Birgit's Bio

I am a clinical counselor/educator working part-time in Vancouver, BC for Fraser Health (one of eight Health Authorities in the Province of BC). My work site is a Primary Integrated Health Care Clinic specializing in Perinatal Addiction. The majority of our clients are pregnant plus impacted by violence, homelessness, and so forth. We offer free hot lunches, Public Health nurses, all aspects of medical care, counseling, social work, dental work, diapers, vitamins, clothes, furniture and shelter.

I love to teach and have taught F2F Professional Certification Programs; one which I wrote & taught for 8 years (Supervised Access) and the other an Addictions & Community Service Diploma. Facilitating groups is also an aspect of my work, and I could say this involves teaching as well, but is called Psycho-Ed. I have always wanted to teach online....and have also done extensive research into online counselling (it's got some problems). My goal is to apply for online teaching courses at the Community College level at some point.

I live in Seattle and commute (2 hrs) to work, for this part-time job, on a weekly basis. My 2 children are all grown up, but I have inherited one step-son who is 12 years old with Asbergers.

Numerous hobbies & interests keep me from burning out with respect to my work. I've had a cabin in the BC bush (3 hrs. north of Spokane) for 35 years now, and that's where I spend as much time as I can in the summers. This summer my project will be to secure internet so I can stay "connected" whilst enjoying the pristine wilderness, peace & quiet. Contradiction, I ask??

LOVE of travel is another passion calling myself a Global Citizen first, German-Canadian second, and US immigrant third. For some bizarre reason I have been "obsessed" with Equador, having never been there (or South America) but having intuitive feelings that I'll be retiring there. No idea where it's from!!!

Renae's Biosketch

I work for a health insurance company as a Sales Operations Analyst and Trainer. I am responsible for re-organizing our training program and would like to add on-line courses. What a better way to enhance my abilities than to take classes to enhance my career! I have to admit....this is my first blogging experience and am not entirely comfortable with social media, but it is good to broaden my horizons. I live in Seattle, WA with my husband and almost 2 year old daughter. I am looking forward to taking classes from PSU without having to take time away from them.

Eric's Biosketch

I've been teaching middle school in Beaverton School District since 2003. I taught 2 years of alternative education at Whitford Middle School and 1 year of technology there and am on my 5th year of technology classes at Five Oaks Middle School. I'm taking the E-Learning Strategies for Online Instruction class to learn new ways to better teach the students I work with and to prepare myself for a future where I see more computer-based learning in the public schools.

I also teach fitness classes and am personal trainer for a few local gyms as a second job and for fun. I love to travel to Ecuador and want to see more of South America in the future. For some reason, I have a social media phobia (not a severe case) but for some reason, I just don't like it or can't seem to get into it that much.

Henry's Biosketch

I currently teach 8th grade humanities at Linus Pauling MS in Corvallis (.67 position). I spent the past ten years teaching social studies in Beaverton. With four adorable grandchildren, I began easing into retirement last year only to discover that 1) I don't have nearly enough money to even think about such a thing, and 2) I don't really want to leave teaching anyway. My wife of forty years, Denise, and I did manage to locate ourselves where we eventually want to spend our retirement years (Bend/LaPine area), and fortunately, my son-in-law, asst. prin. at Linus Pauling MS, "knew" of this opening here in late August. But I began the PSU MS (C & I) program with this e-learning elective series in order to solve my two concerns mentioned above. I plan to teach an online course to help MS students improve their writing skills. And, YES, I do make the commute every Monday and Friday; however, I look forward to making the "commute" in cyberspace some day soon!

Greetings,

Add your picture and brief biosketch to this spring 2011 E-Learning Instructional Strategies Blog site. You should have received an invitation in either your school or personal e-mail account to participate. All that is required is for you to set up a GOOGLE account and add your information to the page.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Regards,
Dennis