Cuba-Rushford CS

* While I was teaching at ALCS, my reputation for using
new technology was growing. In a nearby school they
had just created a new position combining Music and
Technology integration. Since I had just finished my
Masters in Adult Ed. and Distance Learning, it seemed
like it would be a good fit for me. A friend in the district
told me I should apply, and I did. I got the job.

Technology Integration Specialist
* As the new technology integration specialist for CRCS
I had several duties. I answered to the director of
technology for the school and the superintendent. My
duties included:
- maintaining parts of the school web page
- instructing teachers on how to create classroom and
grade level web pages.
- building tech. tip worksheets for teachers to use while
they worked on their own
- assisting teachers and staff on the use of various
computer applications including:
1. Microsoft Word
2. Microsoft Power Point
3. Windows Movie Maker
4. Email (different clients)
5. Photostory
6. Online Test Taking
....and many others...

Mixed delivery classroom development
* While at CRCS I developed an online course for
students who chose to opt out of band and chorus
because they were not interested in music. Since they
had to have music credit to fulfill NYS requirements I
developed a music course that was to be completed by
students using laptops. Students would access their
assignments online, complete the work and email their
completed assignments to me. We operated in a
paperless environment and many of the students who
would have been bored and unsuccessful in a more
traditional general music classroom were able to find
success using the computer and Internet technology. At
the same time the students were completing
assignments they were also becoming proficient using
Word, various media players, email clients, organizing
server files, and learning typing skills.

Band / Chorus Teacher
* 6th grade band and chorus were the highlights of my
teaching career. I taught 2nd year band students to
play their instruments and work in a large ensemble to
make great music. In the chorus we wrote original
songs and created music videos for chorus concerts.

Working at CRCS was the most rewarding work
experience I have had professionally thus far.

Buffalo Charter Schools
* I am currently working part time in the Buffalo Charter
school system. At the same time I am working as a
performing musician. For more details on my
performance experience please visit my performance
experience page.

Thanks for visiting my site.
My Education and Experience
HISTORY
My entire educational history consists of
experiences in what most would consider
alternative educational settings. I can remember
back as far as first grade when my parents had
me attending a Christian school in West Seneca,
NY. Around the time I was in 5th grade, my
parents decided to join a mission group called
New Tribes Mission, and our move to their facility
brought me to my first experience in a "regular"
state school. At the same time I remember 6th
and 7th grade being an up and down ride of
moving in and out of three different schools,
meeting new students, and trying to make new
friends. My 8th-11th grade years in high school
were spent in a boarding school in Papua New
Guinea. This was a school where teachers were
in transition much of the time, and coming and
going as volunteers to the mission field. Some of
the teachers were long term, and those are
probably the ones I remember tormenting the
most.  My parents brought me back to the U.S.
for my senior year and I attended another
private Christian school in Webster, NY.
Unfortunately my overseas experience hadn't
prepared me to graduate in the U.S. so I had to
receive a diploma from my boarding school in
PNG.
Reflection
I find it interesting how my thoughts and
memories of this time are focused less on the
education I got, and more on the social
interaction I had, and the friends I made and left
behind. However, this reflection gives me a lot of
insight into the educational process as it is tied
to social dynamics and processes.
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
* this section is more of an outline to save on reading
time...it focuses on highlights of the major influences on my
professional life.

Houghton College
* home of the Houghton Highlanders, the place where I began my educational
profession. When I was choosing majors, it was a toss up between PE and Music.
Since college I have had some success in coaching Volleyball, but that's a different
page.
* Houghton Highlights *
Songwriting / Electronic Music / MIDI
* I actually started writing songs in high school, but in
college I learned the theory and musical concepts I
needed to support the development of future songs
and musical ideas. The whole fascination with
electronic music, recording, and Digital Interface came
from a professor who started teaching courses along
those lines. I ended up being a TA for a year in one of
his classes at Houghton.

Select Chorus / European Tour
* The select chorus, as it was called was by audition
only and was put together for the purpose of going
on a European choir tour. We went on a tour over
one summer that took us to Germany, Austria,
Hungary, and Czechoslovakia. The music we
performed was mainly a Capella sacred music.

"Bobby and the Boys"
* A Barbershop group that eventually turned into
"The Boys" when Bobby graduated and left school.
We won several of the college talent competitions
and were invited on many occasions to perform in
public venues in the local area. These venues included
restaurants, banquet centers, and churches.

