With over a decade of classroom experience, Matt Gillispie currently teaches ninth grade English at Milford High School, located in the Cincinnati, Ohio area. A Google Certified Educator, he regularly utilizes Chromebooks with students to foster student creativity, collaboration, and critical thinking skills.
Prior to joining Milford, he taught at Lancaster High School for six years. He co-wrote a $100,000 grant to use iPads in the classroom and co-piloted a technology program at that school. The success of that program would lead to a 1:1 program in which all students would use iPads. Lancaster High School would become the largest district in Ohio to initiate such a program at the time.
In 2014, Matt was awarded Lancaster City Schools' Technology Teacher of the Year. During that time, he wrote his first book, From Notepad to iPad: Using Apps and Web Tools to Engage a New Generation of Students. The book provides many strategies for teachers who are new to educational technology, including classroom management strategies, activities for reading, writing, speaking and listening, differentiating, and more. He is proud that the ideas in the book are still relevant and useful in the classroom.
Additionally, Matt speaks at conferences throughout Ohio. He has provided PD experiences since 2012. More recently, he held sessions at the 2018 State of Ohio Educational Technology Conference, 2018 Ohio Council of Teachers of English/Language Arts Conference, 2016 and 2017 EdTechTeam Cincinnati Summits, as well as the 2017 Ohio Google Summit. Many of his professional development sessions involve teaching the ELA Standards with technology to create a student-centered environment focused on both ELA standards and 21st Century skills.
In 2017, Matt fulfilled a lifelong dream and was a contestant on Wheel of Fortune. He currently lives in Union, KY with his family.