Literacy Now

by Regie Routman

None of us perform or learn well in a culture where fear trumps joy and mistrust prevents risk taking. Yet, strict accountability measures for teachers and principals are making our educational climate one of increasing apprehension and distrust. Fueled by a belief that teachers aren’t competent enough, rigorous and scientific evaluation systems are being touted as the route to more effective teaching and higher student achievement. Teachers are increasingly being evaluated under tougher, more complicated guidelines with an overreliance on test data to measure student growth. While principals may gain useful data with the new systems, the cost is high. The additional evaluation pressures on teachers and principals are leading to increased job loads and unhealthy, intimidating school cultures that are driving competent educators away from the profession. 

Celebrating a student’s writing on
making the world a better place


During an instructional walk, celebrating 
fifth-grade teacher Laurie Espenel as an
excellent teacher of writing

Let’s imagine another scenario and mind set. Instead of beginning with required evaluations, official observations, and worry about meeting the new Common Core State Standards, we begin with celebration and what’s going well—noticing and commenting on the principal’s, teacher’s, and student’s strengths. Starting with genuine celebration is a necessity for creating a school culture where raising and sustaining student achievement is possible. Teachers, principals, and students need to feel they belong to a collaborative community where their unique talents are recognized and appreciated. In my forty-five years of teaching, coaching, and leading, I have never seen increased and sustained literacy achievement without a collaborative, knowledgeable, and trusting school–wide culture.

What Real Celebration Is

Noticing and celebrating what students and teachers are doing well is not a frill or mere paying of compliments. It is honestly and specifically acknowledging a positive behavior, action, or learning activity. It requires re-visioning what we see, say, and do when we walk into teachers’ classrooms. It is how we must begin every professional development encounter and meeting, by celebrating something—a task, part of a lesson, work sample—that a teacher or student has tried, accomplished, risked, or succeeded at. It is only when we feel valued that we are open to suggestions and can willingly consider necessary changes. Starting with celebration makes it possible to build a climate of trust where the principal is welcome in the classroom every day, teachers share collective responsibility for all the school’s students, and learning from and with each other is part of the school’s culture.

I apply celebration to all the work I do in schools, and it is the first step for raising expectations for what’s possible. For the past fifteen years, I have been working in diverse schools and classrooms in the United States and Canada. Using a weeklong residency model where I gradually release instructional responsibility to teachers, the principal, and the students, each morning teachers at and across grade levels are released to observe me teach reading and/or writing to the same class of primary students and to a separate class of intermediate students.

I developed this professional development model when I realized teachers and administrators needed to see “What does it look like and sound like to teach reading and writing effectively?” and “What does it look like and sound like to celebrate a teacher’s efforts and a struggling child’s learning?” Teachers and the principal observe the impact of genuinely celebrating each child as a writer and reader and each teacher as a professional. After each lesson, we meet as a whole group to debrief, and our professional literacy conversations extend throughout the day and week.

Still smiling after a long day: Teachers at our February 2013 writing residency in Winnipeg, Canada

Instructional Walks

A crucial part of the residency work is ensuring that the principal is a positive and strong instructional leader who knows literacy. Therefore, every afternoon, I demonstrate and coach the principal in what I call instructional walks. I enter each classroom with a mindset of what the teacher is doing well, whether it be some small aspect of the classroom environment, student engagement, level of questioning, or purposefulness of the work. I model the language and demeanor of what to say to the teacher and how to say it, what to look for in a highly functioning reading-writing classroom, and how to take specific but nonjudgmental notes that comment primarily on what the teacher is doing well while also noting particular concerns and school wide patterns of strengths and needs. Starting with what’s going well building-wide, we present our school wide observations, without blame, to the whole staff and jointly decide—considering all available sources of data—what our school wide focus needs to be.

The tone and purpose of these instructional walks is paramount. It is not a “gotcha” situation. Many teachers who are used to a walkthrough process that feels judgmental have told me how devalued they have previously felt from negative feedback or the lack of feedback and/or fearful about how the observational information might be used.

Our first purpose in the instructional walks is to build on teachers’ expertise and gain their trust; I find something to celebrate and honestly comment on it. It is likely that if students are doing something well, it is because of the teacher’s behaviors and actions. I never leave the classroom without speaking directly to the teacher about something positive I have noticed. There are several reasons for that decision. I believe it is disrespectful to come into a teacher’s classroom, take notes, and leave without giving positive feedback. Also, as with students, every time I am in a classroom is an opportunity to teach. Thirdly, I know from experience that giving positive but honest feedback builds a trust and gives dignity, energy, and encouragement to teachers. Someone has noticed what the particular teacher is doing well, and that genuine respect can be transforming.

