Her Story
About Leslie
My journey into education was unconventional. My undergrad wasn't in education, and I went to law school at Thomas M. Cooley in Lansing, Michigan with my brother. While in class, I realized I really wanted to be a teacher, so I left law school. My whole family are attorneys, so I'm kind of the oddball that went elsewhere, though I've got them teaching now as adjunct professors. I've been in education for 13 years now. I'm a licensed 7-12 integrated social studies teacher and did that for about 10 years. After getting my master's in curriculum and instruction, I shifted into instructional coaching at my district, coaching secondary social studies for 3 years. I continued my education and got an Instructional Design Certificate and a Computer Tech Endorsement, which led me to my current position as high school instructional technology coach. I do our district's training on things like Magic School, showing students and teachers how to use educational technologies responsibly with digital citizenship built into lessons. In our fast-paced, AI-driven world, I want responsible use and an understanding that this tool is a very cool tool, but it also has a place, and that place is not to replace you or your work or your ideas, but to enhance them. One of my most notable achievements was being chosen to lead a pilot of AI tools across our district, where I supported 40 educators with the initial adoption, designing professional development around ethical use of technology and helping shift the conversation from fear of AI and tech to thoughtful strategy. I took teachers from being skeptical of using the tool to feeling confident with making these tools student-facing.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Leslie
01What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Chase your dreams. Don't let anybody tell you that you can't do it, because if you set your mind to something, I truly believe that you can make anything possible.
02What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
Right now, the biggest challenge is trying to pick out the next move for technologies. It is moving very quickly, and there are a lot of certificates and classes out there that are advertising that it's the next big thing. It's sometimes difficult to pick out whether this is something that somebody kind of made up this certificate, or is this a meaningful certificate. Trying to figure out where technology is going next is challenging because it is unfolding in a way that I never could have foreseen before. I have a car that virtually drives itself, and that's something that 20 years ago, I would have never thought would be possible. So just trying to stay on top of the very quick-moving technology wave is difficult, but also really exciting and rewarding.
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