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Neil Hokanson Introduction
I am Neil Hokanson, an instructional technology specialist, educator, husband, and father (in no particular order ;-).
I was born in Afton, Wyoming in 1965, and my home town is Thayne,
Wyoming. I was raised on a ranch that was homesteaded by my
Great-Grandfather Hokanson in 1887. The ranch was recently sold with heartfelt sadness.
I attended Kindergarten at Metcalf Elementary in Etna, Wyoming; grades
1 - 6 at Holdaway Elementary in Thayne, Wyoming; grades 7 - 8 at Star
Valley Junior High in Afton, Wyoming; and grades 9 - 12 at Star Valley
High School in Afton, Wyoming. While at Star Valley High School I was
involved in FFA (I received my State Farmer degree as a junior in 1983)
and served as the Student Body President my senior year. I am a life
member of the FFA Alumni Association.
After high school I attended the University of Wyoming and served an 18 month
mission for my church in the Colorado Denver Mission serving in the Northwest Kansas area, in the mission office as the financial secretary in Littleton, CO, in Grand Junction, CO as a zone leader, and finally in Cheyenne, WY as a zone leader. After meeting my
wife at UW in Laramie, I moved to South Dakota and finished my Bachelor
of Science in Education degree in 1993 at the University of South
Dakota in Vermillion. I served as a Senator representing the College of
Education in the USD Student Association my senior year.
I spent one year substitute teaching in the Lincoln County School
District #2 after graduating from USD; then, I taught Humanities, World
History, World Geography, and American History at Dakota Valley High
School in Jefferson/North Sioux City, South Dakota from 1994 - 1997.
In 1997 I began teaching at Star Valley Middle School
in Afton, Wyoming. I taught American Studies, United States
History, and currently teach World Geography at SVMS.
I was accepted in September 2004 into the Graduate School at the
University of Wyoming. I earned a Master's of Science in
Education Instructional Technology degree in May 2006.
I am a member of Phi Alpha Theta a history honor society; a member of
the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS); the Association for
Educational Communications and Technology (AECT); the Association for
the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE); International Society
for Technology in Education (ISTE); member of the
National Middle School Association (NMSA); life member of the National
FFA Alumni Association; and life member of the American Hereford
Association. I was also nominated for memberhip in the honorary society
Phi Kappa Phi in the Fall of 2005.
As an educator I have been honored to receive the following awards:
nominated for Marquis Who's Who in America 2006-2007, Who's Who Among
America's Teachers 2004-2005 and 2005-2006; USA Today Best Bet
educational
website in September 2003; was the Wyoming Department of Education
Wyoming Education Gateway Lesson Plan Contest middle school division
winner 2002-2003; Wyoming School - University Partnership Instructional
Excellence Award winner 2000-2001; and 2 time Dakota Valley High School
Teacher of the Year 1995-1996 and 1996-1997. I have also been nominated
for the VFW National Citizenship Education Teacher Award 2000-2001 and
2004-2005, and the Disney American Teacher Award 2001 -2002.
I am married to the former Dianna Hoffman (an awesome speech-language
pathologist) and have 5 children: 2 girls, Hannah (age 14) and Heather
(age 3), and 3 boys, Charles, Ronan, and Nicholas (ages 10, 8, and 6).
We live in Thayne, Wyoming. These are the special people who have truly sacrificed
and made my graduate studies a success (See these beautiful souls and myself in the picture
posted below)!!!
Last but not least, this portfolio showcases much of my work and
accomplishments while enrolled in the Univeristy of Wyoming
Instructional Technology master's program. It serves as a body of
evidence in the areas of philosophy, learning and development,
foundations of education, technological understandings, and provides
examples of the many projects, papers, proposals, and products that I
have researched, created, presented, and developed during 2004-2006. Enjoy!!!
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