Introduction

Hello. My name is Regina Petersen, but I go by Gina. I am an elementary media specialist, also known as a Librarian. I work students in Head Start through 6th grade at an elementary school in the Omaha Public Schools District. This is my seventh year teaching. I attended UNO for my undergraduate studies. I got my K-6 teaching degree along with an endorsement in Library Media K-12. I also teach martial arts classes several nights a week. I have been teaching these classes for 12 years. I currently assist two adult advanced classes, and teach my own children's beginning/advanced classes and an adult all level class. I also have a blog for these, classes. This is why the photo of me is of a karate testing.

I have used technology and computers for as long as I can remember. I grew up using MAC's in my home, but PC's in school. In high school and college almost all computers ran on Windows. In my Library, I use both Mac's and a PC. The laptop I use for my lessons is a MACbook, but the computer I use to check out books is a PC, using Windows XP. I use a SMARTboard for many of my lessons, connecting that to my MacBook. I have 14 eMacs for student use in the Library. Students use these computers for activities, research, and free time. In my home I also have an iMac.

Before beginning this program, I was considering different options for getting my Master's Degree. A year before I started, three other teachers in my building began this program. They came to me several times for technical assistance (I remember helping one with this class specifically). I saw how the program was set up and the emphasis on technology. This made me decide to go through the Peru for my degree. I also appreciate how it is completely online. Between work and martial arts, and other activities I am involved in, sitting in a classroom for four + hours a week is not a great option. This allows me to do my work when it is most convenient.
I am looking forward to getting some new teaching ideas from this class as well as some project ideas that I can have students complete.