Experience

Waxahachie Independent School District

• Primary and Secondary Education
• 400 - 500 Employee

• Freshman English Teacher

  • Aug 2022 - Present



McIntosh Writing and Communications

• United States
• Writing and Editing

• • Feb 2000 - Present

  For 15+ years, both as a full-time employee, remote contractor, and freelancer, I’ve helped businesses and organizations reach their goals through training and communication projects, including curriculum design/development, e-learning, classroom instruction, demos, writing, editing, documentation, standards development, and web content creation—for clients from large global IT corporations to two of North Texas' largest, top-performing school districts. I've worked in just about any medium you'll need, from mobile to web to classroom to hard copy as well as blended media. Because I love learning new things and am a techie at heart, I get up to speed quickly on a huge range of technical and non-technical subject matter—which means that I dive into your project along with you. Show less

• • Feb 2000 - Jul 2012

  Designed, created, wrote content for, and edited small- to medium-size web sites, including an international film company client with a full-length movie release in mainstream theaters. Gave written proposals for site redesign and improvements to CEO, COO, and owners. Reprogrammed and edited sites for accuracy, clarity, usability, consistency, and to make programming maintainable. Proposed and added sections, creating content from client’s material and specifications.



Allen ISD

• Education Administration Programs
• 700 & Above Employee

• Long Term Substitute Teacher (8th Gifted/Talented Science)

  • Aug 2021 - Aug 2022

  Taught 160 8th-grade students as fully certified science teacher, taking on all teacher responsibilities; was personally requested by principal. Included classroom and online lesson creation, gradebook, and parent contact. Used Canvas LMS extensively, including creating teacher site updated daily. As of October 2021, I've taught science as well as math, social studies, English, computer application, and STEM classes at the high school and middle school campuses on 1-3 day assignments, almost always requested by name by teachers, principals, and campus/district substitute managers. Show less



Allen ISD

• Education Administration Programs
• 700 & Above Employee

• Pre-AP Freshman English and Writing Teacher

  • Sep 2011 - Jun 2015

  –Developed new Writing Strategies course for students at high risk of failing the writing section of the Freshman English STAAR End-of-Course (EOC) state-required exam. As a result, this became the first year that a significant number of these students passed a state-required writing exam, and all went from struggling to write even a few sentences to easily writing well-flowing essays by year end. I developed diagnostic pretests and post-tests to analyze weaknesses (needs analysis) and monitor progress; used Eduphoria learning management system plus MS Excel to analyze performance trends; and adapted instruction throughout based on data and feedback. –Led my advanced (Pre-AP/IB) and regular-level English students to consistently high passing rates on their Freshman English STAAR exam, including a 100% passing rate in 2015 (compared to state’s 81% and Allen ISD’s 90%). –Used technology extensively—Weekly created custom lessons for online apps such as Poll Everywhere and Kahoot! using student smartphones as input devices, enabling real-time student collaboration and feedback. Used classroom electronic whiteboard daily for interactive lessons and hands-on student participation. Developed unique way to use Confer iPhone conferencing app to implement and document Individual Education Plan (IEP) requirements for special education and 504-disability students, making this notoriously time-intensive, demanding task relatively easy to perform. Maintained robust website updated daily, keeping students and parents well informed of class content and requirements. Show less



HP

• United States
• IT Services and IT Consulting
• 700 & Above Employee

• Web Content Developer | Instructional Designer | Training Coordinator (partial remote work—contract)

  • Jun 2010 - Mar 2011

  Developed web content and online training for HP's Enterprise Services Worldwide Marketing group in Plano, Texas. Also coordinated Records Management training for marketing staff. (Contract through Innovative Way.) Developed web content and online training for HP's Enterprise Services Worldwide Marketing group in Plano, Texas. Also coordinated Records Management training for marketing staff. (Contract through Innovative Way.)



HP

• United States
• IT Services and IT Consulting
• 700 & Above Employee

• E-Learning Instructional Designer/Developer (remote work—contract)

  • Jun 2007 - Dec 2008

  Designed and developed online training courses, tutorials, and demos for EDS and HP employees and clients using Adobe Captivate and SAP iTutor. Also included web-delivered documentation created in MS Word. (Contract through ZeroChaos.) Designed and developed online training courses, tutorials, and demos for EDS and HP employees and clients using Adobe Captivate and SAP iTutor. Also included web-delivered documentation created in MS Word. (Contract through ZeroChaos.)



City of Allen

• United States
• Government Administration
• 200 - 300 Employee

• Education Specialist

  • Feb 2007 - Jun 2007

  Community Services Department: Created training and communications (online and hard-copy) for city programs including recycling, trash, household hazardous waste, city clean ups, and Keep America Beautiful. Gave presentations to public and city staff audiences. Photographed events for communication and training. Wrote content and supplied photos that were published in area newspapers. (Left position after less than five months because my father had severe stroke; temporarily needed flexible schedule for frequent travel.) Show less



Electronic Data Systems

• United States
• IT Services and IT Consulting
• 1 - 100 Employee

• Documentation and Training Specialist | Editor (remote work—contract)

  • Aug 2005 - Dec 2006

  Created and edited documentation and training for the Technical Support Services (TSS) and User Experience (UX) teams. Included content for the EDS Web Standards site; and web training for virtual classrooms using iLinc. (Contract through ZeroChaos.) Created and edited documentation and training for the Technical Support Services (TSS) and User Experience (UX) teams. Included content for the EDS Web Standards site; and web training for virtual classrooms using iLinc. (Contract through ZeroChaos.)



GTCI

• Telecommunications
• 1 - 100 Employee

• Web Content Developer | Web Designer/Developer (remote work—contract)

  • May 2005 - Aug 2005

  Created content for Gordon Technical Consulting Inc. (GTCI) web site; also designed and created interim site while CEO looked for long-term web design firm. Created content for Gordon Technical Consulting Inc. (GTCI) web site; also designed and created interim site while CEO looked for long-term web design firm.



GTCI

• Telecommunications
• 1 - 100 Employee

• Technical Writer/Editor (contract)

  • Feb 2004 - Jul 2004

  Edited/updated technical documentation and training for the wireless (cellular) industry, including GTCI client Nortel. Edited/updated technical documentation and training for the wireless (cellular) industry, including GTCI client Nortel.



Electronic Data Systems

• United States
• IT Services and IT Consulting
• 1 - 100 Employee

• Documentation Specialist | Training Specialist | Editor (remote work—contract)

  • Dec 2002 - Jul 2003

  Starting with a half-page outline, worked with subject matter experts (SMEs) and users to create training and documentation for software developers using EDS-proprietary Rebar tool to design web applications. Created seven major user guides; developed project standards for documentation. Starting with a half-page outline, worked with subject matter experts (SMEs) and users to create training and documentation for software developers using EDS-proprietary Rebar tool to design web applications. Created seven major user guides; developed project standards for documentation.