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ABOUT KATE BEAN Kate Bean is a personalized learning pioneer and founder/executive director of Aveson Charter Schools, one of the first public schools focused on personalized mastery learning for grades K-12. Featured in the book, Learning Personalized: The Evolution of the Contemporary Classroom, Aveson hosts numerous public school leaders every year who are interested in offering a personalized mastery learning model to their students. Prior to Aveson, Kate was a teacher, district administrator and an educational consultant through the Comprehensive School Reform Grant program and No Child Left Behind era. It was her experience with NCLB that led her to … Read more...

June is Chief Operating Officer of iLearn Collaborative.  She has more than 15 years of experience, spanning nearly every functional business management role. She most recently worked as an independent consultant in Denver focused on K-12 change management. Her experience includes serving as COO for EducationSuperHighway, which aimed to bring high speed broadband access to K-12 public schools. Here June successfully led efforts to free up $2.5 billion annually in federal funding and obtain the commitment of 39 governors to make this work a priority. Prior to this, she held a variety of leadership roles at Moody’s Analytics, successfully leading … Read more...

Anthony is the author of Personalized Learning Playbook, Why the Time is Now. He has contributed to many publications on new school models including Lessons Learned from Blended Programs: Experiences and Recommendations from the Field. Anthony is a nationally recognized speaker on personalized learning and his work has been referenced by the Christensen Institute, iNACOL, EdSurge, CompetencyWorks, EdWeek, District Administrator, and numerous other research reports. He is the founder and CEO of Education Elements, a provider of technology and professional services to school districts across the country. Prior to Education Elements, Anthony founded Provost Systems, which provided online learning solutions … Read more...

Curt Mould is the Director of Innovation and Continuous Improvement for the Sun Prairie Area School District. Curt works with teachers, leaders and community members to create designs for learning that are responsive to learners in the new century. Curt was a program coordinator for the Northwestern University Center for Talent Development and has served as curriculum director, building administrator and teacher. Curt is a member of Games, Learning and Society, and a researcher with the Personalization in Practice team at the University of Wisconsin – Madison. Tweet: Why should success and failure be considered important in learning? Find out … Read more...

Tweet: Why is building capacity so important? Find out from @johnnanoll & @EpiphanyLaura http://ctt.ec/Zf0dk+ #iamME Johnna Noll is the Executive Director and District Administrator for Norris Academy. Norris Academy is a small rural public school system serving disadvantaged youth with an Innovative Alternative Program that utilizes a cyclical student centric educational delivery approach. The model is based on a comprehensive assessment, plan, pathway and proffer of learning across four dimensions of learning; Academic and Career planning, employability, Citizenship, and personal wellness. Prior to coming to Norris, Johnna served as the Director of Instructional Services for the West Allis – West … Read more...

Ryan Piper has been teaching 8th grade math at Gilmore Middle School in Racine, Wisconsin for 15 years. He has been a major advocate for personalized learning after experiencing the failures of traditional teaching methods firsthand. His goal is to show other educators that personalized learning can be done successfully in an urban setting. Ryan was recently named the 2016 Wisconsin PTA Outstanding Educator of the Year. Tweet: Fail & succeed! Learn more about Ryan Piper’s stories on his #personalizedlearning environment http://ctt.ec/deMZw+ #iamME SHOW NOTES GETTING TO KNOW RYAN Looking back at your career, what is one thing that a … Read more...

Lisa Nielsen is The Innovative Educator. She found school boring and irrelevant. That ticked her off so she became a public school educator who works to help change that for others. She does this by finding and sharing innovative ways to prepare students for relevant and real-world success. Among other things, this means ensuring educators and students have a voice in conversations, issues, and policies that affect them. She began her career in the 90s as a librarian which was a perfect fit enabling her to create a vibrant oasis in Harlem where students could find their passions with support … Read more...

Allison Zmuda is a full-time education consultant who works with educators to grow ideas on how to make learning for students challenging, possible and worthy of the attempt. Over the past fifteen years, Zmuda has shared curricular, assessment, and instructional ideas, shown illustrative examples, and offered practical strategies of how to get started.  Allison Zmuda began as a public high school teacher in Newtown, Connecticut. Her passion for her students and her innovative spirit inspired the writing of her first book: The Competent Classroom (2001). Zmuda made the transition from classroom to consultant in 2002 — primarily specializing with a … Read more...

Jin-Soo Huh is the Personalized Learning Manager at Alpha Public Schools. He is a D.C. Region ’09 alum and he taught middle and high school math in Prince George’s County, New Orleans and Chicago. He served as a teacher leader in implementing one of the nation’s first 1:1 iPad programs where he got exposed to the world of ed tech and supported the operations and teacher training with an influx of 900+ iPads. In his previous role as Director of Technology at KIPP Chicago Schools and in his current role at Alpha, he refines personalized learning models and supports educators … Read more...

Dr. Mark Hansen has served as Superintendent for the award-winning Elmbrook School District since 2012.  Prior to his current role he served as Chief Academic Officer, Assistant Superintendent, Principal, Associate Principal and Teacher for the School Districts of Pewaukee, Waukesha and Brown Deer.  In 2006, he was named Wisconsin High School Principal of the Year and was one of three finalists for National Principal of the Year.  Over his career, he has been known as an innovator and risk taker, including leading the establishment of two charter schools that emphasize career preparation in engineering and health care.  His passion is … Read more...

