Jay Gross

 A classroom teacher of 27 years who travels the country talking to educators and reigniting the passion for the greatest profession ever...

Short Bio / "Elevator Speech"

Sessions

​Door Handles & Eyes...  Continue to Bring the Passion

In a world of test scores, content standards & benchmarks, and evaluation fears, sometimes the main purpose can be pushed aside, even forgotten.  That is the kids.  Plain and simple they are the heart of what we do.  Let me be the reminder...

​(Keynote)

Internet Awareness:  Pervert Alert!!  And how to help keep our kids safe!

Our youth today are growing up in a world of instant access... Sometimes positive and sometimes negative.  They are leaving a digital legacy that will follow them through life.  Listen and learn along with Jay as he explains the highs and lows of all aspects of our digital world and how he has found a way to lead by example and thought.  This session will cover everything from FaceBook and Twitter to dangerous apps and how they can be used to harm our kids.

​(Keynote & Session)

Engagement and Personalized Learning - Don't Forget the Kids

This world of educational technology we are living in is moving faster than ever imagined. So much to learn and use and share! During these times it can be easy to lose sight of the central reason for all of it… the students. The best technology in the world is useless if we are not communicating with today’s kids and their parents, and relating to them.  Listen as veteran educator Jay Gross shares some of his successes (and even some failures) in engaging students with technology. He will touch your heart, give you some fresh ideas, and get you thinking of “outside of the box” ways to relate to today’s students.

​(Keynote)

Connecting to Today's Students

Fear is NOT the way to live.  So much can be accomplished through FaceBook, Twitter, and Texting.  How can you make a positive impact on students’ lives (and even parents for that matter!) through a positive, mature use of technology?  It’s easy!

​(Keynote & Session)

ePortfolios ROCK!!!

Our students deserve the best!  Showcasing their four years of high school and knowing how to promote themselves in today’s job market or getting the best scholarships is crucial.  How about just learning to organize and present themselves in the best, most positive way?  Our online Portfolios and their structure are proven winners.  Let me help you help them!

​(Keynote & Session)

MooGooling!

This session will be centering on and combining the very best of Moodle and Google to create a Blended Learning environment that has been developed with student, parent, and teacher input. It will also include different aspects of cloud-based tools to create a student centered learning environment with the teacher acting as a guide. Stop by and get exposed to such tools as Moodle Lessons, Adaptive Release Tasks, Video and Audio, Badges, My Access (Essay Writing), Shmoop (ACT Prep), and more!  I am a current classroom teacher using these in my classroom with direct student /parent input. 

​(Session)

Testimonials

Please click HERE for actual testimonials and screen shots about Jay.

Need more?  I have them HERE!

​And still more HERE!

Biography
Picture
On a field trip with my son, 'The Goob'

​I embrace cell phones, tablets, laptops, texting, FaceBook, Twitter, etc in the classroom. Teaching responsible use is crucial with today’s students for the cyber world they live in. Blocking them is NOT the answer.  I hope to help open minds through my experiences and stories and pave a pathway to make it easier for educators to join me in today’s cyber world.

After a motorcycle accident in 1986 crushed the 7th thoracic vertebrae in my back and left me less than a ¼ of an inch from being paralyzed from my chest down, I take each day as a gift.  While I was recuperating for six months, my Mom mentioned how I would be a good teacher, how the neighborhood kids flocked to me when I was outside to learn football plays and hear me tell stories.  It stuck.  Here I am after 27 years teaching at Shepherd High School and being told countless times my stories make learning relate, make it easier to understand.  One of the greatest compliments I received was after a motivational speech for high school students this past summer: “You are so real”, she said.  “We can relate to you because you are real and honest and not afraid to show emotion”.  I found myself smiling.

My name is Jay Gross, and I am an English, Speech, & Debate teacher. I also teach as an adjunct professor for English and Speech at Mid Michigan Community College and online with the Blended Learning in the Classroom (BLiC). Educational Technology is my passion, my obsession.  I have taught using Blackboard from one of its very earliest versions all the way to Moodle & Google as they are today.  I will continue to search for new ways to help improve my classroom and my students’ chances for success post-high school. Throughout this crazy/confusing journey in the ‘techno world’, I have been able to develop a way to decipher it and ‘speak teacher’, helping educators and administrators overcome fears and anxieties and take the first step into a phenomenal world of technology that can enhance, enrich, excite, and simplify lives.

Our lives are a bit busy.  Along with teaching, I am lucky enough to be married to my wife JoAnn, the Shepherd Band Teacher and President for the State of Michigan Bands & Orchestras,  father to three boys (10, 11, & 12 years old) who we adopted nine years ago. We also continue to foster in hopes of reuniting children with their families or getting them the loving homes they need.  We said, 'Good-bye' to one of our foster children who we fondly call "Nugget". Our home is filled with 7 rescue dogs who are our ‘furry’ children.  We  sponsor a child in Rwanda, John B, allowing him a better life.  I created and operate Jay Gross Productions where I run our rental properties, my videography business, and all of my speaking enagagements as well as trainings.  I also have been ordained and have performed the wedding services for many of my former students.

​Speaking to educators around the country has been an amazing experience. Add in my educational technology consulting & trainings throughout the state, motivational speaking, co-authoring a book with my wife on a couple’s insight into the world of infertility and how to survive it with laughter and tears, and being the Shepherd Educational Association President,  our lives are busy to say the least.  

