Helping people learn has been a passion of mine since I was very young. Imagine a 5-year-old version of me, sitting in my kindergarten class, in awe of my teacher. I wanted to be just like her when I grew up. I loved learning the calendar, talking about the weather, and spending my entire school day playing. I went home each day and transformed my bedroom into a classroom. Okay, so what if my students were stuffed animals and dolls? What I didn't realize at the time, was that it wasn't just "play". My teacher was a master at helping us learn without us even realizing it. School was fun! 

When I got to high school, it stopped being fun. Learning was hard. I didn't understand the point in taking some of the classes I was required to, because I knew I was going to be a teacher... not a physicist or mathematician. I couldn't see how those topics were relevant to me. I wanted to go back to a time when learning was fun and exciting. The frustration I felt only fueled my desire to change learning for others by becoming an educator. 

After high school, I received my Bachelor's degree in Education from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. I became an upper elementary/middle school teacher. I found a passion in teaching science because I could excel at making learning FUN with labs and projects. I continued to push myself to find even better ways to help my learners, and went on to earn my National Board Certification in 2018, which I renewed in 2022. 

Once the pandemic hit, things in education changed overnight. I went from being an in-person instructor to a virtual one. I was very confident in my ability, because I love technology, so that didn't worry me. However, I had to figure out how to take in-person, hands-on learning and turn it into a digital format that was still just as engaging. I had taken online classes before and I always thought they were boring. I didn't want that for my students, and I worked hard to make their online learning just as exciting. It was through this unplanned experience that I realized my passion was less about the actual teaching, and more about the designing and developing of the learning experience. That realization ultimately led me to the field of Instructional Design, where I get to use a variety of tools like Storyline, Rise, Canva, and Vyond to make interactive, engaging learning for adults. 

Learning shouldn't feel like "work". It should be a fun experience. As adults, we all know the purpose of training and taking courses. Obviously the naïve kindergarten version of me no longer exists, and my goal isn't to trick people into thinking we take training courses for completely intrinsic reasons. Rather, my goal is to make the learning experience one that doesn't feel like work or something to check off of an already long list of to-dos. Learning needs to be relevant, applicable, and rooted in first-hand, real-world experiences. I invite you to check out some of the projects I have created to see how I've implemented those beliefs in my work.

Please reach out if you have any questions or if you'd like to work with me to create your next training course. I look forward to hearing from you!