Transformative Feedback

A few years ago, on an instructional walk, I celebrated a teacher for her demonstration writing, which was highly visible on a chart stand in her classroom. Clearly, she had been attending to the morning’s demonstration on writing for an authentic audience and purpose and was following our recommendation of “try it, apply it.” Her writing, where
she thought aloud in front of her students as she wrote, was full of vivid language, cross-outs, and additions that showed rethinking and revisions, and a compelling lead and satisfying conclusion. Her first response when I commented specifically on all she had done well was, “This isn’t very good.” But once convinced that I was sincere, she burst into a big grin. Sensing I had her confidence, I asked, “Would you like any suggestions?” She was hungry to know how she could improve her writing and the students’, and we engaged in a lively conversation.

In a follow-up residency a year after that instructional walk, the teacher confirmed that the positive, specific feedback she received that day was a life-changing turning point for her. Not only did she develop into an excellent teacher of writing who is always striving to get better, she became a leader in the school change process. In fact, she moved from a teacher who had been viewed by some colleagues and administrators as difficult and a resister to one who is now seen as inspirational. She has become a positive team player who reaches out to colleagues to share her knowledge and to encourage and support them. She is a valued and trusted member of the learning community, and her transformation has impacted the entire staff.

Additionally, because of her close bond with her principal, which began through frequent instructional walks and the corresponding celebrations, she now welcomes her principal into her classroom as a trusted colleague and coach. Formal evaluation visits are separate, and because of the shared trust that has developed between the teacher and the principal, these evaluations are not seen as threatening or devaluing but, rather, as helpful.

Getting the Full Measure

You cannot get the full measure of a teacher through lesson plans, extensive checklists and rubrics, and time-consuming evaluations. In fact, such evaluation can be counterproductive. In focusing on checking off all the bits and pieces, you lose the essence of the individual you are observing. The whole truly is larger than the sum of its parts. The effectiveness of a teacher, like the effectiveness of an artist, musician, or any other professional, cannot be quantified through a formula or composite of complex, evaluative measures. Whatever evaluation process we eventually wind up with, it must be respectful to the teacher, principal, and student and worthy of the time and effort that process takes. And it must begin with celebration!

Regie Routman is a national teacher and author whose current work involves weeklong school residencies where she demonstrates effective literacy teaching in diverse classrooms. Her latest book is Literacy and Learning Lessons from a Longtime Teacher (International Reading Association, 2012). Visit her website at www.regieroutman.org for more information on her PD offerings, books and resources, and blog. She can be reached at regieroutman@gmail.com.

This article was published in the June/July 2013 issue of Reading Today. IRA members can read the interactive digital version of the magazine here. Nonmembers: join today!

by Clarisse Olivieri de Lima

As the technology coordinator of a private K-12 school in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, I face lots of challenges every day, trying to find new and creative ways to use technology effectively to improve learning. However, there is a special issue related to students' literacy skills that worries me.

I have been noticing that the massive use of technology for the so-called digital natives is affecting the way students develop their composition tasks. It is common, for example, to hear students asking teachers, "Can I write this 'normally' or should I write it like an essay?" Interestingly, "normally" refers to their current "dialect" based on interactions through the Internet, where the use of acronyms and words such as blog, wiki, or chat is predominant.

A 2006 Pew Internet report titled "The Future of the Internet II" suggested that Internet use might create new dialects in the English language. But as I have observed, these changes in dialect seem to be happening in every language. It seems that the Internet and the use of new digital media is creating a whole new language to promote collaboration and communication. My fear is that this new internet-based-common-media-language may cause the disappearance of more formal written language, as I see happening on a daily basis in my students’ written work at school. These observations cause me to wonder: Where are we headed in thinking about the skillful use of written language? What is the future of literature and other narrative genres in an Internet-based world?

Intrigued by these questions, I am constantly looking for new ways to integrate technology into the curricula, especially into the language arts curriculum. One of the projects that I put together along with an interdisciplinary group of Portuguese science and arts teachers involved the creation of concrete poetry.

By definition, concrete poetry (or shape poetry or visual poetry) is poetry whose visual appearance matches the topic of the poem. The words form shapes, which illustrate the poem’s subject as a picture, as well as through the literal meaning of the selected words. And concrete poems don’t have to rhyme! You can learn more from Poetry4kids.com’s How to Write Concrete Poetry.