Chorus of the Genesee
* This is a Rochester, NY based barbershop chorus. I
had heard about them through one of my professors
and attended their rehearsals for about a year. I
became a member with them for a short time while I
was still a student at Houghton.

Master Classes with Ken Medema
* Probably one of the biggest influences on my music,
Ken Medema is a songwriter from California who
visited our school every once in a while to give
concerts and classes for the music students. I
attended every class I could with him whether it was
in groups, or individually. He gave us tips on lyrics,
chord structure, and understanding how to be
creative while writing songs.

Allegany-Limestone CS

Smart Board - Beginnings of technology experience
* During my time here at ALCS I was a music teacher
for K-3, Chorus director for 4, and 6, and taught
General music for 7,8. Early on in my time there I
discovered that the district had a few SMART boards
hidden away in some closets where someone had
stored them after buying them. I asked to have one in
my classroom, and the fun began. Using a SMART
board in the classroom opened up many opportunities
for interactive learning that my lessons soon became
reliant on the presence of the SMART board. I used
several different interactive computer applications
that students were enthralled with. They became very
engaged in class time when the SMART board was
used effectively. I also integrated the board into the
student assemblies we had every other day in the
elementary school. It got to the point where the
superintendent of the schools asked me to give a
demonstration of the technology at one of the faculty
meetings for the elementary school. It went over well
enough there for them to ask me to present it again
to the teachers at the High School.

And the idea was born to go into staff development
or technology integration.

Olean Church Music Director
* After being a teacher for a short time I accepted a
position as a church music director. After starting the
job I became quickly aware that I was the new
interpersonal relations director as well. There was a
large group of people. I was working with the
musicians, the media people, and the church leaders.
I found that while being the lead musician in the
church I also had to take on the role of peace keeper,
and trouble shooter. I learned very quickly that the
best approach to take with adults was to be direct
and to give them as much control as possible. It was
actually quite freeing for me to delegate
responsibility. I was the "go to" person, and
ultimately responsible for operations, but giving
people responsibility for their own areas of expertise
was the best thing I could have learned how to do as
a leader/manager.

Private Voice Studio
* I taught private voice lessons and also directed a
chorus of about 25 of my students for a short time.
Barbershoppers of Olean
* I also was asked to lead a local group of
barbershoppers and elected to do that for about a
year.

**SO, to sum up this time in my life, I was successfully
working with K-8 students in a school setting, 3-12
grade students in a private studio setting, and adults
from 11th grade through age 70 in the church and
community chorus groups I was directing. During this
three year period, I decided that formal study in adult
education would be the way to go.

University of Phoenix Online
* online education....a blessing and a curse...
* This educational experience was worth it's weight in
gold. A lot of people wonder about the validity of
getting a degree online. My experience was amazing.
I attended class in a threaded discussion setting. I
learned more about my computer and the Internet
during this 18 months than I think I learned in my
entire undergrad and professional experience put
together. Here are some of the highlights of this
degree.

*Adult Education / Distance Learning -
Not only was I learning as an adult online, but I was
also studying the learning styles of adults. This gave
me the opportunity to compare what I was learning
with my actual experience, and the experiences of my
classmates. Did I say classmates?? Yes. I worked for
the entire 18 months with the same group of people.
Even though I never met them in person, I got to
know them all very well. I became familiar with their
work habits, their quality of work, and how to work
with many of them on collaborative projects. I don't
think this experience could have been replaced or
duplicated in a traditional college setting.

- blackboard and WebCT -
these are two online learning management systems
that I worked with during my masters study. We
studied them separately because at the time they
were two different companies. Now they are merged
and have very similar attributes and offerings for
people who are teaching online and mixed delivery
courses.
Lotus Notes, Microsoft Word,
Windows Media player,
Microsoft Power Point,
Windows Movie Maker, Front
Page, Blogs and Wikis, Group
Learning Online, smart board
demo
Staff Development Training
on the following programs
Internet, Clip art, Web pages, mail
merge, Email, User Support Center,
Passwords, Attachments, Sending
Carbon Copy, Saving to server Drive,
Video Streaming, various grading
programs, Microsoft Word, Creating
tables, drawing in tables, shading cells
and/or rows, Word Art, Drawing, Layering
pictures, Creating HTML documents,
Inserting clipart, Copy and paste,
Animation, Microsoft Power Point,
Creating an interactive slide show,
Setting up the Master Slide
Some Work Samples