J. Kyle Wood

The best compliment I have ever gotten is that I am an original. At age 4, I tried to convince my parents that I arrived on Earth from another planet and had traveled the globe before settling in as their son. I haven't seen this box that everyone tries to think beyond since.

I have always felt that each of us are here to change the world. The status quo just isn't appealing to me. I would much rather do something else, almost anything else. In school, I was the brainiac, always pouring everything I had into the classroom while doing my own little artsy projects on the side. Not until college did I feel as though there was an education out there I needed to find even though I was in school to be an educator. When a teacher in one of my methods classes gave us Play Doh for a quick activity and let me keep mine (and the rest of my table's) to occupy myself while she lectured, I was elated. I ended class with a sweet sculpture, a new method, and all the insights she had on...at-risk students.

For 5 yrs, I taught in the school in which I was raised and as difficult as it was to return to my roots in a different role; I enjoyed it. For the next 7 yrs, I worked in the role of instructional technology facilitator. My position placed me in 8 different schools of my own. It led me into the classrooms helping teachers integrate technology into lessons and holding professional development on web tools, Google Apps, PLN's and IWB's. In that role, I enjoyed time spent developing courses, workshops, and presentations for nearly every department in our district. Seven years ago, I returned to the classroom where I hope that I relocated the spark in individual kids. In 2013, my class and I were named Pencil of Promise's Impossible One(s) and surpassed our goal of $25,000 in order to build a school in Laos!

NOW, I have returned to my role as a technology facilitator having experienced a lot of change in our classrooms from GAFE to a Chromebook 1:1. I am excited to be back in the EdTech environment.

In the evening, I become a husband to my wife of 19 years and a father and sidekick to my 11 and 17-year-old boys. We read, write, scavenger hunt, soccer, ninja, and dream.

We have three rules, my sons and I...
1) Always do the right thing, no matter who (including Dad), might tell you different.
2) Always put others before yourself, especially when it's hard.
3) In everything you do, do it like no one has ever tried.