classroom. 

Our Technology, Engineering/Design, and Technological Systems course immerses challenging and rewarding learning experiences that will be beneficial to the student. Our main focus is on higher-order or critical thinking and problem-solving skills. 

• 6th Grade - Exploring Technology: Exploring Technology course prepares sixth graders with an understanding of what is technology, the universal systems model, and opportunities to apply the engineering design process in problem solving.   
• 7th Grade - Exploring Engineering and Design: Invention and Innovation prepares seventh graders with opportunities to apply the design process in the invention or innovation of a new product, process, or system. 
• 8th Grade - Exploring Technological Systems: Technological Systems is designed to introduce eighth graders to systems and processes to develop an understanding of the impact of technology on humans, the environment, and the global community. By investigating systems through their function, design, and development, students will understand what systems are, why they are developed and how "systems thinking" can be used to describe them. 

My mission as a CTE/Technology Education teacher is to inspire, encourage, support, and empower champion, open-minded students who value cultural diversity, international mindedness, and lifelong learning by providing a safe, positive, and caring environment that fosters inquiry, communication, empathy, higher-order thinking, problem-solving, and reflection. We will collaborate together to respect others, model appropriate behavior, apply critical thinking skills, and use creative and authentic, real-life applications, and technology that enhance learning.