For the last 15 years, I have been providing professional development to teachers. With a background in reading and technology integration, I am passionate about supporting literacy skills for the 21st century. My work with districts includes planning at the district level and following those initiatives through into classrooms. The majority of my contracts are long term, spanning several years and allowing me to build relationships with staff to customize their professional development needs.
As a Literacy Specialist, I provide K-12 professional development to ensure strong core instruction. Much of my recent work has been in implementing Common Core Standards. It’s allowed me to put my training in backwards design and curriculum mapping to work. I have been both curriculum mapping and implementing standards in classrooms. I have implemented K-8 balanced literacy programs with guided reading, as well as reading and writing in the content areas in middle and high schools. This includes support within the classroom, working side-by-side with teachers and students.
In addition, I have been heavily involved in Response to Intervention, including assessment, intervention and progress monitoring. I’ve facilitated building-wide interventions, as well as implemented a variety of reading assessments to increase the achievement of all students. Beyond training teachers how to administer the assessments and interpret the results, I also give teachers strategies to use in their classroom based on assessment data. This has included both workshops and modeling within the classroom.
I have been involved in numerous one-to-one initiatives utilizing handhelds, as well as laptop computers. I was on the Design Team for Bridging the Disconnects, an $8 million dollar reading across the content area grant. As a facilitator for the Technology Immersion Project, I provided professional development for two schools in this one-to-one initiative. Each student was given a laptop in these middle schools.
I teach graduate courses for Aurora University and serve as an Adjunct Professor for the University of St. Francis, teaching courses for their Reading and Instructional Technology graduate programs. I offer a series of workshops on Literacy and Common Core Standards, RtI, and differentiation for the Illinois Principal’s Association. I am currently a doctoral student in the Literacy, Language, and Culture program at University of Illinois at Chicago.
I’ll be happy to provide contact information for current and past clients.