Dr. Patrick began her teaching career in 1982 upon completion of a bachelor’s degree with a double-major in elementary and special education. Her experiences as a teacher of elementary students included a variety of settings and her training enabled her to work with students in self-contained classrooms, resource settings, collaborative and inclusive classrooms, and co-teaching settings. Her role expanded to include the responsibilities of a professional development leader for teachers. The experiences in sharing strategies with teachers led to another leadership opportunity working with teachers and students in the area of technology integration. These experiences provided the experiential foundation that prompted additional studies in the field of educational leadership and instructional technology. She has provided instructional leadership at the local and district levels in Alabama and Georgia.
As an educator and instructional leader, she focused on the integration of technology to enhance classroom learning environments. Her mantra is “STEPS” (Seeing Technology in Education as a Plan for Success). During her 38 years in the public school systems in Alabama and Georgia, she worked to provide educators opportunities to extend learning outside of the classroom walls and into a worldwide connected hub of learning between culture and countries on a regular basis.
When she is not in the classroom she enjoys singing in the church choir, playing the piano, and baking. She also swims a mile 5 days a week and enjoys walking on the weekends.