Why Edtech Ears?

The TLDR of it is - instant connection, with a splash of joy and whimsy.

Growing up, like many other children, I loved Disney movies. Not only were the video tapes well watched in my house, but when our local movie theaters would re-release the animated films, I'd get to see a matinee and make it a special day, enjoying a beloved classic over buttered popcorn and a cold soda in a cool, dark theater.

My love of Disney stories continued as I made my way into adulthood, and eventually tipped over into trips to Disneyworld. Ohmygoodness - that was peak magic. On my very first trip to Disneyworld (mid-1990s), my mom wanted one souvenir only - her very own pair of Mickey ears hat, complete with the embroidery of her name on the back. It was her prized possession. It meant more than a hat - it meant she had made it well off in the world on her own as a single parent to afford a dream vacation for herself and her children. 

Fast forward to 2018, after several more magical memories made at Disneyworld with my mom and my son, I was chaperoning my son’s choir trip there, and was acutely missing my mom, who passed away in 2013. I wanted some kind of jackdaw, some kind of trinket, to commemorate and honor my mom, so I purchased my very first pair of Minnie ears. 

The spark of something spectacular.

Over the next couple of years, I slowly built up a small collection of ears, mostly to use as fun, unique decorations in my classroom. They were hung with love above bulletin boards and doorframes, adding a sprinkling of joy and magic into our daily lessons and learnings. Students loved them.

Enter in March 2020, when we shut down physical classrooms and switched overnight to virtual learning. My students were struggling. My fellow teachers were struggling. I was struggling as well. I had a healthy anxiety of not wanting to be on camera, which was a requirement of my district. To make it palatable for myself, I took a page out of Happy Gilmore’s playbook to “go to a happy place”. I started wearing a pair of Disney ears with every virtual staff meeting, every virtual class hour, every video check in. It allowed me to lean into the digital learning experience in an authentic way. It became a thing. Quickly. So much so that only a month later, when I forgot to wear a pair of ears for a staff meeting, I got multiple DMs asking if I was ok. As you can imagine, the natural conclusion I drew from that was that I needed to add to my collection. 

The spark progressed to a fire.

We returned to the classroom that fall of 2020. Students, colleagues, and I were still struggling. Hybrid learning, flexible scheduling, quarantining, figuring out how best to navigate our days - all of it created more challenges than it solved, it seemed. How could we continue to not only make educational progress, but find the human connection in a socially distanced world? I had a group of middle school students that were in my classroom every day, with desks taped off, clear, plastic partitions, and lots of sanitizer. I had an elementary bilingual reading group that I met with three times a week online. Which was super fun as a monolingual person. Chaos and germs didn’t know what to do. More than anything, I needed a little joy in the classroom. 

Y’all already know what I did - I wore my ears. I continued to purchase more ears. I coordinated outfits… for the ears. Through all of it, my students thrived. The middle schoolers gave me verbal grief about them, but it was laced with love, a bit of normalcy in our new world, and real. My elementary students’ eyes sparkled with each new pair I debuted in our virtual meets. The ears started conversations and connections. It got folks smiling again, which is its own brand of magic.

As the collection grew, so did my skill set as a technology leader. I secured my Google Educator level 1 and 2 certifications, completed digital certifications on edtech tools I enjoyed using, delivered coaching and training on a variety of edtech tools and best practices at my school and with the district, and started another spark within myself. I developed a passion for connecting with educators and helping them build up their capacity and confidence in edtech spaces.

The fire gets set aflame.

The growing passion of teaching teachers guided me to seek out a position in edtech. One tool stood out above the rest for me - Kami. In my final interview before being offered a position on their team, you guessed it, I wore some ears!

From June 2022 to October 2025, as a Teaching and Learning Coordinator for Kami, I had my eyes (and ears) opened to a world of experiences and adventures in the global education community. I delivered bespoke sessions, designed professional learning materials, worked with engineers to develop new product features and functionalities in the platform, presented virtually and in-person at conferences across the United States, and continued to build my professional learning network of fabulous educators from around the world. With each step, I found myself constantly listening, constantly learning, constantly fueling my passion of working with teachers.

As life paths often do, I’m pivoting, bringing all of the collective passions, joys, listenings, and learnings with me. I’m starting this new initiative - EdtechEars, where I’ll continue to develop my credentials and connections.

The seed before the spark. 

When I first started my teaching career, mom was a guest speaker in my 4th grade math and science classroom one day. We were studying body systems, and her career was in the optical world. The day she came to the class, I got a firsthand look into what she really wanted to do with her life had she had the opportunity. Mom was a born teacher. She prepared “eye labs” for the students, brought them all safety googles, created materials, worksheets, an assessment - the whole shebang. Of course, she rocked it. For the rest of the school year, that was the highlight for my students.

After the school day ended, she confided in me how proud she was of me that I became a teacher. She also made it known of her dream for me. Mom wanted me to be a teacher of teachers, envisioning me educating future teachers for their careers in the field. At the time, she assumed it would be manifested by me becoming a college professor. I brushed it off, of course. What did mom know? Right?  She continued to nurture that seed throughout the rest of her life, reminding me that that was her vision for me - teaching teachers.

As mothers often are, she was right. Thanks, mom.