Episode 136 – Annejeanette Washington Collins

Introducing Annejeanette Washington Collins

Annejeanette is a teacher at both the elementary and collegiate level. She teaches children at a school in western Florida, and college students in Fort Lauderdale. Annejeanette is a WordPress advocate, blogger, and WordCamp presenter.

Show Notes

Twitter | @ProfessaDiva954

Instagram | @ProfessaDiva954

Website | Magnificent Mom Moments

Preferred Pronouns | She/Her

Episode Transcript

Tara: This is Hallway Chats, where we meet people who use WordPress.

Liam: We ask questions and our guests share their stories, ideas, and perspectives.

Tara: And now the conversation begins. This is Episode 136.

Tara: Welcome to Hallway Chats. I’m Tara Claeys.

Liam: And I’m Liam Dempsey. Today we’re joined by Annejeanette Washington Collins. Annejeanette is a teacher at both the elementary and collegiate level. She teaches children at a school in western Florida, and college students in Fort Lauderdale. Annejeanette is a WordPress advocate, blogger, and WordCamp presenter. Welcome, Annejeanette. Thanks for being here today.

Annejeanette: Hello, everybody. Tara, Liam, thank you so much for the invite.

Tara: Thanks for joining us today. We’re really happy that you’re here as well. Can you tell us a little bit more about yourself, a little more introduction?

Annejeanette: Yeah. This is my 28th year of teaching in Broward County, which is sandwiched between Miami and West Palm Beach. This is my 18th year as a college professor. I love what I do. I definitely am an advocate for WordPress. I’m really blessed to be in this career for the long haul. And I’m happily married to a Major, and I have a miracle daughter named Jada. And love family, love the beach, love serving in the community.

Tara: That’s wonderful. What do you teach?

Annejeanette: So presently, I am a fifth grade teacher in western Florida. I teach ELA, language arts, social studies, and technology. At the collegiate level, I teach computer science.

Tara: Tell us a little bit about your background in computer science. Did you learn that in order to teach it or how did that become part of your teaching repertoire?

Annejeanette: About 20 years ago, at that time, I was a middle school teacher, my principal had noticed that I had a knack for breaking down computers, literally breaking them apart and putting them back together. So she encouraged me to pursue my master’s degree in educational technology and curriculum. When I turned 30, one of the goals that I had for myself was to go back and get my master’s degree. So that’s how I began this journey. And it’s been a fun ride for the past 20 years working with students, working with college students, working with nonprofit and profit organizations, and really learning and mastering the craft of educational technology.

Liam: That’s such an evolving field, right? I mean, 28 years ago—I’m trying to think when that was—I mean, there were computers in the classroom, but not a ton. And there was internet in the classroom, but not a lot of classrooms and not trickled in and not reliable stuff in. Now we’re seeing in the last three to five months that that technology, because of COVID, is forcibly changing again. You have probably seen more than most people have seen. Talk about that, that evolution of technology, and what that looks like over the years in teaching.

Annejeanette: When I went to college at the University of Miami, my senior year we had a computer lab that was using a little Apple Books.