So I began formal programming study in November 2000, choosing instructors with programming expertise. My first teacher has 13 years of programming experience, and has been professionally programming for the past 11 years. My second teacher has 12 years of programming experience, quite a number of those have been as a programming instructor at Southwestern Community College (North Carolina). Another instructor has been teaching programming classes for 19 years. He developed and taught the first Visual Basic online course at GTCC and believes it was the first in the state of NC. (Visual Basic is the programming language I use for these programs.) And finally, one of my instructors has over 20 years of programming experience. He says, "I'm an incurable nerd who loves technology." I continue to consult with any programmer I can, including helpful people on world wide web programming forums.

I quickly saw that most programmers don't have the personality that would place them in a room with 25 ten year olds for 7 hours a day (smile). And most elementary teachers have no desire to learn to write programs. So I believe that I offer a unique combination of teaching expertise and programming knowledge.

I have recently begun to learn another programming language (Blitz) which is ideal for game development. My first Blitz teacher is an 18 year old programmer who lives in England -- I "met" him on a Visual Basic programming forum sometime in 2003. He has been programming for 8 years, and he has helped me with many programming challenges in the past year. He suggested that I try Blitz for game development, because it can do more with graphics than Visual Basic can. My Blitz games are available as free downloads. More Blitz games are on the way, as I learn some new skills in 3 dimensional drawing and programming.

16 years teaching experience.
I began teaching at Cherokee Elementary School (on the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indian Reservation) in 1991. But before that, I operated my own craft business full time (Maple Leaf Jewelry) for fifteen years, doing metal work. Those years in a craft business prepared me for the current graphic design I am doing in my programming. I also taught private piano lessons for 10 years.

My teaching experience includes substitute teaching, special education, and 4th grade classroom teaching at Cherokee Elementary School. I left Cherokee Elementary in June, 2000 to start my current business, which includes after school tutoring, currently grades K-11. I have used my personal web site to give many of my students a chance to publish their work.  My Personal Home Page

Certified Special Education Teacher, K-12.
My education includes a B.S. in Occupational Therapy (from the University of Wisconsin) and teacher certification courses (in both Special Education and Elementary Education) at Western Carolina University (North Carolina). I have taken many design courses, computer graphics courses, computer related courses, and five programming courses. I am currently a certified special education teacher (kindergarten through 12th grade) in the state of North Carolina. I believe that learning is a life long process, and I demonstrate that to my students.

All programs are kid tested during development.
Current tutoring students help in the program development. They often make suggestions, which are usually implemented. Finally, they are the "beta testers," helping find many bugs (both programming and 6 legged).

I believe that learning activities should be interesting and fun, whatever the environment. The programs are designed with this belief in mind.