My name is Lara Lindsey. I am a veteran teacher; starting my career in education in Midland ISD (TX) teaching elementary and middle school. Having a child in Midland, inspired me to move back “home” to North Texas where my family still lived; I have worked in McKinney ISD (TX) since then. I have moved from teacher to librarian to technology facilitator and finally to my current role as the Director of Instructional Technology and Library Services.
I was inspired by technology in the classroom when I started getting bored doing the same thing in my classroom every year with an only minimal recognizable change in the outcomes. Technology presented an opportunity for me to challenge and engage my students in ways that I was never able to do before. Technology also challenged me to change the way I taught. I could no longer ask questions of my students that could be answered using Google. I had to “up my game” or risk losing my students’ attention and their engagement. Computers in my classroom offered me the unlimited potential to change the way I teach and my students learned.
I have played a role in the initial implementation and eventual mainstream use of online course offerings that included the deployment of a learning management system in my district, as well as leading an initiative that provides laptop computers for all high school students in MISD. I am currently invested in facilitating a select group of teachers through a year-long cadre to explore transformation in the classroom and the role that teachers play as leaders of cultural change. Designing and implementing a 2-day annual summer innovation conference called “Converge” has challenged my leadership capacity and provided me with a platform to share my direction and vision for 21st-century teaching and learning.
I currently live in McKinney, Texas with my husband who was also my high school sweetheart. We try to stay actively involved in the community where we both grew up as we raised our two (now grown) daughters there too. I spend my free time reading, running and periodically binge-watching the best of Netflix!
Lara Lindsey 