All+about+us

**All About Us** []

Amber Cregan
I was born in Hornell, NY, however relocated to Gainesville, VA when I was a year old. I was recently married in October 2010 and looking forward to celebrating our 9 month anniversary (July). It is true when they say that time flies! We do not have any children or pets of our own, but certainly looking forward to those moments in the near future. I enjoy reading, shopping, the beach, and more importantly dancing. Dance is a big part of my life and love to bust a move whenever I can!

I attended undergrad at Radford University, started my graduate career at American Public University and enjoying my last few months with Walden University. I am a Kindergarten teacher, and just completed my 5th year of teaching. I have always been a strong proponent of integrating technology in the classroom and exposing my students as often as I can. While my students are limited to the amount of activities, we are having fun learning and using the technology and software at hand to enhance our classroom environment.

Amy West
Originally form mountainous and beautiful Northern California, I have lived in Las Vegas for the last eight years. I have completed eleven years of teaching, which includes grades six through ten. My favorite level to teach was ninth grade, but when school starts, I will be on my third year of eighth grade. This coming school year I will be teaching English 8, Accelerated English 8, and Reading 8. I am a bit nervous about teaching three different courses, but am excited about infusing technology wherever I can. An interactive white board is being installed in my classroom this summer, and I have been told I will have plenty of access to the computer labs. All of this is very exciting!

When not teaching, I am with my husband of ten years and our two girls. We are busy with cheer leading practice and girl scouts. These activities, coupled with me being a student again, have kept us very busy. I look forward to graduation and life slowing down a bit!

Colleen McCray
﻿My name is Colleen, and I live in Pennsylvania, just south and west of Gettysburg. I teach just over the state line in Washington County, Maryland. I am just about to begin my 8th year of teaching. I spent the first two years in Pennsylvania bouncing around long term subsitute positions. I accepted the position in Maryland and have been teaching there ever since. I began in 1st grade, and looped with my class to 2nd. I taught second for three years, and now I am moving back down to first. Teachers report back to school on August 18th, so things are about to get really busy really quickly, as I need to make sure my room is cleaned and organized before all of my new first grade materials get here.

At home, I have my husband of almost 7 years, who was a police officer, but left police work to become a teacher. He will complete his student teaching this fall. We have a son who just turned two in July. My husband's grandmother lives with us during the school year as our live-in babysitter, and to round things out, we have a Siberian Husky.

Joy Sheehan
My name is Joy Sheehan and I live in the Northeastern part of Wyoming! I will be beginning my 10 year of teaching at the rural school of Moorcroft Elementary. My first year I taught 1st grade and the last eight years I have been teaching 4th grade. I am moving up to 6th grade this upcoming school year. This is my second Master's through Walden University and I have loved both of them and they have been very rewarding. Since starting this Master's Program I have increase the use of technology in my classroom immensely. Last year I created a classroom blog as well as a wiki for my staff. I look forward to using more types of technology with my 6th graders as I begin some Project Based Learning.

I just celebrated my 8 year anniversary with my amazing husband and have been blessed with three beautiful children. I am very fortunate that two of them are in the same school as I teach so I get to check in on them frequently! My daughter will be in 2nd grade and son in Kindergarten. My baby girl just turned 20 months and I am sad at how fast they have all grown! They keep me very busy and I love every minute of it!!

I look forward to reading all your units and contributing some hopefully helpful insights!!!

Lori Backen
﻿Hi to everyone!! I live a small town of Hulett in Northeastern Wyoming near by the Devils Tower National Monument. I will be beginning my 11th year of teaching. I have taught kindergarten, first grade, third grade, fourth grade and this year I will be teaching a second/third grade combo class. I am looking foward to this new challenge. This is my second masters from Walden and I have learned so much. I am looking forward to implementing lots of technology into my classroom this year.

I am celebrating my 27th anniversary this month with my wonderful husband. We have been blessed with four wonderful childen. I have one son who is married to a wonderful girl and has blessed us with two amazing grandsons that are two and five. One of our daughters has chosen to join the work force and the other one is senior at Dickinson State University and is on the girls golf team. She is pursuing a degree in business marketing. My other son is in his fifth year of college and taken on new position of being a hall director at Black Hills State University rather than a residence assistance. He has his work cut out for him as he will be in a all girl dorm. I hope he can handle all that drama!! He is pursuing a degree in Physical Education with emdorsement in Health. I enjoy golfing, reading, camping, fourwheeling, and being with my family.

Good luck with your units and I am looking forward to contributing and receiving helpful insights!

Michael Waurio
===I have been teaching for a decade now, the last eight years in a town about an hour and a half from Washington DC. Currently I teach 8th grade Civics, an introductory Language elective, and senior government. During summer school I taught US history. (Yeah, I kind of have ADHD, I like to bounce around a lot.) === ===My hope for my classroom in the coming school year is that I integrate a lot of new technology pieces. I personally will be running a blog, a Facebook page, a podcast site, and a website. I am planning on having my students blog what they learned every unit so that at the end of the year they can look over their personal blogs as a refresher. Beyond that I want to take advantage of my school's computer labs whenever I can. === ===On a personal note, I have a two and a half year old daughter who has goldilock style blonde curls and blue eyes - not looking forward to when boys discover how cute she it. I coach cross country in the fall and either tennis or track in the spring, I'm really excited about my XC team this year, last year we were 3rd in the state. ===

**Preeti Singh**
My name is Preeti Singh and I live in North Brunswick, New Jersey. I am an elementary school teacher and have been teaching for over seven years. Last year, I taught third grade and next year I will be teaching a fourth grade inclusion class. Integrating technology in the classroom is my passion. Last year, my students used web 2.0 tools and worked on a classroom blog, Skyped with other classes and authors, created podcasts and voice threads, and used inspiration software for concept mapping.

<span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 14px;">I owe most of this technology integration to the Masters program that I am pursuing at Walden University. It has helped me to become confident in integrating technology in my classrooms.

<span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 14px;">On a personal note, I have been married for 27 years and my husband is a marine engineer. I have two sons, 22 and 20 years old. I love dogs and we have a two year old Golden Retriever named Cooper.

= = =Scott Tingo= I have been teaching high school math in Seymour, Wisconsin for the past four years. I really enjoy teaching math, and I am always looking for ways to improve student learning and to make my classes more engaging. That is why I decided to pursue a masters program that focuses on integrating technology in the classroom. Technology can be a powerful tool in the classroom is used correctly. I felt as though I was not using the technology that is available to me as effectively as it could be used, but I feel as though I have come a long ways over the past year thanks to my coursework.

In my personal life, I have been married for seven years and we have three girls, ages 6, 5, and 2. I am lucky to have a wife who is also a teacher in the same school district, so our schedules are always the same. My free time is spent in the outdoors. I enjoy hunting, fishing, camping, working in my garden, running, and a lot of other activities that get me outside.