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About Mrs. Brandon
She first got involved in ThinkQuest in the year 2000 when she coached a team of fifth graders. Their site, "Unusual Sports in the Olympics," took the gold in their category! During the next year, she coached another group of elementary students and their site, "Seeing Isn't Always Believing," was a finalist. During the 2002 competition, she coached a team of fifth graders whose site, "C.L.A.W.S to the Rescue," received honorable mention. She enjoys coaching teams of students for many reasons. First of all, her position in the district is primarily one of staff development, so most of the time she works with adults (teachers). Working on ThinkQuest brings her closer to the students. She enjoys being the facilitator in this student-centered approach to learning. The students choose their topic, decide on the content, do their own research and decide on their own design. This has been especially true this year, working with such independent high school students. Both she and the students have such busy schedules that meeting was often difficult; but these students used all resources available to collaborate and complete a site that she is very, very proud of! Mrs. Brandon loves working with technology, loves being a facilitator in others' successful use technology and enjoys exploring new tools and applications for technology in education. She has been the recipient of several awards in her field. The photograph above was taken at the Pioneer Award Dinner in 2005 when she was awarded the Outstanding Technology Leader Award by the Lower Hudson Regional Information Center. She and her husband, Philip, have two grown children, Jon and Beth. She enjoys traveling (mostly to California to visit her son!), exercise and reading.
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Mrs.
Brandon is the Director of Instructional Technology for the