Cathy earned a bachelor of arts in special education from Elmhurst College and a master’s degree in educational leadership from National Louis University. She lives in a Chicago suburb with her husband, Matt, and her two children, Colleen and Lucas.
Jamie Reilly is a retired teacher and administrator who consults with the Consortium for Educational Change, where she continues her own learning while serving other educators.
Jamie served public school districts in both Illinois and Pennsylvania for over forty years; twenty-six as a teacher and sixteen as an administrator. Her experience includes classroom teaching at elementary grades, as well as working as a reading specialist and a trained Reading Recovery teacher. Jamie found her extensive teaching background to be helpful as she transitioned to an elementary principal, assistant superintendent for learning, and ultimately superintendent. Jamie’s focus has always been continuous improvement with a personal goal to remain “green and growing.”
She completed a bachelor of arts degree in education at Westminster College in Pennsylvania. Jamie’s graduate studies include a doctorate in curriculum and instruction from Aurora University, a certification in educational leadership, a master’s degree from Penn State University, and advanced study at National Louis University. Jamie lives in the suburbs of Chicago with her husband, Kevin, and loves spending time with her children Carley and Robert and her precious grand-daughter Maddie.
Courtney Orzel serves as an elementary school superintendent in the suburbs of Chicago. She is a former principal, middle school teacher, and high school teacher. Courtney’s educational interests are focused on continuous improvement models, principal and teacher leadership, dialogue, and issues of equity and access in schools.
Courtney earned her doctorate from the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign and her master’s degree from Concordia University. She resides in the suburbs of Chicago with her husband and two children.
Jordan Garrett is the iDirector (instructional director) for Berwyn South School District 100. She oversees 1:1 deployment, district iCoaches, site visits, the district’s iEngage Conference, and the Students Involved in Technology (SIT) Conference. She joined the district in 2010 as a first-grade co-teacher, eventually taught fourth grade, and then became one of the district’s iCoaches, traveling throughout the district to instruct and coach staff on the use, applications, and capacity of technology in the classroom. She was selected as a member of the Apple Distinguished Educator class of 2017.
Jordan has a bachelor of arts degree in elementary and special education from Butler University and a master’s degree in curriculum studies from DePaul University. She loves her family, Chicago, and her fiancé Matt unconditionally.
Robin Bruebach is a principal in a K–6 building in Downers Grove School District 58. A former teacher, curriculum director, and assistant principal, Robin worked with gifted students, remedial reading students, fifth-grade students, and eighth-grade students. She coached basketball, cheerleading, and Odyssey of the Mind. Her passion is working with teachers, students, parents, and administrators through collaboration, differentiated instruction, and professional development. She is interested in developing growth mindsets and facilitating ownership of learning for all community members.
Robin earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign and a master’s degree in education from National Louis University. She loves to travel and has gained a global perspective that helps her understand the many cultures in her school. She loves sports and music and resides in a suburb of Chicago with her husband, daughter, and Goldendoodle Max.
To learn more about Robin’s work, follow @ITMrsBruebach on Twitter.
Steven M. Griesbach is a retired teacher and administrator who works with superintendents and principals and consults in the EdTech world. Steve served students, families, and staff at all grade levels in public schools in Illinois, first as a high school history and social sciences teacher and later as a middle school assistant principal, elementary school principal, assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction, and superintendent of an award-winning school district in a suburb of Chicago. Along the way, Steve learned that his primary role as an educator was to bring out the best in those he served.
Becky Fischer is the director of curriculum, instruction, and assessment at Skokie School District 73 ½. A former middle school science teacher, department chair, and sixth-grade team leader, Becky began her administrative journey as a science curriculum coordinator and then served as a middle school assistant principal. As a district leader, she derives great learning and joy from leading the district through its initial stages of adopting instructional technology with an aim toward providing staff with meaningful opportunities to understand change and the part technology tools play in teaching and learning.
Through varied professional learning opportunities, including a thoughtfully developed districtwide professional learning plan and intentional instructional coaching program, she hopes to see teachers and students continue to learn and grow. Becky’s professional interests include differentiated professional learning and the power of instructional coaching.
Becky earned her bachelor’s degree from Augustana College, her master’s degree in curriculum from University of Phoenix, and her certificate of advanced study in educational leadership from National Louis University. Becky resides in the suburbs of Chicago with her fiancé and two dogs. She enjoys trying new restaurants, being outdoors, and running.
To book Meg Ormiston, Cathy Fisher, Jamie Reilly, Courtney Orzel, Jordan Garrett, Robin Bruebach, Steven M. Griesbach, or Becky Fischer for professional development, contact [email protected].
Preface
This book is all about leading a change-focused school. Each member of this writing team is a practicing school or district administrator or education consultant, and although our journeys have been different, we all share a passion for thinking about how to launch students into the rapidly changing world outside of school, equipping them with the digital skills to be lifelong learners and change agents. We also share a passion for thinking about the best practices for you—a K–12 administrator who shares these goals—to help your team create the highly engaged and digitally enriched 21st century classrooms that will lead students to develop those skills. It’s with that passion that we wrote this guide for you.
We are in an age of acceleration, according to celebrated New York Times columnist and best-selling author Thomas L. Friedman. In his groundbreaking book Thank You for Being Late, Friedman (2016) writes, “There are vintage years in wine and vintage years in history, and 2007 was definitely one of the latter” (p. 20).
Why was the year 2007 so important? At the end of 2006, Facebook finally opened to anyone over thirteen with a valid email, and the social network scaled globally over the course of the following year. Apple released the first iPhone in 2007, combining the world’s best media player, a phone, and access to the Internet in one device. The microblogging company Twitter launched in 2007, and Amazon released the first Kindle ebook reader. Google bought YouTube in 2007. Airbnb was conceived that year. The list goes on and on.