So I thought
I had it all—National Board and Teacher Leadership Certifications, master’s in English; I taught advanced placement and dual credit courses, I was district department chair, national presenter, and a state-level advocate for standards education; I mentored first- year teachers and instructed master teachers. But after 25+ years of teaching at the high school and post-secondary levels, I shut my door for the very last time in May 2017 and did not look back.
Following a new path
I needed a change. At the time I planned to buy an R-pod and ramble across the country, but I opted for a river shack and transformed it into a home. I also decided to help support my youngest daughter through college, so I found a job as a professional staff member for a university. No papers to grade and no lessons to plan. I could take a vacation in September and eat lunch whenever I was hungry.
Starting Over And Learning New software and Platforms
In my new position I was at the bottom of the hierarchy where I learned from and was supervised by people half my age. I embraced the role-reversal and decided it was my turn to learn again. I absorbed as much as I could to learn new systems, platforms, and technology. I took LinkedIn Excel and Python courses and moved placement testing from one LMS to a new LMS. I felt challenged and alive again to learn. With confidence, I pursued another university position working with the sequel-based CRM. Working with the CRM, I spent my days in the matrix of a relational management system trouble shooting and finding answers for others. And this is where I found my way back to teaching.
First I Had to Teach Myself
To help others, first I needed to teach myself, and then I made job aids and designed tutorials to show my co-workers how to use the CRM system to deliver a message or generate a report. My motto has always been if you teach a person to fish, they will be able to feed themselves.
Pursuing a new Direction
It was during the design of the Canvas CRM onboarding, that I decided it was time to pursue my second master’s in a new field, IDT. My foundation in education is built from bricks labeled constructivist pedagogy, standards education, Bloom’s taxonomy, collaboration, and PLCs, metacognition, thinking strategies, literary analysis, and writing process. If I was going to be a successful instructional designer, I knew I needed to learn more and so I set sail to find learning theory, Systematic Design, Keller’s ARCS, Adobe editing software, Articulate 360 Storyline and Rise, Canva, Visio, Twine, Sway, SharePoint space, Cathy Moore’s branching scenarios, Julie Dirksen Design for How People Learn, and Robin Williams’ The Non-Designer’s Design Book.
Now I know
Now, I am a learning designer, writer and a life-long learner who collaboratively works with companies and organizations to assess and evaluate learning obstacles and pinpoint training needs. With over 25- years teaching experience in both secondary and post-secondary education, I use digital best practices and authoring tools to tailor-make learning opportunities to engage learners with job aids, clear and concise modules, and scenario-based learning objects in online learning environments.
Images on this page created by me using Canva and my camera; Photo of me taken by friend, Quinn Connor.
Tracy Yarchi Portfolio 