Hello. Pleasure to Make Your Acquaintance.

Allow me to Introduce Myself.

My name is Lily Valibaba-Sullivan. I wear a lot of hats. I am a daughter, a sister, a wife, a mother, a feminist, an Anthropologist, a reader, an Instructional Designer, and most importantly, a life long learner. I discovered how much I love to learn a little later than most. While I was pursuing my BA in Anthropology at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, I realized that I NEEDED to know all the things!

After graduation, I realized I never came up with a viable plan on what I would do with all the things I learned. Out of the blue an opportunity to teach classes on Anthropology to high school aged students fell into my lap. I was hooked as soon as I started making lesson plans. This led me to return to my Alma Mater for my Master’s in Education for Instructional Design.

Once I realized how much I enjoyed teaching I was struck by how much technology could aide in teaching kids and how little (or not correctly) it was being used. It also dawned on me how much schools, in the brick and mortar sense, are more custodial than educational for kids. I want to bridge that gap. I want to incorporate the premise of blended classrooms in as many schools as possible.

Many realizations later an idea hit me right in the face. If the use of blended classes can be accomplished, how can this help a-typical kids? This was not a giant leap, considering my son is autistic and as a family everything eventually comes around to; how will this affect our autistic son? Thus, my intention to utilize instructional design practices in blended classrooms could be molded to allow a-typical kids to remain among their peers, instead of being pulled from resource to service and back to the classroom.

I want to create classrooms where the kids are allowed to stay with their peers and learn at differing rates on varying agendas, all the while meeting Department of Education standards. I want teachers to have the ability to spend the majority of their day in small group situations teaching specifically to the kids needs. I want the kids to collaborate and draw upon each other for knowledge and support. One day I want to open a school where all of that is the day-to-day. But first, I must gain knowledge.

The term instructional design is thrown about to cover lots of different things, from technology tools to curriculum. When I think about instructional design my mind immediately goes to the learner and what I want them to get out of the course. The design will include the best, most effective way to reach as many learners as possible. If the designer is designing for the learner then the student will engage with the design.

While I plan on changing the way my son is taught and ways to which he is not only engaged but eager to learn, I also want to let all those we have met past, present and future who may have struggled in the same or different ways than my own child to benefit from the information and knowledge that I gather and share here. Let's start with the basics, shall we?