Gunnar Counselman is a former Marine HUMINT Officer who served in Iraq, Bosnia, and the Horn of Africa. He performed initial research for the book Disrupting Class in 2005 and currently is the co-founder and CEO of Fidelis Education, a leading Learning Relationship Management company. Tweet: Find out why building relationships is so important, with @gcounselman on the #iamME Podcast! http://ctt.ec/wLt2Z+ SHOW NOTES GETTING TO KNOW GUNNAR Tell us how your organization is impacting education? We develop personalized learning plans that put relationships at the center. What are the major events that took place throughout your life that positioned … Read more...

Joshua Bocock has been a classroom teacher for 10 years.  He spent one year at Nottoway High School in Crewe, Virginia but has now spent the rest of his time at Magna Vista High School in Ridgeway, Virginia.  Classes that he teaches include World History II, US/VA History, US Government, Sociology, Criminal Justice, 20th Century History, AP US History and AP European History. Joshua is a Lead Teacher for Magna Vista High School from 2008-2013 as well as Social Studies Department Chair for the 2014-2015 school year. At Warrior Tech, Joshua serves a dual role as a leader of the … Read more...

Dean is a native of Maquoketa, Iowa, a small farming community in east central Iowa. He attended the University of Iowa as an undergraduate, receiving a B.S. in physics with honors in 1985.  Dean took an additional year to become certified as a public school teacher and in 1986 accepted a teaching position at West High School in the Iowa City Community School District. He taught physics and AP Physics at West from 1986 – 1992. Dean enjoyed much success as a teacher receiving the Sallie Mae outstanding teacher award in 1987, and the Outstanding Physics Teacher of the Year … Read more...

Trevor Bryan is an elementary art teacher in Jackson Township NJ. He is the creator of The Art of Comprehension which is an approach to teaching comprehension and other academic skills through viewing and responding to artworks. He is also co-founder of the education blog Four o’clock Faculty. Tweet: Find out why increasing engagement increases learning with @trevorabryan on the #iamME Podcast! http://ctt.ec/dN2ye+ SHOW NOTES GETTING TO KNOW TREVOR Looking back at your career, what is one thing that a parent, student or peer has said makes you unique as a teacher? Fusing art and academics together. When and why … Read more...

Matt Austin currently teaches 9th grade Biology at Verona Area High School.  He has been in this position for the past 14 years.  Matt also serves as the Science department chair, and is also the boys assistant golf coach.  During his 20 years of teaching, he has taught at Wolf Ridge Environmental Learning Center, 7th grade Science, AP Biology, Environmental Science and Integrated Science.  Matt graduated from Lawrence University with a B.A. in Biology, along with earning his teaching license there.  During the past 3 years, Matt has helped to implement a 1:1 ipad program at Verona Area High School, … Read more...

Kate Sommerville is in her 16th year of teaching.  She received her undergraduate degrees in elementary and special education from the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh in 2000.  In 2007, she received her Master’s Degree in Education in Professional Development from the University of Wisconsin LaCrosse.  Kate begun her teaching career in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, but moved back to the Milwaukee area after one year.  Kate has spent the last 15 years of her career teaching fourth and fifth grade at Swanson Elementary School in the Elmbrook School District.  Kate is passionate about bringing her creativity and enthusiasm into the classroom.  Keeping … Read more...

Derek Doucet is an educator who strives to be up to date on the best practices so his students can receive a rich educational experience that will follow them for the rest of their lives. First and foremost, Derek is the loving spouse and father of two. Ironically he was never traditionally the “good student” who payed attention to everything in class and received great grades. In fact, many of his former teachers were shocked that he would consider entering the profession based solely on karma. In 2001, in his first round of college his motto was “Teach the skills, … Read more...

Sixto Cancel founded Think of Us, a non-profit dedicated to innovating with data, technology and multi-media to serve vulnerable population. As a Dell Youth Innovation Advisor, Sixto leads a working committee that focuses on the learning of vulnerable youth populations.  He is a Young Fellow with Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative who is passionate about advocating for our youth. He is serving on the integration team at the Annie E. Casey Foundation and has participated in several White House briefings around technology, foster care, and LGBTQ issues. He has been recognized as a White House Champion of Change and as … Read more...

Angela Maiers embodies each of these descriptors with passion, commitment and fierce determination. She has been leading change in education and enterprise for 25 years, teaching every level of school from kindergarten to graduate school and consulting with companies around the world. She helps learners and leaders understand the transformative power of technology and the Internet. Her powerful message and down-to-earth style has made her a highly sought-after keynote speaker for education conferences, corporate events and innovation summits. She is the author of six books, including Classroom Habitudes and The Passion-Driven Classroom, and her You Matter talk at TEDxDesMoines has … Read more...

Rose Colby is currently a Competency-Based Learning and Assessment Specialist assisting schools in designing high quality competency, assessment, and grading reform systems in many states.  She is a Talent Cloud Competency Education Fellow for 2Revolutions, an education design firm.  She is a member of the national Advisory Board and contributor to Competency Works, the national clearinghouse and resource for innovative practices in competency education.  She has served as Competency Education Consultant for the NH Department of Education for several years. In that capacity, she serves on the Policy Committee for the joint work of the National Center for Assessment, the … Read more...