In my school, 6th graders crafted concrete poetry examples like the ones shown below as part of a unit about deforestation and its consequences for people. Using a presentation program, students wrote their poems using clear descriptive language and shaped their sentences in the format of pictures related to the theme (respectively a tree and an axe). They chose the size and colors of the words, and the best disposition for the elements in the poetry. Then they animated each section, which added a rhythmic element to their poem.

During the project, students were able to hone a variety of literacy and language skills such as synthesis, analysis, clarity, and creativity while they developed new conceptual ideas about deforestation in their writing in a very enriching way. 

To get you thinking about the possibilities with your own students, you might enjoy exploring examples of student-created concrete poetry compiled at Poetry Soup, or you might be inspired by extension activities such as the Wild About Woods Concrete Poetry website or those from IRA’s ReadWriteThink website, including an Interactive Theme Poem Generator for younger students or Discovering Poetic Form and Structure Using Concrete Poems for older students.

In summary, I believe this type of concrete poetry project provides a model for teachers who wish to improve students’ written language usage while also using technology to engage them in animating the words and sentences in order to provide movement to their poetry. In addition, this form of writing offers a creative outlet for students to communicate their thoughts, stimulate their autonomy, and promote the skillful use of narrative language.

Clarisse Olivieri de Lima is the Technology Coordinator of a private K-12 school in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The arts are integral to our daily lives and culture. We’re surrounded by colors and designs, listen to music on the radio, and tap our feet or move to the rhythms we hear. The meanings communicated in different art forms, such as music, dance, paintings, written language, or sculpture, are unique. The meanings expressed in a piece of music, for example, do not have equivalent meanings in drama and the meanings expressed in dance cannot be duplicated in the same way in a painting. Sometimes, though, the importance and relevance of the arts are minimized and not appreciated. In this week’s book review column, members of the International Reading Association's Children’s Literature and Reading Special Interest Group highlight the role the arts play in our lives and also hope to spark the imagination of readers to consider and try other varied ways to share meaning.

For classroom ideas see ReadWriteThink.org's lesson ideas featuring the arts.

GRADES K-3

Daywalt, Drew. (2013). The day the crayons quit. Illus. by Oliver Jeffers. New York: Philomel Books.

When Duncan goes to take his box of crayons out of his desk, he finds a stack of letters with his name on them. The twelve letters were written by his crayons, each detailing a complaint or demand. Red, for example, feels it works too hard, especially on holidays. Purple likes to be neat and wants Duncan to color in the lines. Beige is proud of itself and doesn’t like being second place to Brown. Gray is tired of coloring big animals. And Yellow and Orange are involved in a dispute over the color of the sun. Duncan finds a creative way to color and make his crayons happy at the same time. Jeffers’s colorful and playful drawings make the personalities of the crayons come to life. This is a fun book about color that is sure to spark the imagination of young readers.

- Prisca Martens, Towson University, Towson, Maryland

Kulling, Monica. (2013). Lumpito and the painter from Spain. Illus. by Dean Griffiths. Toronto, Ontario: Pajama Press. 

Inspired by a true story, Monica Kulling tells the tale of Lump, a dachshund who lived in Rome with David, a photographer. Lump’s life was not easy because of David’s other pet Big Dog who continually annoyed Lump. One day David went on a journey to visit Pablo Picasso in France and took Lump with him. Lumpito, as Picasso called him, loved the villa, surrounding grounds, and Picasso himself, and Picasso loved Lumpito, even when he destroyed a paper rabbit. And while Picasso had another dog and a goat, the three animals were instant friends. Seeing how happy Lumpito and Picasso were together, David decided to leave Lumpito there since he traveled a lot and Big Dog was not kind to Lumpito. Lumpito can be found in several of Picasso’s works. Griffith’s beautiful watercolors add to the richness and beauty of this tender and delightful story.

- Prisca Martens, Towson University, Towson, Maryland

Trice, Linda. (2013). Kenya’s song. Illus. by Pamela Johnson. Watertown, MA: Charlesbridge Publishing.
 
In this follow-up book to Kenya’s Word (2006) Kenya is faced with a homework assignment to identify and bring her favorite song to school to share with her class. Kenya’s mother and sister suggest their favorite song and her father plays other possibilities on the piano, but none of these are quite right. The next day Kenya accompanies her father to the Caribbean Cultural Center where she experiences music from Cuba, Trinidad, the Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico. On her walk home with her father, listening to the variety of sounds around her, Kenya is inspired to create, with her father’s help, her favorite song:

English, French, Spanish, too —
Music’s how I speak to you!
Doesn’t matter where you’re from —
Just sing your song and play your drum!

