Diane J. Steiner, Educator

Diane J. Steiner, Educator

After 25 years as an IT professional (first in a large corporation and then later in my own business), I embarked several years ago on a career change to become an public education teacher in New Jersey.

This is clearly the best job move of my life. I love working with our youth. Their fresh approach to life and their enthusiasm for learning make working every day a joy.

The transition took me through a graduate school teacher certification process, a position as a technology teacher in a private school, student teaching at the fourth grade level in an inclusive classroom, on to being a classroom teacher in a 4th grade non-inclusive classroom in Bridgewater, NJ, and a sixth grade mathematics teacher in an inclusive classroom in Flemington, NJ, and finally, teaching fifth and sixth grade math and language arts at a private school in Somerset, NJ.

Certifications:

I am currently certified in New Jersey to teach Elementary (K-5).
I am highly qualified as a teacher of Middle School (5-8) Mathematics.

Graduate Work

I am currently enrolled as a graduate student at The College of New Jersey in Ewing, NJ, working toward a Masters in Educational Technology. I'm supporting this degree with courses in Special Education. I've been so fortunate to be able to take what I'm learning in grad school directly to my classroom.

Developing Singapore Math games in Flash
Creating podcasts with my students
Setting up blogs to communicate with parents and students
Using Google Docs to allow multiple teachers to easily post homework in a single location on our school website.
Implementing social networks to expand students' writing and thinking skills
Recommending state of the art ways to utilize technology in school

Samples of Past Work

I prototyped the design for the teacher blogs at Cedar Hill Prep. The blogs began with my fifth grade site, expanded to a sixth grade site, and are now being used by all of the staff. This year, I implemented a Ning social network with my students. This password protected site allows them to post and comment on their reading and respond to assignments we begin in class. I am currently working to set up a Wiki that may be used by the students to collaboratively work on projects.

At Adamsville Elementary, I kept my students and parents abreast of activities in the school through Homework Hero.

Please browse through a few of the lessons I've used in the past few years with my fourth grade students!

I've compiled a list of interesting websites that are useful in the classroom. Feel free to browse these sites!