How do you help educators from neighboring school districts share, learn, and connect with each other? Jessica Fraser and Sam Castellano asked this question and came up with an answer: TADL (pronounced tattle) — Technology Across District Lines — an informal monthly event where educators in districts throughout Orange County, California get together to share ideas and learn from other educators. The events are held at a different school or district office for each event. Although the focus for the events is technology, much more is shared and discussed at TADL events.

In this session with Jessica and Sam, we talk about how TADL started, what the goal for TADL is, and how other educators interested can start their own TADL.

You can follow SoCal TADL on Twitter @SoCalTADL  to find out when upcoming events are held.

Bios

Jessica Fraser, Digital Learning Coach, Anaheim Elementary School District (Anaheim, California), Ed Tech Alumni 2015

Jessica Fraser is a Digital Learning Coach in the Anaheim Elementary School District, empowering K-6 teachers to teach 21st century skills through effective and meaningful technology integration. Over the span of ten years, Jessica has taught grades K-6, with the majority of her experience teaching fifth grade. She has also taught an Introduction to Teaching course at Cal State Fullerton. Jessica is now beginning her fourth year as a Digital Learning Coach, inspiring teachers to become technology leaders by focusing on pedagogy first to determine the best technology tools to lead students to the desired learning outcomes.

Jessica is a lifelong learner and continually seeks out ways to grow as an educator. In 2015, Jessica earned her Master’s degree in Educational Technology from Cal State Fullerton, where she was selected as an Edwin Carr Fellow for the College of Education for her contribution and leadership in the teaching community. She has also earned her Leading Edge Certification as a Professional Learning Leader.

Jessica is one of the co-founders of Technology Across District Lines (TADL), which is a monthly event that brings together educators from numerous Orange County, CA school districts. The goal of TADL is to provide a place where local educators can meet to share ideas and learn from one another. Jessica enjoys sharing her Ed Tech experiences by presenting at and attending conferences. Some conferences Jessica has presented at include the CUE national conference, Think. Create. Share., and the NRCAL conference. Jessica created and facilitated a Twitter chat in her school district. As a Digital Learning Coach, Jessica leads many professional development opportunities for teachers covering a variety of topics. Jessica is passionate about connecting with other educators to continually grow and remain current on best strategies and tools for effective technology integration! She can be found on Twitter @Jess_L_Fraser

 

Sam Castellano, Digital Learning Coach, Anaheim Elementary School District (Anaheim, California), Lifelong Green Bay Packers Fan

Sam Castellano is a Digital Learning Coach in TK-6 elementary school. He helps plan, teach, and support technology-rich lessons for the purpose of increasing and promoting student engagement and college and career ready scholars. He is the Co-Founder of @SoCalTADL (Technology Across District Lines). He is a Leading Edge Certified Professional Learning Leader, Google Certified Educator Level 1 & 2,  Seesaw Ambassador, and BreakoutEDU Authorized Trainer, He has a passion for STEM-focused learning, specifically coding and computer programming. He loves connecting with other educators for the purpose of learning and growing with one another. He can be found on Twitter at @MTBDigiCoach