Jon+Tanner+-+Oregon

=Jon Tanner=

[[image:P2210004.JPG width="157" height="227" align="left"]]Where I'm standing
This marks my fifth year as the Technology Director for the Oregon (WI) School District. My main focus these days is trying to find ways for schools to stay relevant to students, to remain an information-rich location, and to insure students learn the skills, concepts, and habits of mind that will benefit them most in their lives. I'm also in charge of keeping everything running.

How I got here
After graduating from the University of Wisconsin with a degree in elementary education, I started my teaching career as a fourth grade teacher in a public school district in the Chicago suburbs. While there, I got a grant from the Illinois State Board of Education to connect our schools to this crazy new thing called the Internet and to develop Internet-based curriculum. I eventually became the district's first technology coordinator. While there, I also earned my masters degree in Educational Leadership from National-Louis University. In 2001, I took the road less traveled and helped start up a brand-new private, environmentally-focused boarding school. As in most startups, I wore many hats, including math teacher, juggling club sponsor, technology and innovation department chair, network administrator, professional developer, and house parent to forty teenagers.

While I'm making other plans...
I live in Oregon, WI, (which is a few miles south of Madison) with my wife and three sons. My wife and I met at the University of Wisconsin, and we are thrilled to live near Madison again. In my spare time, I play basketball, go on bike rides with my family, and read. The best books I've read recently are __The Global Achievement Gap__ by Tony Wagner, __Leading Change in Your School__ by Doug Reeves, Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller, and __Disrupting Class__ by Clayton Christensen.

My web footprints
I post little comments on Twitter and longer thoughts on my blog, tag interesting things on del.icio.us, and pretty much ignore my Facebook account.

Random conversation-starting trivia

 * I can speak a decent bit of Spanish, a little Russian, and enough Thai to say "thank you" at our favorite restaurant.
 * My wife and I watched the entire Battlestar Galactica series this summer.
 * I used to snowboard.
 * My wife taught me how to knit.

Contact info
jon [dot] tanner [at] OregonSD.net jon [dot] tanner [at] the Gmail one [] Skype: jon.tanner Google Voice: 608-498-4238