And I wouldn't change a single thing.

Past Presentations

  • Frazee High School, Frazee, Minnnesota, Opening Day Keynote & Featured Session: Door Handles & Eyes...  Continue to Bring the Passion, session on Digital Media Responsibility, and a session on ePortfolios
  • Pike's County Public Schools, Indiana, Opening Day Keynote:  Door Handles & Eyes...  Continue to Bring the Passion
  • Lansing, Michigan, Teaching & Learning Conference: Keynote & Featured Session: Door Handles & Eyes...  Continue to Bring the Passion & Digital Media Responsibility
  • Jackson, Michigan Jackson Pubic Schools, Keynote & Featured Session: Door Handles & Eyes...  Continue to Bring the Passion
  • St. Ignace, Michigan Keynote on Door Handles & Eyes...  Continue to Bring the Passion followed followed by Establishing Strong Relationships with Parents, & Community and Administration & Board Member
  • Grand Rapids, Michigan, Michigan Teaching & Learning Conference: Keynote & Featured Session: Door Handles & Eyes...  Continue to Bring the Passion & Digital Media Responsibility
  • Hot Springs, Arkansas, HSTI Conference Keynote & Featured Session: Door Handles & Eyes...  Continue to Bring the Passion & Digital Media Responsibility
  • Frankenmuth, Michigan, MTSA Conference: Presentation on ePortfolios
  • ​Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, Keynote: Door Handles & Eyes...  Continue to Bring the Passion and Technology Presenter
  • Brandywine, Michigan, Brandywine School District: Keynote & Training
  • Monroe, Michigan, TechFest 2016, Keynote & Training: Door Handles & Eyes...  Continue to Bring the Passion
  • Sequin, Texas: Keynote: Door Handles & Eyes...  Continue to Bring the Passion
  • Mahnomen, Minnesota, Brain Development Conference, Mini Keynote
  • ​​East Lansing, Michigan, MyBlend Summer Learning Day Camp 2016 , Lightning Speech / Picnic Talk
  • Chelsea, Michigan, Early Childhood Technology Conference: Keynote Speaker
  • Lansing, Michigan, iFireUP Conference: Keynote Speaker and Technology Presenter
  • Personalized Learning Conference: Kent ISD KeyNote Speaker on 'Putting the Personal in Personalized Learning
  • MACUL 2016, Grand Rapids, Michigan: Building Community Through Technology
  • Carson City-Crystal: Keynote Speaker & Session Presenter on Personalized Learning and Connecting to Today's Students
  • Nova Now! Session on Don't Give Me That Look!  Social Media Works!
  • Herington, Kansas: Keynote Speaker & Sessions on Personalized Learning and Connecting to Today's Students
  • Bel Aire, Kansas: Sessions on Tech Tools for Teachers to Keep their Sanity!
  • ECET2MI, Michigan State University: Opening Keynote Speaker: Cultivating a Calling
  • Berrien RESD: Keynote Speaker: Pros & Cons of Social Media in Schools & MooGooling!
  • Odyssey High School: Keynote Speaker on "What Defines Me?"
  • Learning on The Lakeshore, Muskegon Community College, Michigan: Keynote Speaker & Presenter
  • Michigan New Teacher Conference: Keynote Speaker
  • Saginaw RESD: Keynote Speaker & MooGooling! Sessions 
  • Newberry, Michigan, Keynote Speaker & MooGooling! Sessions
  • McAlester, Oklahoma, Technology & Learning Conference: Keynote Speaker & MooGooling! 
  • Michigan Moodle Moot: Keynote Speaker & MooGooling! Session
  • Michigan Transition Services Association, Keynote Speaker
  • Michigan Career Placement Association Keynote Speaker: “Social Networking: Connecting to Business”
  • Morley Stanwood 1st Annual T.A.L.K. Conference: Keynote Speaker & MooGooling Session
  • BLiC Instructor for Blended Learning in the Classroom Project Statewide
  • Michigan Transition Services Association Session Presenter: Technology in the Classroom
  • Boyne City Area Wide Professional Development Day Presenter
  • Best of MACUL Presenter for MooGooling!
  • Moodle Bootcamp Presenter / Trainer
  • Moodle Basics & Beyond Presenter
  • MACUL Presenter for MooGooling, Shmoop, Blended Learning, ePortfolios, & Tech Tips for Teachers
  • Michigan Rotary Club, Motivational Keynotes
  • Keynote Speaker, Alma College Leadership Academy
  • Session Leader, Alma College Leadership Academy
  • Blackboard Instructor, St. John’s RESD
  • Technology Presenter, Boyne City High School
  • Featured Speaker, State Superintendent’s Conference
  • Guest Presenter, Administrator Information Network: High School Principals
  • Guest Presenter, REMC Directors of Michigan Conference
  • Presenter, “Fulfilling Michigan Merit Curriculum Online Learning Requirement.”  Michigan State University
  • Guest Speaker, Educators from England, Central Michigan University
  • Guest Speaker, Blackboard Day, Clare / Gladwin RESD
  • Featured Presenter, Gratiot and Isabella County Professional Development Day
  • Workshop Instructor, Summer Technology Camp
  • Presenter, Cool Tools Workshop, Gratiot Isabella RESD
  • Presenter, Mt. Pleasant High School Faculty