1. Lori W. White, M.A.Ed. mizloriwhite@yahoo.com (434) 942-1655

2. Family is very important to me, and the primary reason I am interested in online education. After teaching high school English for around 5 years, I made the difficult choice to become a stay-at-home- mother to deal with a child’s respiratory illness. I continued to stay home afterwards. I now have three wonderful children, pictured here— Autumn, 15, Lawson, 12, and Truitt, now almost 3. We live on a 25 acre farm just outside Lynchburg, Virginia.

3. It was difficult to come up with a single image that best represents who I am. At my core, though, I am a storyteller, and a lover of stories in any form. I love books, poems, short stories, movies, and the story that is told, even, in a photograph, image, or musical composition. From the time I was old enough to form letters and string them together in coherent sentences, I was composing tales, writing letters, and even the odd instructional manual. Later, after giving birth to my first child, I picked up a camera and taught myself how to compose stories through a camera lens. For that reason, these implements of my passions and crafts—writing and photography—best represent me as a person.

4. I was educated in our city’s public school system, and although in the early years of my academic life we moved around a great deal (I think I was in three different schools prior to grade two), we soon settled into a single district that was phenomenal. I was blessed to have excellent, committed teachers and to have been placed in an accelerated program called the “GO Center” for advanced learners. This instilled a strong desire to achieve within me, as well as a genuine love of learning. I knew at a young age that I wanted to be a teacher, and there were many experiences that reinforced this idea. Some of the most memorable were the afternoons I went next door to “teach” my neighbor, Lisa, a special needs young woman who was perhaps five to eight years older than I was. I saw nothing unusual in the relationship; simply enjoyed the challenge of trying to teach Lisa things she didn’t know.

5. As a recent graduate of the Ashford University Master’s of Education in Reading Literacy program, I developed and sharpened skills I possessed, becoming versant in:  designing challenging learning experiences informed by analysis of how learners develop individually across cognitive, linguistic, social, emotional, and physical patterns  employing differentiated instructional practices aligned with learner strengths and differences, diverse cultures, and diverse communities to promote student learning in a safe, collaborative, engaging, inclusive, 21st-century learning environment.  designing a variety of evidence-based assessments used for ongoing evaluation of student progress and to guide teacher and learner decision making.  planning and executing an action research study that draws on the research and methods of various disciplines to address educational issues.  designing learner-centered instruction aligned with Common Core State Standards, digital-age standards (ISTE-S), and 21st-century skills  engaging in continuous professional growth through leadership in educational environments and the demonstration of legal and ethical behavior in professional practices.  utilizing knowledge of subject matter and central concepts of the discipline(s) to create technology-enriched learning environments that promote learner achievement and innovation.  effectively communicating and collaborating with various stakeholders through written communication, verbal communication, and a variety of current and emerging digital age tools to ensure learner growth and to advance the profession.  utilizing a range of digital technology tools to research, organize, evaluate, and communicate information while exhibiting an understanding of ethical and legal issues surrounding the use of information technologies.

6.  Teaching online courses  Pursuing a doctorate in education  Continuing studies in  literacy, particularly young adult  differentiation  technology in education  Assessment  curriculum