I'm Shiela.

An innovator, a teacher, and a mother.

About

Shiela Lee Profile Pic

Hi!

I am an award-winning educator with 12 years of experience in the domain of K-12 education. Having acquired domain-specific expertise interfacing with students, teachers, families, and administrators, I am looking to scale my impact at the intersection of education and technology. I am an innovator who is moving to align my passions with my skills. I love tinkering and coding ideas that I have. Read more about my teaching in Projects and Publications. Explore my coding projects in Tools.

When I'm not teaching or coding, I enjoy listening to podcasts and playing board games with my daughters.


My Journey

Journey Highlights

STEM & Computer Science PreK-5 Teacher

  • 2022 NY State Finalist for the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching (PAEMST Award) (Award winners TBD)
  • #NYCSchoolsTech Award 2021
  • Computer Science Lead
  • Computer Science Teachers Association (CSTA) Equity Fellow

  • Developing equitable teaching practices and advocacy
  • Collaborating with other teachers to address equity in the computer science classroom
  • Math for America II+ Fellow

  • Master Teacher II+ Fellowship Award
  • Broadening my growth as an educator, contributing to a professional community, and elevating the status of our profession
  • MotherCoder Fellow

  • Member of the inaugural NYC cohort
  • Self-taught html/css/javascript
  • Special Education Integrated Co-Teaching (ICT) Teacher

  • Orton-Gillingham Certified Instructor
  • Computer Science 4 All (CS4ALL) Teacher Trainer
  • Big Apple Award Finalist
  • Coding Teacher in NYC STEM Summer in the City

  • Taught visual programming with blockily language
  • Taught physical computing with BBC Microbit
  • Teachers College, Columbia University

  • MA in Curriculum and Instruction
  • Dual certification to teach students with disabilities and general education students grades 1-6
  • Fulbright Fellow to Teach English in Taiwan

  • Awarded favorite teacher on Confucius Teacher's Day
  • Started two special English classes for disadvantaged students
  • Co-taught English to grades 1-6 in a public elementary school in Kaohsiung
  • Grinnell College

  • BA in Philosophy, Cum Laude
  • John H. Worley Endowed Prize in Philosophy
  • Projects

    Whether I am learning about how to create low floor high ceiling math tasks for my students or guiding my students to give effective feedback to their peers on their coding projects, I am always learning and growing. In addition to teaching my students literacy and math, here are some projects I've done in my primary classroom that I'm passionate about:

    American Sign Language (ASL)

    sign-language-icon sign-language-icon-color
    • Develops fine motor skills
    • Gives access to the deaf community
    • Supports spelling in early childhood

    Pen Pal Exchanges in Taiwan, Kenya & USA

    Pen Pal Exchanges pen-pal-icon-color
    • Broadens awareness of other ways of life
    • Promotes cultural exchange
    • Develops global citizens

    Mindfulness Meditation

    Mindfulness mindfulness-icon-color
    • Brings attention to the present moment
    • Promotes self-awareness
    • Can help with self-regulation

    Coding, Robotics, & Physical Computing

    Coding coding-icon-color
    • Develops logical thinking
    • Can be integrated across curricular areas
    • Builds persistence and problem solving skills

    Publications and Interviews

    Select publications and interviews. Click on the images below.

    Fulbright Chronicles: A Teaching Career Sparked by My Fulbright Experience in Taiwan

    NSTA Science and Children: Student Agency Through Engineering

    Chibitronics Featured Educator Interview

    CSTA: Let's Hit Refresh

    Tools

    As a special education teacher, I am looking to build tools that are universally designed for learning (UDL) and that help teachers create an accessible and inclusive classroom community.

    . . . I use a station tool

    I designed a tool for my classroom specifically for when I teach using the stations model. I developed this visual tool to help all students know where to go and what to bring to each station.

    . . . I use an interactive 100s chart

    I designed an interactive hundreds chart tool for my students to help them learn about patterns on the hundreds chart and to strengthen their number sense.

    Contact Me

    Teaching Coding
    Top of the Rock Teaching

    Curious about doing a collaborative project or have a question about the work I do? Feel free to message me!

    Message Me