Kenya’s Song is a heart-warming story that celebrates the diverse music found in different cultures.

- Prisca Martens, Towson University, Towson, Maryland

Tullet, Herve. (2013). I am Blop! New York: Phaidon Press.

This light-hearted, fun book is the latest imaginative creation from French artist Herve Tullet, author/illustrator of Press Here (2011). Blop is a shape, similar to a butterfuly or flower, that comes in a wide variety of colors, sizes, and textures. In addition to the diversity possibilities for appearance, Blops do a range of things, including grow and learn, and they live in such places as families, the sky, museums, the countryside, and cities. This book will have readers discovering Blops around them and imagining what else Blops can be and do. The book itself is an odd rectangular-type shape which adds to the creativity the book inspires. The final pages of the book include Blops that can be punched-out and a series of questions not in the book, such as “What do Blops eat?”, to spark readers imaginations.

- Prisca Martens, Towson University, Towson, Maryland

Verde, Susan. (2013). The museum. Illus. by Peter Reynolds. New York: Abrams Books for Young Readers.

In this delightful book readers visit an art museum with a young girl who describes what she sees and how she feels. The text begins with “When I see a work of art, something happens in my heart” and with that the girl whirls and twirls through the museum galleries. As she views the various works, her feelings and emotions in response range from sadness to  hunger to joy to fear to happiness. The girl stops short, though, when she comes upon a large blank canvas and wonders what it means. When she realizes the canvas is hers to fill, she is overjoyed and leaves the museum knowing, “[The museum’s] rhythm exists in all I see. The museum lives inside of me.”  Reynold’s pen-and-ink drawings with some color added bring Verde’s rhymed text to life. The front end-papers show Reynold’s renderings of various works of art and the back end-papers are blank canvases to inspire readers’ creativity.

- Prisca Martens, Towson University, Towson, Maryland

GRADES 4-6

Bryant, Jen. (2013). A splash of red: The life and art of Horace Pippin. Illus. by Melissa Sweet. New York: Knopf Books.

A Splash of Red documents the life and art of Horace Pippin (1888-1946), a self-taught African-American artist who “couldn’t stop drawing.” Jen Bryant beautifully tells Pippin’s story, including his passion for art that began at a young age, how he won his first set of art supplies through a magazine drawing contest, and how he quit school in eighth grade to work when his father left his family. She also shares how an injury while Pippin served in the Army during World War I threatened to end his ability to draw, but he found a way to continue his art. A United States map on the back end-papers indicates the major museums displaying Pippin’s work. Melissa Sweet’s mixed-media illustrations are stunning and include quotes that bring Pippin’s own voice into the telling of his story. The back matter also includes additional biographical information on Pippin and author and illustrator notes.

- Prisca Martens, Towson University, Towson, Maryland

Ko, Alex. (2013). Alex Ko: From Iowa to Broadway, my Billy Elliot story. New York: Harper Collins.
 
In this inspiring autobiography Alex Ko details his life from his early years in Iowa to his starring role in Billy Elliot: The Musical on Broadway in New York. Ko describes his passion for gymnastics and dance/ballet even as a young child and how, with the support of his family, he was able to take lessons and enter competitions. His father’s death devastated Ko, but he worked through his sorrow and pain and later financial difficulties. At age 13, he got to Broadway and became the first replacement for one of the original the actors playing the role of Billy. Ko describes the pressures he faced, including practices and classes, but the joy and excitement he ultimately experienced with his first Broadway performance. Throughout the book Ko highlights the love and dedication of his family and emphasizes their critical role in his success. Ko’s commitment, strong faith, captivating personality come through clearly in the book, making this a compelling read. A photo album at the end of the book provides pictures of Ko and his family during his growing-up years.

- Prisca Martens, Towson University, Towson, Maryland

Maddox, Jake, & McDonald, Leigh. (2013). Dance team dilemma. Illus. by Katie Wood. North Mankato, MN: Stone Arch Books.

