Most students are familiar with Mrs. Domeck as an incredible social studies teacher. Others know her because of the work she does with the ALC and with technology programs in our schools, but few know that she is also a student, just like them. In early September, she started taking classes to get her second master’s degree in educational technology from Concordia University out of St. Paul. Dombeck hopes that getting this degree will aid her in taking good teaching and learning practices and applying them to different technology programs within our school. She wants to help students work in a way that when they leave this place, they will have the ability to navigate the world of technology. When asked what the main purpose of her studies is, Dombeck responded “How can I help my teaching staff work smarter, not harder, how can we get tech to free up some of the things that take up a lot of time but, may not be the best use of our time”. With plenty of homework for her college classes, several high school classes to plan and teach, and a family at home, it is obvious that Mrs. Dombeck has a full plate of responsibilities.

With a limited amount of time to put into these responsibilities, one may wonder how she does it all. No, she’s not superman. She just knows how to manage her time in one of the most beneficial ways possible: prioritizing. “Every week, month, day, hour, prioritize what’s the most important thing to do, get that done, what you can tackle, and then start working on the other things,” she said as she explained how she manages her day to day life. Mrs. Dombeck draws many of her time management philosophies from her favorite book, 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey. She would recommend that any busy high school student should invest some of their time reading the book’s sequel, 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens. These self help books describe how to efficiently manage time when it seems there is no time at all. To stay on track to receive her educational technology degree and develop her own organizational techniques, Mrs. Dombeck refers to these books. For any student who is attempting to succeed at the multitude of activities in their lives, student and teacher alike, Mrs Dombeck understands the issue. “Make time for yourself to have fun, there has to be some times when you just give yourself some time to enjoy because time’s flying”.