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Hello everyone! I am late to the party since I just registered for this class yesterday, I apologize for the delay. My name is Diana Montealegre, I am originally from Cartagena, Colombia, but I moved to the US 12 years ago. I live in Firestone with my husband and our two handsome boys. I currently work at CU Boulder as an Instructional Designer for the Learning Design Group. I've been an Instructional Designer for about 15 years and main area of study is Digital Accessibility. I am a complete geek, I am a huge gamer, I love anime, manga, comic books. I am more of an indoors, but my husband is a HUGE outdoors person, so it kind of level itself out (ha!). I look forward to working with you all and learning from your experience.

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Hi everyone, my name is Kate! 👋 I am originally from Colorado, but in 2020 I moved out to San Diego, CA (PST). 🏝️ I work remotely for CU Boulder in the Career Development office, and I actually received my undergrad in Business from there. I also do coaching on the side and lead professional development trainings around the Enneagram, a psychodynamic tool for self-awareness and growth. I have found a lot of success personally, and with my clients, in using gamification to build habits, and I am excited to learn more about the theory behind it!

In my free time, I love to travel and be outdoors whether than be playing beach volleyball, camping, snowboarding, surfing, etc. My golden doodle Pickles also loves to join on any and all hikes. 🐶⛰️ I am currently training for an Ironman triathlon at the end of October, so right now I am spending way too much time running, biking, and swimming. 🏃🏼‍♀️🚴‍♀️🏊‍♀️

Here is a picture from December of my boyfriend Jonathan, Pickles, and myself dressed up for an ugly Christmas sweater party! 🎄

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Helllo, my name is Jemiah and I live in New Orleans, LA (Central). My undergrad is in electrical engineering and I am my school's director of technology and one of our technology teachers. I teach 3D printing, computer repair, and have an in-house internship with some of my students. I enjoy going to the park with my husband and our dog. My other favorite past time is to play RTS and survival video games with friends on game night.

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I'm Steph/Stephanie (she, her, hers) and live in Colorado (MTN). My background is in secondary science education (taught for 4 years, 2 of them in Cali, Colombia) and then was in Ed Tech for 7, then 3.5 years in innovative learning environments and now the past 2 years as a teacher librarian. This is my second to last class in the endorsement program!

I'm not a huge "gamer" as in I don't have a console or play video games online (I will say I play solitaire on my phone) - my husband, however, was a big gamer and used to write scripts and make money from it. I'm interested in this class because out of all the electives left in my program, this one I knew the least about and who doesn't love games??? I'd love to learn about more games I can play with my son, who is 7, as he is a very poor loser (just like me) and I'd love for him to practice and get better at it :).

I learn best when expectations are clear and organized and I have time to process information.

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Hello, my name is Amanda and I live in Denver. I'm a high school teacher of 9 years in physical and natural science. My background is centered around secondary education with a focus in Biology. I love to play with my two bird dogs, read and bike. I am a life-long learner who is open to learning anything but I am most engaged with someone who is engaged with their subject.

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Me and my youngest, Leah (pronounced like the Star Wars princess)

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Hi there! I’m Andrew and I live in Denver. I’ve been a classroom teacher for over 15 years, first in the SF Bay Area where I taught Math and English to students with language-based learning disabilities, and the past few years in Colorado where I currently teach 6th grade social studies in an independent school. I enjoy tracing my family tree, reading comics and listening to podcasts, and spending time with my wife and 2 daughters, aged 5 and 18 months.

What helps me engage is having clear expectations but also the freedom to play around with something and get my hands dirty while figuring it out (I often find the hardest part of playing games processing the directions, interestingly). This is my second to last course in the LDT program and I’m curious to see how it fits into the larger scheme of what I’ve learned over the last few years.

I’m interested in both strategies as well as big ideas I can take back to my classroom, particularly around integrating play and gamification into a traditional school model.

Looking forward to learning with you all!

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Hello! My name is Alex and I currently live in Westminster, CO. I am a 3rd grade teacher in WPS. During my free time, I love going on walks/hikes with my 2 huskies Lana and Logan, spending time with my family who are in Longmont, CO, visiting local breweries, skiing, brunch, and binge watching a good Netflix show. I am excited to bring my learning from this course into my classroom!