Hannah and Caitlin are excited to audition for the junior high dance squad, and they immediately begin practicing routines for their try-outs. Caitlin catches on easily while Hannah struggles to keep up, but they both make the team. After the first practice Hannah is concerned that she’s not as good as the other dancers and decides to have extra practices at home to improve her skills. Caitlin, however, wants to do other things, like go to the movies and the mall and spend time with Connor, the boy she likes. When Hannah has to choose between going with Caitlin to Connor’s house and practicing for her try-out for a solo, she decides to stay home and practice. Hannah lands one of the solos, and Caitlin doesn’t. Their friendship is strained at first, but in the end Hannah is excited to have her friend back and to dance a solo in the upcoming dance competition. This charming story focuses on balancing friendships and ambition and on the rewards of determination and hard work. The back matter includes a glossary, discussion questions, writing prompts, and information on different forms of dance.

- Prisca Martens, Towson University, Towson, Maryland

GRADES 7-12

Beram, Nell, & Boriss-Krimsky, Carolyn. (2013). Yoko Ono: Collector of Skies by New York: Amulet Books.

Written in honor of Yoko Ono’s 80th birthday, this thoughtful biography chronicles her complex life from her birth to today. The chapters describe Ono’s privileged but troubled life as the child of wealthy parents in Japan, her fear and struggles during World War II, her marriage against her parents’ wishes, her difficult life in New York, her third marriage to John Lennon, her children, and her activities and exhibitions after Lennon’s death. Ono is portrayed as a creative, intelligent, strong-willed, independent woman whose unique forms of visual art, writing, music, and performance works have contributed much to our cultural history. Rich with photographs of Ono’s family and art and interesting details, the book offers an intriguing glimpse into the life of a well-known artist. A timeline of Ono’s life, detailed bibliography, and index are included in the back matter.

- Prisca Martens, Towson University, Towson, Maryland

These reviews are submitted by members of the International Reading Association's Children's Literature and Reading Special Interest Group (CL/R SIG) and are published weekly on Reading Today Online. The International Reading Association partners with the National Council of Teachers of English and Verizon Thinkfinity to produce ReadWriteThink.org, a website devoted to providing literacy instruction and interactive resources for grades K–12.

by Julie Coiro

Recently, I’ve been thinking a lot about the Common Core Standards and the implications of these standards for how we might use technology to promote effective teaching, deep learning, and critical thinking. While exploring online resources last month, I came across an amazingly thoughtful blog, created by Dr. Jackie Gerstein, called User Generated Education. Jackie is a faculty member at Boise State University where she focuses on Online Learning in Teacher Education. Currently, Jackie’s blog is ranked number 49 on the Teach 100 list of top educational blogs around the world, and you will quickly see why when you stop to peruse any of the ponderings she has crafted monthly since December 2009. Four of her posts especially caught my attention.

In May 2013, Jackie articulately summed up the importance of what she refers to as, “The Other 21st Century Skills” or the skills and attributes she believes will serve learners of all ages in this era of learning. Beyond cognitive skills like critical evaluation and close reading, Gerstein adds to Tony Wagner’s seven survival skills for the 21st century with a set of personal attributes including grit, resilience, hope and optimism, vision, self-regulation, empathy, and global stewardship. Jackie’s summary artfully weaves images and relevant quotes about each of these attributes with brief lists of research-based guidelines and additional resources for teachers to help visualize the “soft skills” that are not explicitly mentioned in the Common Core Standards, but, in my mind, reflect the critical underpinnings of what learners (adults and children) need to be successful in college and into their careers. Positive feedback from readers encouraged Jackie to provide more in-depth discussions of each disposition in separate posts; thus far, she has more deeply explored ideas related to resilience and empathy and global stewardship.

A second post that impressed me was Jackie’s concrete examples of Technology Enhanced Celebrations of Learning. After outlining an open-ended assignment she gives her college students to provide them with multiple choices in ways to demonstrate their insights gleaned over the semester, she describes additional ways that technology can be used to further differentiate instruction and assessment based on content, interest, and ability. Jackie gives her students choices to create technology-enhanced products of their learning and the results are often both creative and compelling.

A third post from June 2011, The Flipped Classroom Model: A Full Picture, provides both a useful overview of the Flipped Classroom Concept and a series of suggestions to most effectively use video lectures and vodcasts within a larger framework of meaningful learning activities. This powerful sequence of activities, based on Experiential Learning Cycles and the 4MAT Cycle of Instruction, includes opportunities for experiential engagement, concept exploration, meaning making, and demonstration and application. As Jackie suggests, the practice of using Flipped Classroom videos is most successful when used as “part of a larger picture of teaching and learning.” Jackie also provides links to a Slideshare version of how to apply the Flipped Classroom Model in higher education and a workshop version that focuses on how to use authentic and experiential learning activities during classroom time.

