My main job at IDLA is to create the content and build our online classes. As the English lead, I oversee and manage all of the English curriculum, making sure that links and content are up to date and aligned with legislative action. I started as a part time teacher with IDLA in 2008. In 2018, I joined the full time teacher team, and I transitioned to the curriculum team in 2021.
I was the first reading/literacy specialist hired at IDLA and was assigned my first curriculum development task after my first year at IDLA. They asked me to create interactive literacy support materials to share with teachers around the state, so that is what I did during the summer of 2009. I’ve been teaching and developing ever since!
Unmuted: IDLA Q&A
Q: What does a typical day look like in your role?
A: I spend a lot of time building course materials in CourseArc, Schoology, and Buzz. CourseArc is the tool we use to build lessons. Schoology and Buzz are the learning management systems we use to deliver our courses. Typically, I have two major development projects going with a couple smaller side projects. I regularly use ChatGPT and Canva to create visuals and to outline needed revisions. I have weekly meetings with my development teams where we discuss the progress of the project and problem solve any issues that might come up. I also spend a couple of hours each week addressing needs in the English courses, whether that is reviewing materials for a course revision or updating broken links or out of date materials. And I try to attend webinars in course design, accessibility, and AI integration when I’m able.
Q: What’s one thing about your job that might surprise people?
A: I get to learn some really cool stuff! In the last couple of years, I’ve worked on a variety of projects from wilderness survival to semiconductors and health to mythology. In all of these projects, I learn the content while designing ways to help students understand complex (and, dare I say, boring) material. I get to create and experiment every day.
Q: What’s one project or achievement at IDLA that you’re especially proud of?
A: I built all three courses for the Semiconductors pathway at IDLA. The first course was Chip, Chip, Hooray! and I didn’t know anything about semiconductors when I began that course! I gamified the course, creating virtual worlds and designing interactive games around the technical content. I just completed the third and final course in the pathway this spring. It was very fulfilling to work with the project from start to finish and see it all come together. I also got to work with some amazing people. We partnered with businesses around Idaho to shoot videos showing the cool ways technology is used around the state, and we partnered with professors and the Semiconductors for All team at Boise State to create the two dual credit courses.
Q: What do you love most about working in online education?
A: There is never a dull moment! I love a challenge, and online education provides challenges in droves (I mean this in the best way!). We are on the cutting edge of technology and have the opportunity to work with a variety of partners to solve problems and fill gaps. There is no one-size-fits-all in education, but online education feels like the Marty McFly jacket from the future. And we’re just scratching the surface of what’s possible!
Q: What’s one unique aspect of IDLA that people might not realize?
A: IDLA truly values people from the top to the bottom of the organization. When I was having a particularly challenging day, Jeff Simmons, our superintendent, called me to check in. I don’t think he will ever know how much his call meant to me on that day. But I know that I matter at IDLA and am valued even in the midst of challenging situations. When work gets hard, it is that knowledge that helps me persevere.
Q: If you could swap roles with someone at IDLA for a day, who would it be and why?
A: I would love to swap roles with one of our regional support specialists to be able to see what goes on in our schools. They are able to see the needs of our local school partners and find solutions. As an introvert, I couldn’t do that role all the time, but I’d love to get their perspective for a day.
Q: What’s a favorite memory you’ve had while working at IDLA?
A: There are a handful. But I did win the oversized ax throwing battle, I believe against Ashlee Kolar, at one of our office get-togethers. That ax was so heavy!
Q: What’s one fun fact about you that most people don’t know?
A: I hold two sailing certifications from the American Sailing Association with a goal to earn my “Bareboat Cruising” certification within the next couple of years.
Lightning Round!
Q: What’s your go-to coffee (or tea) order?
A: Caramel mocha. I call them candy bars in a cup!
Q: If you could have dinner with any historical figure, who would it be?
A: Abigail Adams–I am interested in learning about her relationship with John Adams and what it was like to raise a future president. She seems like a woman who had great influence at an intriguing time in history. What are her secrets?
Q: What’s the best book, TV show, or podcast you’ve enjoyed recently?
A: Materialism: A Materials Science Podcast. As I built the DC Materials Science and Engineering course from the materials provided by Boise State, this podcast is one of the resources I came across. It is fascinating to learn how products that I take for granted came to function the way they do because of the intentional application of materials science principles. Who knew all the science that goes into making the smoothest, creamiest chocolate?
Q: What’s one piece of technology you couldn’t live without?
A: My laptop. I can’t work without it, and I can also stream anything I need or want when I’m not working. I’m also able to walk away from it easier than I can my cell phone. So my laptop allows for the perfect balance of connectedness and unpluggedness (not sure that’s a word, but that’s what I need).
Q: If you could work remotely from anywhere in the world, where would it be?
A: Raiatea, French Polynesia–We chartered a private catamaran there in 2023, and it was amazing! It is beautiful beyond description, and the few people who inhabit the island are incredibly warm and friendly. I love sitting on the beach, so working from a slingback chair with my feet in the sand and no distractions save the occasional dolphin pod seems pretty ideal.
When I reflect on my time with IDLA, I am so thankful that I have the opportunity to work in a job I love, with coworkers I love, in my home surrounded by the family I love. During COVID, I held bi-weekly meetings with my seventh graders who were doing all of their schooling online. They were lonely, so we got together virtually to chat and have connection. We attended virtual birthday parties, had share your pet days and show and tell with something you’re proud of, you name it. I received a text from a mother after one of our sessions where she thanked me for helping her son smile and laugh that day. He had been struggling. I try to remember that I’m not creating content or teaching English, but I’m connecting with real people with needs beyond my course objectives. When the person is central, everything else falls into place.