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Hi, everyone! My name is Daniece and I live in Parker, CO (Mountain Time) where I work remotely as a corporate eLearning designer/developer for an audit and tax firm. I've been working in corporate Learning and Development for about 13 years, ever since earning my BA in English from Metropolitan State University of Denver. I'm a mom of two little girls (5 and 3) and a history and literature nerd. I'm also a gamer and spend a lot of my free time playing board, card, and video games with my husband. Outside of gaming, I spend any free time I have reading, painting, and chasing after my kids.

I think I'm most engaged as a learner when I can find the connections between what I'm actively learning and what I can observe and apply to my daily life. I love finding learning methods from work and applying it to fun learning strategies for my kids, especially over the summer when they're home (and underfoot). It's just as fun to find creative ways to infuse video game concepts and strategies into the eLearning courses I build for work. On a similar note, I'm looking forward to being a speaker at DevLearn 2023 in October, talking about strategies from video game tutorials and their intersection with eLearning design.

Here's a picture that sums up my workday: keeping an eye on my little ones from my "work nook" in the living room.

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Hi there! My name is Mike and I live in Pennsylvania, about an hour west of Philadelphia. I am entering my 4th year of teaching in the fall in 6th grade math and science. My hobbies include running races with my wife (this photo is a few months old - my son just turned one!) as well as camping and hiking.

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Hi! My name is Jen, and I live in Colorado Springs. I have a pretty varied background--my undergrad is in Visual and Performing Arts-Theatre, and I was an English/Journalism/GT/Coding teacher for the past 9 years. I left the classroom in January of this year and started as a Program Planner for Lockheed Martin Space. I work for the Fleet Ballistic Missile program and have learned an insane amount of things over the past few months!

My hobbies include hiking (especially 14ers), throwing pottery, spending time with family (we play LOTS of board games together), and reading.

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Hello! My name is Nate Tolle and I live in Arvada, CO (mountain time). I have a BS in Elementary eduction from the University of Nevada- Reno.  I just completed my 16th year of teaching. I began my career teaching sixth grade in an elementary school and transitioned 6 years ago to teaching middle school math exclusively. My hobbies include reading and hiking, but I spend most of my free time ferrying my two children to their various sports and activities.

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Hello! My name is Kirstin and I live in Evergreen, CO (Mountain time). I just finished my first year as a Digital Teacher Librarian with Jeffco and LOVED it! Before that I was in the classroom teaching primarily 2nd & 3rd grade. Education is my second career. I originally got my BS in Forest Management from Oregon State University, and worked in the forests for a few years before staying home with my children. When my kids went to school, I went back and got my Masters in Curriculum & Instruction from Western Governors.

I love hiking, running, and reading. I start every summer day with a cup of coffee on my deck and enjoy the sunshine. I have been married for 21 years and we have two wonderful kids (16 & 14) and a dog named Lilypup. My happy place is Cannon Beach, OR, at Haystack Rock. We're lucky to have a vacation house there and I look forward to visiting there every summer.

I LOVE learning new things and find that my best ways of learning is through collaboration, discussion, and working with others.

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Hi Everyone, my name is Ashley and I currently live in Johnstown, CO (MT). I moved to Colorado 4 years ago from North Dakota. I have my undergrad degree in Physical Education and Exercise Science. I taught elementary PE for the first five years of my teaching career. I now teach health and freshman seminar to 9th graders. I absolutely love working with Freshman, especially with the content I get to teach. My standards are centered around social emotional learning, something I am very passionate about and I believe all classes should be focusing on.

My wife and I had our first child last summer and spend most of our time chasing around our almost 1 year old. I love watching her grow and learning from her world around her. I enjoy being outside, whether is hiking, playing yard games, sitting on my patio or going for walks with my dogs; I love being outside.

I learn best when I am interested in the topic and feel that there is a way that I can personally connect to the material and use it in my line of work or within my daily life. I remember information and important concepts when I get to apply them to real life situations and reflect on my own learning experience.

