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welcome to my world. You can read more about my background on the
about page, if you are interested. my name is Rachelle, not Rachel and not Rochelle. To some folks in the Midwest, I also answer to Shelly.
my world has many facets. The primary driver for this website is that I work in the world of information technology. My primary love is programming a.k.a writing code.
the other facets that compete with writing code are my love of dance, my many nerdy-geeky interests, my husband, my children, and my early years growing up on a farm in the Midwest.
this website is something I endeavor to maintain to make sure that I do not become a frumpy mom whose only technology footprint at home is fixing the wifi on the Wii U and downloading toddler apps on her iPad. It also gives me an outlet for my bookwormish side that enjoys reading and writing.
my blog is where you will find me writing about the many adventures and experiences where these facets of my world collide--when, of course, I have time within these facets to write.
Specialties: Computer Programming a.k.a. Writing Code, Quality Control, Problem Solving, Instructional Design, Education, Office Administration, Dance Instruction, Group Fitness Instruction.
philosophy
logic and problem solving are the foundation of my career in programming, engineering, design, and instruction. Language and platform are irrelevant and merely a tool in the development of the final product, be that a tool, an application, or a class, when the goal is reached and the problem solved.my first programming instructor taught me to think logically and solve problems. My first formal programming class taught me to program using logic and pseudo-code so that I could write code in any language that I encountered. Over the years, languages have come and gone, but I continue to solve problems and easily pick up the syntax using the solid fundamental problem solving skills I began with.
surprising to many, this translates easily to teaching dance and fitness. The ones who truly understand dancing recognize that it involves a great deal of science (physics, biomechanics, and chemistry, among others) and math concepts. Newton's Laws, balance/counter-balance, and action/reaction were ideas I used often in teaching, but perhaps tessellate and vector were a bit much to expect of my dance students sometimes. They came for a dance lesson, after all. For those that were afradid of dance, though, it made them more comfortable. Relating the unknown the known is a primary teaching technique that I use to help my students learn, whether the known is math, science, sports, or driving.
these philosophical ideas pretty much go out the window when it comes to sharing your life with another rational-thinking, mathematical mind or raising two like-minded boys and a social butterfly girl. This requires a great deal of patience and understanding that can seem like quite the out-of-body experience for an introvert.