Ray Hernandez

Ray Hernandez would still be considered a rookie by many, but he has already had the opportunity to showcase present at a national conference and attend a meeting with members from Discovery and Google's education team.

Ray has been teaching in the Anahiem City School District for 3 years where he is currently a 6th grade teacher. One year ago, the extent of Ray's technology integration was only simple linear PowerPoints, but after a professional development workshop at his district office with Southern California field manager Jannita Demian, he learned how to integrate unitedstreaming into his current English Language Development Curriculum. After this meeting, he joined the DEN and has been very active in his community. He was involved in the DEN Google Earth Project, where he collaborated with other DEN members from 8 different states. His work in this project allowed him to be featured in the Student Technology Showcase at NECC and earned him a grant from the Orange County Department of Education. He also participated in and presented at the West Coast Regional Conference. Ray is also the first teacher at his school site to integrate podcasts in his curriculum.

Another moment that helped transform his teaching strategy was after watching THE Hall Davidson show how students could create their own movies using unitedstreaming video clips, "videos" just don’t mean the same thing anymore. After watching one of his students narrate over a unitedstreaming clip, he became overwhelmed as he realized first hand the power of digital media in the classroom.

Ray says that "unitedstreaming provides such a solid opportunity for teachers to bring the standards to life to a digital generation. DEN has rescued me from a virtual ghetto by allowing me to grow professionally and connect and learn with other teachers that share my passion for technology"