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Hello! My name is Jordyn and I live in Colorado! My husband and I just welcomed our first baby, Charlie, about 3 weeks ago! It has been such a joy to get to know him and his little personality. I have been teaching middle school math for 7 years and will be finishing my masters program this summer! I love to play sports, do art, and go for walks.

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Howdy! I'm Kim. I am a native Texan and received my Bachelor's degree in Elementary Education from Texas A&M University (Gig 'Em Aggies!) I have been teaching for 15 years. I am currently teaching 5th grade. I previously lived and taught in Oklahoma before moving to Colorado. I now live in Littleton, CO (Mountain Time) with my husband, daughter, our dog (Maggie) and cat (Pixie).   I love to travel and spend time with my family when I am not teaching.

I love working together with others to learn new things and I learn best by doing. I look forward to learning with you all this semester, and am excited to see what I can use in my classroom with my students.

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Hi, I am Mary Coleman, and I go by Mary. I live in Denver, Colorado in the Mountain time district. I have three years experience as a secondary science teacher and I have a BA in science education. Things that make me happy include hanging out with my dog, being outside, and pursuing my introverted hobbies such as painting and knitting. I also love road biking and hiking. When learning, I love the process of identifying and solving problems or discovery. I am excited to see how I can incorporate games into learning and motivate my students. Thank you!

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Hi! I'm Lindsey. I live in Wheat Ridge, CO and am on Mountain Time. I got my degree in secondary education from Arizona State and am currently working on my Master's in  Special Education.
I work in special education for Jeffco public schools in their Transition Services program as a teacher. Transition Services works with young adults (18-21 year olds) with IEPs on subjects including independent living skills, job skills, and relationship skills. I absolutely love my job and my department. Every day is an adventure and watching my students transition into confident adults is simply the best.
I love riding my bike, spending time with my dog, Rowdy, traveling with my partner, John, cooking and eating new foods, hiking, camping, the Renaissance Festival, and anything artistic.
I love learning new things and am an avid trivia buff. I love playing games and am still managing my competitive side ( I played competitive sports for a long time). I regularly use games to teach and engage my students and can't wait to learn some new ones!

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I go by the acronym LA (like that famous California city) which is the shortened version of Lory-Ann. I live in Denver (MT) and commute to Boulder working at CU. I am newer to my undergraduate education position supervising offices such as TRiO, scholar support, undergraduate research, scholarships, writing center, and leadership programs. My biggest learning curve is working with education abroad office, and I am so appreciating how this team sends 2,000 students each year safely all over the world. Overall, a major part of my work is examining academic support on campus and how we can better retain students and help them learn.

My educational background includes graduate studies in counselor education (UF), social justice education (UMass), human resources (Rollins) and organizational change (CSU). What I love and what makes me happiest is learning with others. I have worked in higher education for 30 years, so I definitely take advantage of the benefits and absorb as many classes as possible. This allows me to intertwine my top strengths of learner and connectedness together.

I feel like breakfast is the best meal genre. I got my love of espresso from my Cuban familia. And I enjoy quiet time with my elder 16 year Shih Tzu dog and my energetic 1 year Havanese/Shih Tzu (Havashu) pup.

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Hello
I am Amber I live in Colorado. I have a BA in elementary education, but I love teaching middle school students. I have been teaching for 9 years. I have taught 1st grade 5th grade and 6th grade math and science.
My family and I love to play cooperative games and watch movies. We are excited about camping and hiking this summer. Some of our favorite games right now are Pandemic, Paint The Rose-Red, Marvels VS Sentinals, Marbles, and Rumicube. But we are always looking for a new game to try as a family
What makes me a curious and engaged learner is finding ways to apply what I am learning to live both at home and at work. I love the idea of games in my classroom because students learn so much without even knowing they are learning anything at all.

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Hi! I'm Lindsay and I live in Washington state (Pacific Time Zone). I got my undergrad in teaching about 10 years ago and have been working as a 1st-3rd grade teacher since then. This year I took on a new role as a reading teacher which I have really been enjoying.

I'm big into reading, so far this year I have read 45 books and am planning to have read 100 before the end of the year. My favorite book so far this year was "The Sea of Tranquility". My husband and I love to travel and so far we have been to 9 countries together. My picture is of us in Santorini on our honeymoon this last summer. We also love to play board games, and hang out with our cat Max.

