About

Sharon Mistretta – 32 Credits Accomplished…Graduated!!!…Master of Arts in Computing in Education from Columbia University Teachers College … Technology Teacher, Wife, Mom, Daughter, Staff Developer, CCD Teacher.

I started my journey in Data Processing in 1979 at Fairleigh Dickinson University in Teaneck on a paper tape machine coding BASIC computer programs. Each line of code was a series of punched dots on a one inch wide ribbon of paper. Your roll of paper tape had to be read back into the machine in order to run the program. It frequently ripped. This was around the same time that Bill Gates wrote Microsoft’s first product, an Altair 8K BASIC which was housed on paper tape.

Next, was FORTRAN on Hollerith, or punched cards. One line of Fortran code was keyed into a machine which in turn punched individual cards with your lines of code. Needless to say, you had to keep these cards in order. If you dropped your stack, it was a disaster. Your stack of cards had to be handed to the computer operator who in turn placed them into a card reader to run your program. One of our memorable assignments was to take a phrase and determine if it was a palindrome. A palindrome is a word or phrase that is the same forwards as it is backwards. How about, “a man a plan a canal panama”? We had to take the phrase and “bump” our character pointers from the front and the back to compare their ASCII value.

Then, it was on to Datapoint minicomputers. The minicomputer was a forerunner of the personal computer. We coded on terminals into files in the Databus language. It was here that I coded Warranty Claims systems for Sharp Electronics and Inventory Control programs for Becton Dickinson.

Wanting to go onto bigger and better things, I accepted a position with Manufacturer’s Hanover Trust. It was here that I coded wire transfer systems in COBOL, JCL and CICS on the IBM Mainframe.

After having my fill of programming, I spent several years in Project Management for United Jersey Bank (merged to finally become Bank of America) to convert their manual, paper intensive Letter of Credit Department into an automated environment on DEC equipment. My focus was managing all of the departments and companies to make the whole project come together.

In 1985, I married my best friend, Fred Mistretta. Our first daughter, Michelle was born in 1989 and our second daughter, Suzanne was born in 1995. I will never regret resigning from the banking industry and spending the time with our daughters to raise them. The best times of my life have been sitting in a beach chair on the front lawn blowing bubbles with the girls and I really miss reading them bedtime stories. Our favorites were Goodnight Moon, Where the Wild Things Are and Roxaboxen.

I have volunteered extensively at my daughters’ schools. I am the web administrator for the Our Lady of Mercy Parish Website. I chaired the Building Enhancements Committee to replace the exterior doors of Our Lady of Mercy School. I founded and chaired the Alumni Hall of Fame for OLM. I also co-chaired the Gift Basket Committee for the Treasures of the Heart Auction for Immaculate Heart Academy.

Here we are at the Hotel Spring House in Rome, Italy. Fred, My Dad Arthur, Suzanne, Michelle and I took in the Eternal City with gusto. The picture on the right was taken in Pompeii, which was the highlight of our trip.

I studied toward my Masters Degree in Computing and Education since the Fall of 2005. During this time, I served as an Intern for Reach the World Foundation. I assisted teachers with the integration of technology into the curriculum. Here is the link to the wiki that was created in collaboration with a Middle School teacher in the New York City public school system. Instead of using workbooks, we edited the questions from a Science and Health unit into team wikis. The online environment improved discipline issues and increased the students’ research and team collaboration skills.

I joined Holy Family Catholic Academy in Norwood in 2008 as Technology Teacher. I teach grades Pre-K through Eighth Grade. Check out my class website for my current curriculum units.

Please check out my website at sharonmistretta.com to view more examples of the constructivist learning approach utilizing various technology in the classroom.

Hi Family

Hi Michelle, Suzanne, Fred, and Dad,

Here is my new blog. You can respond to me by posting a comment. It would be very groovy if you wrote about what you did today. Genevieve and I are reading your responses with great interest. Luv, Me

Sharon’s Blog

Hello Columbia University Teachers College Classmates!

I have been using this blog extensively as part of my courses at Columbia, so rather than post a greeting to a particular class, I am welcoming you as a classmate from Columbia. 

Here is the link to my wiki which has many pages designed to examine educational applications of wikis. Check it out!  Thanks, Sharon