Who Are We?

Michelle Pearson is a Teacher and Preservationist who was the 2011 Colorado Teacher of the Year and the 2008 Colorado Apex Technology Teacher of the Year.

Laura Israelsen is a District Technology Integrator, former Teacher Librarian and 21st Century Learning teacher. She received the ISTE Making IT Happen Award and the 2010 Colorado Library of the Year.

We are moms, wives, and volunteers in our community and if our kids are reading this blog is your homework done and your room clean?

Laura Israelsen is a District Technology Integrator and former Teacher Librarian and 21st Century Learning Instructor.  She is a leader in professional development and technology applications in her district and state. She is on the cutting edge of technology visioning for schools, and was one of Colorado's first Power Librarians. She works with various partners and enjoys being part of the INNEDCO and Library of Congress teams to support teachers and students.

Michelle Pearson is a secondary teacher and historic preservationist who helped to pioneer the Colorado Youth Summit program which has been replicated in other states. She assists schools, teachers, and libraries in developing innovative programming to support historic preservation, humanities, and technology integration in the classroom and works with kiddos and teachers across Colorado and 11 western states and is proud to be part of the NNSTOY, Teaching Partners, NEH, CEA, and Library of Congress networks of fellows and partners.  She is a member of the Century Middle School staff in Adams 12 and loves being a Comet!

6:00am Constitution Day setting up 100 flags in front of the school! 

But for us it is more about the WE. We love to dream, come up with innovative classroom and global collaborations, we search out solutions to challenges, and we believe experiential learning and technology in a classroom are critical tools to help students reach for their potential each day. We probably spend too much time coming up with new ideas, and we have plenty of dust bunnies at home, a stack of papers to be sorted on our desk, and only twenty different to-do lists to prove it, but we love to teach, explore, investigate, inquire, and learn with our students and colleagues. We love to travel with students and have taken annual trips to Washington D.C., Boston and New York for many years.  We took students to President Obama's inauguration and two bus loads of kiddos and parents to China!  We believe in the power of place and helping kids see the world!

The most important thing about the WE?

We are lucky to have two geeky husbands who put up with late phone calls and email sessions and pitch in with carpooling, scouts, swim team, and extra activities. They allow us to be who we are as teachers. They didn't know what gig they signed up for when they married these two geeks!

We are both moms who have kids who think we are a little over the top when we lesson plan a family vacation, and  they also fully recognize that they do more community service than the average student because they have moms  who are also a teachers who are heavily involved in the community. But we love them, and if they are now reading this blog-- Go clean your rooms!