I find myself engaged and curious as a learner when I get to learn about interesting topics in a new way. I'm really excited about this course because I love learning with games, and I see how engaged my students are when they are learning with games.

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Hi All! My name is Joel (pronouns are he/him) and I currently reside in the Denver Metro area (Mountain Time Zone). I got my degree in Elementary Education from Oklahoma State University many years ago. I was a classroom teacher for 15 years, where I taught 4th, 5th and 6th grade throughout that time.

I stepped out of the classroom back in 2022 and am currently carving a new path in life. I love learning when it is fun and you are having fun with the community around you. I view it as, we are all in this together for the next 8 weeks so let's learn a lot, but also have a good time doing it.

I love being outside and enjoying the Colorado weather by hiking, camping, or posting up and doing a little patio time with friends. Movies are also a passion of mine and I just recently decided to join the podcast space and launch my own podcast as a creative outlet.

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Hi everyone! My Name is Jess. I live in Denver, Co Mountain time. I have been teaching or two years now and loving it! I've taught 4th grade for the past two years and next year I am trying out 3rd grade! I Graduated CU Boulder with a degree in Elementary Education and an endorsement in Cultural Linguistic Diversity in 2021. I am also taking on the role of starting a STEM program at my school! I have been working with the robotics department in my district, taking classes, training courses, and experimenting with new STEM robotic lessons in my classroom. I am excited to take what I have been doing in my classroom and share it with my entire school. I grew up in Colorado and I love hiking, snowboarding, and breweries! I also recently got married this year! My husband and I have three adorable pups. We have two blue heelers named Frigg and Freyja and a pit bull named Maddox. My goal as a teacher is to change up my lessons every year with best practices and new styles of lessons!

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Hi everyone! My Name is Jess. I live in Denver, Co Mountain time. I have been teaching or two years now and loving it! I've taught 4th grade for the past two years and next year I am trying out 3rd grade! I Graduated CU Boulder with a degree in Elementary Education and an endorsement in Cultural Linguistic Diversity in 2021. I am also taking on the role of starting a STEM program at my school! I have been working with the robotics department in my district, taking classes, training courses, and experimenting with new STEM robotic lessons in my classroom. I am excited to take what I have been doing in my classroom and share it with my entire school. I grew up in Colorado and I love hiking, snowboarding, and breweries! I also recently got married this year! My husband and I have three adorable pups. We have two blue heelers named Frigg and Freyja and a pit bull named Maddox. My goal as a teacher is to change up my lessons every year with best practices and new styles of lessons!

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Hey all! My name is Keegan. I live in Oklahoma (Central Time Zone). My background is in science education, chemistry, education technology, online learning, and game design. I love collaborative storytelling through tabletop role playing games and typically prefer to be the facilitator of such experiences. I enjoy learning in community with others, bouncing ideas off one another, and having fun together.

Last week one of my D&D parties battled an Ancient Black Dragon who was the leader of the thieves guild in town. So I’m sharing a picture of the first dragon miniature I got for that reveal.

I have some educational game projects that I’ve invested a lot of time and energy into. A lot of my scholarship interests are in games as engagement and learning activities.

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Hi, I’m Susan! I'm in Westminster, CO Mountain Time. I have been teaching since 1993, both in the US and abroad. I taught ESL (in the US), EFL (in Morocco and France), and French (in the US) for many years before leaving classroom teaching to work in higher education. I worked full-time at CU from 2008 until 2021, at both CU Boulder and CU Denver, in various roles in Admissions, Academic Advising, and Digital Education. Currently, I am an instructional designer at Indeed, focusing on employee learning in Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging. I moved to Colorado from my home state of Delaware in 2007 to be closer to where my mom lives and to ski! These days my hobbies are fitness, live music, and travel. I am engaged when I can discuss new ideas with other people. When I’m working on my own, I am most engaged when reading about learning theory and educational psychology where I can connect learning design with how people learn. I live with two cats, one of whom you see here. Her name is Lucky. I have recently returned from driving to Delaware to visit family. I've made 3 cross-country drives in the last four summers. 🚗 🛣