Finally, one of the reasons I am most impressed by Jackie’s blog is her message that amidst the glitz and wonder of learning with technology, what’s most important is the human and social side. Her post titled Beginning the School Year: It’s About Connections, Not Content, offer teachers several engaging team-building activities that can help begin the school year in ways that are more personalized and tailored to learner needs and interests. Each activity is designed to communicate to learners ideas such as, “You are important,” “You will be expected collaborate and actively engage in learning activities during class time,” and “You are the focus of the class, not me.”

These are just four of thirty-six posts that have caused me to think differently about learning in today’s classrooms. For anyone who is serious about promoting relevant learning experiences for your students with and without technology, I would highly recommend you add this blog to your summer reading list. And, if you are inspired, you might also enjoy exploring Jackie’s set of 39 Slideshare presentations on these topics and others including mobile learning, digital citizenship, and online communities.

Enjoy August and return to your classrooms invigorated with new energy and new ideas!

Julie Coiro is Associate Professor in the School of Education at The University of Rhode Island and Chair of IRA’s TILE-SIG. You can reach Julie at jcoiro@snet.net or learn more about her work at http://uri.academia.edu/JulieCoiro.

August's International Reading Association Member of the Month is Kimberly Kimbell-Lopez, a 21-year IRA member who also belongs to the Professors of Reading Teacher Educators Special Interest Group (PRTE) and the Technology in Literacy Education Special Interest Group (TILE-SIG). After years as a classroom teacher for both high school and elementary levels, she began a career as a college professor at Louisiana Tech. Her research has been published and she has presented at several conferences, often with Louisiana Tech colleague and IRA Past President Carrice Cummins. She shares her road to the doctoral degree and her passion for literacy education in this interview.

How did you begin your career, and what led you to your current position at Louisiana Tech University?

I received a Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education and a Master’s Degree in Special Education with an emphasis in Gifted Education, and I began my career teaching high school gifted students. I really wanted to work instead with elementary students, so I accepted a job to teach at Alief Independent School District in Houston, Texas. During my time in Alief, I taught 2nd grade, multiage 4th/5th, was a Language Arts Specialist, then also served as a grade level specialist. One of my career goals was to get my doctorate degree, so I enrolled at the University of Houston and focused on curriculum and instruction with an emphasis in reading/language arts. Once I finished my degree, I was offered a job at Louisiana Tech University. One of my passions has always been working with teachers to develop and implement curriculum and working in higher education has enabled me to do just that. 

What do you consider to be your proudest career moment?

Graduating with my doctoral degree is a memory I will always carry with me. Both of my daughters were born during the course of my program. When I finally graduated, Reghan was three years old and Kendall was about one year old. They were at my graduation ceremony with my husband along with all of my other family members.  I could never have finished the program without the help from my husband, his family, and my family. It was definitely a shared degree!

What's the most valuable advice you can give to someone entering the education field?

I tell the teachers, both preservice and inservice, that they must have a passion for teaching and learning. That passion for teaching and learning is what will sustain them throughout their teaching career. I truly believe that great teachers never stop learning, and great teachers never lose that passion for sharing what was learned with their students and other teachers.

How long have you been a member of the International Reading Association, and how has membership influenced your career?
I joined IRA when I was in my doctoral program, so this would be about 21 years. The influence that IRA has had on my career would be that I am able to keep current in the field through reading of the various journals as well as attending sessions at the annual convention. IRA also provides me with a way to network with other educators through SIGs and committee opportunities. I truly believe I would not be the teacher I am today without having access to the resources provided by IRA.

You're a member of IRA's PRTE Special Interest Group. How long have you been a member, and how has the experience been?

I have been a member of the PRTE SIG group for about four years. The PRTE session each year at IRA always features a guest speaker who shares their expertise, then we have break out sessions where we can listen to what other members are currently researching. This group has been a wonderful way to share ongoing research in the field.

Are you excited that the 2014 IRA Annual Conference will be in Louisiana this year, and do you plan to attend?

I will definitely be attending IRA’s conference in Louisiana this year. New Orleans is a fabulous city to visit—I always look forward to experiencing the culture, especially eating the food!

What do you like to do when you're not wearing your educator hat?

I am an avid reader—I rotate between professional reading and just good old leisure reading. I also love to work out—weight training and cardio! It is a great stress reliever.