The Why
So the question is.... "Why does an almost 57 year old go back to graduate school?" You might think I was following my "passion" and in a way I was. But mostly I was really frustrated with the situation I found myself in and I finally decided I had do something about it. So step back in time with me as I explain how I ended up in front of this computer studying the learning sciences, education policy, learning analytics, design thinking and storytelling with emerging technologies.
Professional Career
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I spent 30 years working for SAS, a global software data analytics company. During my time there, SAS grew quickly and my job changed on a yearly basis to meet the demands. Before leaving my last role in Product Management, I marveled at how fortunate I was to witness, first hand, the power software technology wielded in the business sector.
I "retired" from SAS when my son started kindergarten as I wanted to be involved in supporting his school and education. I wanted my son to have an educational experience that was engaging where he learned relevant material and could follow his own curiosity. But....this is where the story takes a twist.
Meet My Son
This little guy was diagnosed with dyslexia when he was in first grade. Fortunately, he had a very experienced teacher who was well versed in recognizing the warning signs. We both knew that he was struggling with reading, we just didn't know why. After a complete and total meltdown at school one day, because he wasn't able to read the books his friends were, I got the call that it was time to get him evaluated.
It was January 2017 when we were told that he had phonologic and orthographic awareness issues. The solution was to find a structured literacy program to help him build a strong foundation in phonics. Great, I was on it. I found him a wonderful tutor and he started on an Orton-Gillingham (OG) based program.
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Turning Point
In an effort to gain a better understanding of how a structured literacy program works, I took a week long course on the OG multi-sensory approach. It gave me so much more insight into what and how my son was learning. I also came away with the understanding that in order for students to connect sounds with symbols, lots of repetition was required. Unfortunately, that makes for some pretty boring drills.
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Consequently, I started searching for fun apps that gamified phonics learning. I fell miserably short in my quest. That's when I decided I needed to go back to school to figure out how to meet this gap in the market. And that's how I ended up in the MEITE program.