Professional Background
I am Kathleen Schanne, a first-year teacher at Lakeland High School in White Lake, Michigan (Huron Valley Schools). In a school of roughly 1300 students, I teach English, specifically World Literatures, Creative Writing, and 9th grade Introduction to Literatures and Composition. I completed my undergraduate degree in English and history at the University of Michigan - Ann Arbor in April 2003, and was hired a few short months later to begin my journey as a teacher at Lakeland.

Technology Background
The technology environment at Lakeland is exciting; what we lack in pricey hardware, we make up for in ingenuity. My technology work utilizes the school's computer labs with Windows machines, and not much else in terms of hardware. Although my students frequently don't have internet connections or computers at home, they are also eager and excited to try new things and methods of learning with technology. My master's work in Learning Technologies has also guided my use of technology.

Learning Environment
This project focuses on my World Lit class, an eleventh grade literature course. The class contains 29 students of all abilities, including main-streamed special ed students. Gender is nearly evenly split. Trust and open participation are critical in our classroom environment, and I do my best to make sure my students feel that they 'own' our classroom as much as I do.