Phyllis Miller

       I am a teacher in the Lower School Division of The Savannah Country Day School. Our school is a pre-k*12 college preparatory private school with about 950 students. Class size in the Lower School is no greater than 23, and each grade has about 70 students.

     Students from first through fifth grades come to my computer lab once a week for either a 45-minute or a 90-minute class period. The work they do with me is tied to the curriculum of their home classroom or of specialists (science, art, social studies, math, etc.) who plan with me. Where possible we try to involve several disciplines in projects which last several weeks.

     I grew up in West Virginia and have lived in Ohio, North Carolina, California, and finally here in Georgia. My undergraduate degree was in biology, my teaching certifications are for science 7-12 and elementary grades, and I have taught high school biology and chemistry. I have been here in the Lower School for about 12 years in various capacities, the last 7 years being spent with computer classes.

     My family consists of my husband, a pathologist, and two daughters, one who lives in California and one who is a freshman at Duke. I spend much of my free time at Tybee Island, near Savannah, where I enjoy watching the wildlife, collecting fossils, and growing orchids. I have been a handweaver for 20+ years and have won some awards and had some pieces published, but don't find time for it much these days.

     I have enjoyed the UT EdTech courses I have taken for several reasons. They have given me the opportunity to participate in a dialog about concerns and trends in the field and to put what I already know into a larger context. I have benefited from meeting individuals who have given me a view of the field from various perspectives. What I value the most is that I have been able to use each course*s requirements flexibly as an incentive to learn about or develop goals I already had.