Welcome!
I’m Mike Keesling, a school administrator and teacher in Nevada and I’ve begun this blog in partial fulfillment of a requirement for my Indiana University R685 class, The World is Open with Web Technology. Teaching is a second career for me; my first was as a United States Air Force Officer. I will be updating this blog frequently, so please check back often for updates.
MajorKeesling 
2nd career? What about:
1. Career #1: Being a little kid.
2. Career #2: Going to school.
3. Career #3: Being in the military.
4. Career #4: Being a teacher and technology coordinator and helping the principal.
5. Career #5: Being a graduate student at IU.
I look forward to reading your posts. Welcome to the show Michael.
Hi Mike! My name is Kim and I am in this class too. Are you a principal in a public school? I was an elementary teacher for six years in an urban public school. What degree are you pursuing right now? This is my second semester in the IST masters program. I look forward to reading your blog. And thank you for protecting our country 🙂
Hi, Kim,
I am not a full-time principal yet and don’t have my own school. I am in a small public school within the very large school district (about 63,000 students) around Reno, Nevada. I serve in multiple roles these days: literacy coordinator, technology coordinator, testing coordinator, and assistant principal (although we are too small for me to have the official title or pay). When I am not filling in for the principal, I do these duties in the morning and teach sixth grade in the afternoon. This is my third year of this arrangement. Before that I taught sixth grade full time for four years, and fourth grade for three years before that. Before my public school teaching career began ten years ago, I taught four years in a private Christian school.
I am not currently pursuing any degree. I have an M.Ed. in educational leadership (2002) from the University of Nevada, and am licensed as an administrator and teacher in the state. Last spring I read Dr. Bonk’s book, upon which this course is based, and decided to enroll in the course for this semester. My passion, aside from school administration, is educational/instructional technology.
When, in 1976, I was discharged from the Navy (which I joined in 1972 right out of high school) after almost four years service, I began my studies at the University of Nevada. I earned my BA in criminal justice in 1979. With BA in hand, I accepted a commission in the Air Force, in which I served as an intelligence officer all over the world until my retirement in 1996 with a bit over 20 years total service.
Upon my retirement from the Air Force, I did substitute teaching while I did my credentialing work at Sierra Nevada College in a program they had for second career teachers who already had a bachelor’s degree and only needed to meet state licensing requirements. After obtaining my teaching license in 1998 I taught one year in a public school followed by four years in a private Christian school before making the switch back to the public schools ten years ago.
I’m sure that’s much more than you ever wanted to know about me.
With regard to protecting the country, it was my honor. Thank-you, Kim.
Mike