A little bit more about me...

As my infographic shows you, my name is Cassie Pickens and I am a Kindergarten teacher at Avery Elementary in Bellevue Nebraska. I grew up in Omaha, NE where I attended Millard Publics Schools and when I graduated I moved to Lincoln to attend the University of Nebraska - Lincoln and become a Cornhusker! After graduating UNL I returned to Omaha where I joined the Bellevue Public Schools family teaching Kindergarten at Avery Elementary, and this is my second year of teaching. 

On a different note, I have a special relationship and bias when it comes to technology. My dad has owned the only company to be an authorized apple repair and reseller in the state of Nebraska for many years now. As such, I grew up on Macs and Apple products and a strict bias favoring them. My husband is a computer programmer and has tried to convince me otherwise for the eight years that we have been together but has yet to be successful. Luckily for me my classroom is a 1:1 iPad classroom, so I am able to stay in my element. Being a 1:1 iPad classroom has been both a blessing and a curse, but I have learned to love it. The iPads are very user friendly for my Kinders and offer a wide variety of content and tools for them to use.  As far as office goes, this is not a tool that I use in the classroom as my kiddos are barely writing, let alone typing yet. They also aren't reading so I don't find it to be useful. When I do need to use a tool like MS office, I tend to use Google Docs or Slides as it is easier to share and collaborate!

My all about me infographic gives you a little bit more information about myself but there is still more to know! I chose to pursue a masters degree at Peru State because of the Cohort program and the flexibility that came with it. I loved the option to complete the program with my coworkers and that we could all be placed in the same classes together. That has really helped to keep us all accountable and to bounce ideas off of each other. My goal is to continue on to my doctorate and be the first one in my family to be able to claim the doctor title. This is especially satisfying to me as many members of my husbands family are nurses and my mother-in-law has just graduated with her master's degree to become a nurse practitioner.