April 15, 2015 Leslie Armstrong WIPRO Urban STEM

Developing a Professional Presence Part I &II

Introduction
The first image displays the innate habit of schools of salmon to
leave their saltwater habitat and return to the freshwaters of their
birth. The mission is to produce future generations. Some are
eaten by predators as they make their journey, some are unable
to spawn due to limited space, and some expel too much energy
and are unable to complete their journey. The quest to remain
professionally relevant can be compared to this salmon run. The
Wipro Urban STEM Experience exposes one to the practice of
obtaining technology skills, making connections, collaborative
work and individual accountability; the tools needed to make my
professional run.

This professional scavenger quest was an eye opening

experience. To most of the global community, I exist in three
planes; Leslie Armstrong, Suave Armstrong and CHIWEST11.com.

April 15, 2015 Leslie Armstrong WIPRO Urban STEM

The basic search under my surname revealed a plethora of
individuals that share my name; many of them were quite
impressive. Within Google, Bing and Yahoo, my LinkedIn profile
was present, but the profile contained minimal information.
Under the heading entitled Experience, I am listed as a STEM
Math &Science Coach for Chicago Public Schools . The network of
connections is vast. The spans includes , but is not limited to
former students that are engineers , colleagues at Laura S. Ward
STEM, and STEM teachers educators of various ethnic and
religious backgrounds . My profile is incomplete and my activity
within connecting to individuals on a consistent basis is limited.
However, due to my position as a STEM coach, I have seen
various employment opportunities that connect to my passion as
a STEM educator. The previous sentence is of great importance
because as I seek advancement as a STEM educator, a potential
employer would have more information about individuals that I
have connections with than professional information about myself.
The Google profile is connected to what would appear as a
nickname or to give it more credence; a pen name. Suave
Armstrong reveals a Google profile that is incomplete; however
the professional circle has ample individuals and professional
sources. The profile does have a picture from the Wipro Urban
STEM experience that shows the tech tip presentation about
music production. I do have post that provides information about
music selections that correlate to various curricular subjects, but
the presence of a connected lesson plan is nonexistent. I also
have a professional development ppt. that individuals can access
as well. The Google profile is a stark representation of my
professional experience as an educator.
The domain that I own under CHIWEST11.com appears in all
major search engines. There is also a listing of contact
information via email, Twitter and work telephone number. My
personal domain search provides a substantial amount of
information that illustrates a blend of my professional and
personal attributes. This site of course reflects the work and
growth that I have achieved through the MSU Wipro Urban STEM
experience.

April 15, 2015 Leslie Armstrong WIPRO Urban STEM

I will reiterate the point that this professional search of self was
an eye opening experience because to most of the global
community; I am a closed eye. I exist in three forms that combine
as one on the domain CHIWEST11.com. I am unsure if such a
domain name depicts professionalism and may have caused the
lack of visitors to dwindle.
In conclusion, I do not feel that I have failed, but am awakened
by the knowledge of my errors. I wish to swim upstream and
produce a professional presence that is substantive and
accessible.The Urban STEM experience has taught me that
knowledge and skills cannot be hidden or squandered, but shared
for the collaborative advancement of all.
Part 2: Evaluate STEM Educators
Before I began analyzing STEM specialists online, I completed a
Google search that led me to theto the following website:
http://www.entrepreneuronfire.com/ . This site listed criteria for
building an online presence. Additionally this site provided clarity
for the purpose and actions taken to enhance ones presence.
Building a professional presence must be fueled by goals that will
lead to career development. Your website should have a clear,
concise, and organized content. Furthermore, the website should
serve as a communicative nucleus; that directs your audiences to
social media hubs that may include, but are not limited to
professional blogs, Twitter feeds or Facebook content. In short,
your website must provide opportunities for your audience to
access additional information and avenues to communicate with
the owner of the domain as well. It is also a sensible action to
provide a collaborative platform for visitors to be able to
exchange ideas, present opinions and build a communicative web.
You must also understand that you must persist with continued
development based on the tracking of data. I support the
analyzing qualitative and quantitative data.

April 15, 2015 Leslie Armstrong WIPRO Urban STEM

During the summer Urban STEM experience I
discovered that globally, individuals had begun visiting
my site and emailing questions and comments. That
inspired me to initially cultivate my domain on a
consistent basis, but when the number of visitors began
to dwindle, the desire faded. Being responsive to my
professional presence should have been my reaction. It
seems to be the active response of STEM educators such
as Nadine Afari. She is an established educator at the
University of Southern California. Her public profile is
expansive. Her artifacts include, but are not limited to
professional journals, collaborative projects and images
that would depict her lifes work. Most importantly,
there were numerous positive adjectives that were
linked to her name; that stimulated my quest to learn
more. Carolyn DeCristofano is another individual that has an
organized and attractive website. She immediately
introduces herself by providing a biographical sketch that
includes her picture. An individual visiting this site would
immediately feel welcomed and connected. The image within
the header remained the same, but images were imbedded on
almost every page. I also noticed that there was also a home
page. The purpose of the home page is to provide updated
information. To individuals that persistently visit a site;
updates would probably be their main focus. Lastly, I will
need to change the titles of the menu pages because they
dont precisely reflect the content associated with the page
header.
The STEM habits are a checklist that will also assist me with the
process of enhancing my public presence as well. Moving forward
with going beyond the embryonic stage of my present public
presence, the following are actions that I will effectuate:
persistence in continued implementation of valuable information,
expressing innovative practices by applying past knowledge to

April 15, 2015 Leslie Armstrong WIPRO Urban STEM

new situations, designing a profile that will appeal to the senses,
communicating information with precise content and finally
reflecting a passion for my professional learning path.

April 15, 2015 Leslie Armstrong WIPRO Urban STEM

Bib;iography
"7 Ways to Build Your Online Presence Now." Entrepreneur On Fire
Business Podcasts. N.p., 24 Dec. 2014. Web. 09 Apr. 2015.