Presenters
Meet Our Presenters and Keynote Speakers
Motivate and energize your staff with powerful presentations from educational experts.
Our nationally-recognized group of well-known authors combine research with practical guides every teacher can use.
Alan Becker
Gregory Alan Becker Jr. currently serves as an Academic Officer with Teacher Created Materials, specializing in best practices for curriculum and instruction. In this position, he provides professional development and training in the content areas of math, ELA, and social studies using TCM curriculum materials and Shell Education professional resources for school districts, teachers, and educational trainers.
Prior to his work as an Academic Officer, Mr. Becker served as a District Elementary Education Specialist with Pitt County Schools in Greenville, North Carolina.
Mr. Becker received his Bachelors of Science in Elementary Education with a concentration in Early Childhood Literacy Foundations from Lees McRae University in Banner Elk, North Carolina.
Allison Roeser
Allison Roeser, Master of Health Science (MHS) and Professional Certified Coach (PCC), is an SEL consultant and author for Teacher Created Materials (TCM). As an avid learner of mindfulness practices, Allison has seen firsthand the value of integrating self-awareness into professional and personal development.
She has almost two decades of experience working with leaders in education, child welfare, and social change. With a Masters in Health Science from Johns Hopkins University, Allison’s thesis focused on increasing effective communication for early childhood educators in disadvantaged districts.
Allison is currently the lead career success coach at SV Academy (voted one of the top education start-ups in 2020 by Fast Company) in addition to leading workshops and training courses for schools and Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA), a program that advocates for foster care youth in San Francisco.
Almitra L. Berry, Ed.D.
Almitra L. Berry, Ed.D. is the CEO, founder, and principal consultant of ALBerry Consulting, Incorporated. She is a nationally recognized speaker, author, and consultant on the topic of culturally and linguistically diverse learners in America’s K12 education system. Her research focuses on equity and academic achievement in majority-of-color, low-wealth, large, urban school districts.
Dr. Berry is the author of the book Effecting Change which addresses the educational needs for Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Learners focusing heavily on provision gaps, equity, and addressing related challenges during the coronavirus pandemic. Look for the second edition this summer from TCM!
She is a graduate of the University of California, Davis holding a B.A. in political science/public administration. She holds a M.Ed. in curriculum and instruction, and an Ed.D. in educational leadership with a specialization in curriculum and instruction. She has held multiple credentials including a California reading endorsement, language development specialist (LDS), and bilingual/cross-cultural language acquisition and development (CLAD/BCLAD) for Spanish language instruction.
Amy Cranston Ed.D.
Amy Cranston has enjoyed a 20-year career in education, encompassing a wide range of experiences serving K–12 students and educators. As a teacher, school-site administrator, and educational thought leader at the county and state levels, Dr. Cranston has dedicated her career to serving marginalized and vulnerable student populations.
Her passion for reaching students who are at risk of disengaging and dropping out of school drives her to address the needs of the whole child and to level the playing field through social and emotional learning (SEL). Dr. Cranston has conducted extensive research in the field of SEL, and she has served on multiple SEL policy committees at local, state, and national levels. She advocates for making SEL a priority in K–12 education as a means of providing students with the skills needed to navigate successfully into adulthood, thereby paving the way for all children to become happy, healthy, well-adjusted adults and actively engaged citizens.
Dr. Cranston currently serves as the executive director of SEL4CA and as the cofounder of the nonprofit organization Playing Field Foundation, which is dedicated to educational equity through SEL. In 2019, Shell Education released Dr. Cranston's supporting book entitled Creating Social and Emotional Learning Environments.
Andy Mc Carty M.A.
Andrew McCarty currently holds the position of dean of students at North High School in Torrance, California, where he oversees the attendance and discipline of all students. He works with staff to integrate RTI processes school wide to create a safe campus.
Andy works with students to inspire and nurture behavior changes that will help them make better choices, and guides families and community members in improving student attendance. Prior to becoming dean of students, Andy worked as an intervention coordinator and a high school English language arts and math teacher.
Antonio Sacre
Antonio Sacre, born in Boston to a Cuban father and Irish-American mother, is an internationally touring bilingual storyteller, author, and solo performance artist, based in Los Angeles. He earned a BA in English from Boston College and an MA in Theater Arts from Northwestern University.
In addition to his international tours, Mr. Sacre has led many teacher in-services and district-wide trainings sharing his knowledge of drama, storytelling, and writing in student workshops across the country. Committed to nurturing, teaching, and performing for children of all ages, Antonio is currently touring Los Angeles public schools and communities, where he does Storytelling Assemblies, Family Literacy Nights, and Writing Workshops, to help children discover and embrace their own multicultural backgrounds. When he is not touring, he works as storyteller-in-residence at the UCLA Lab School (formerly UES) on the UCLA campus in Westwood, CA.
Bonnie Nizamis M.S.Ed.
Known for her high energy, creativity, and ability to bring a fresh approach to teaching and learning, Bonnie Nizamis is an educational consultant for Teacher Created Materials.
Since 2007, Bonnie has provided professional development and training on TCM’s curriculum resources and Shell Education professional resources to teachers across the country in all grade levels and all subject areas. Bonnie also provides continuing support through coaching, encouraging teachers to try new approaches and differentiate their instruction for the individual students they serve.
In addition to her work with TCM, she has presented at conferences and provided training around the globe in such areas as: leadership, customer service, and communications. Bonnie is a New York State certified teacher.
Bonnie J. Williams-Farrier Ph.D.
Bonnie Williams-Farrier is an assistant professor of English at California State University, Fullerton. She has been working for CSUF for 5 years and she currently teaches first year writing undergraduate courses, Advanced College Writing courses, graduate level courses on Literacy Studies and an English Language in America course for future teachers.
Her commitment to education is evident in her additional positions as incoming Writing Center Director, English 101 Coordinator, Professional Certificate in Teaching and Writing Program Coordinator, chair of the Scholarship and Awards Committee for her department, as well as being a member of the Composition Committee.
Ms. Williams-Farrier also currently serves as an education consultant for Teacher Created Materials.
Carmen Zuñiga Dunlap Ph.D.
Carmen Zuñiga Dunlap, Ph.D.,is a professor in the Department of Elementary and Bilingual Education at California State University, Fullerton, where she also served as the founding Associate Dean of the College of Education.
Her teaching and research interests focus on literacy and second language development. Dr. Dunlap assisted in developing and establishing the multilingual-multicultural K–6 school. She has worked as a bilingual teacher in Illinois and Arizona and has taught English learners in Brazil, Mexico, and the West Indies.
Her publications have appeared in a variety of professional education journals.
Carolyn, Harper, M.A.Ed.NBCT.
Carolyn Harper's educational career has spanned decades as a teacher, district leader, Director of Instructional Support, and national presenter. She is an experienced Instructional Coach having worked with teachers and school leaders all over the country. Ms. Harper is a passionate educator dedicated to inspiring teachers to continue life-long learning. Ms. Harper currently serves as an education consultant with Teacher Created Materials, specializing in social studies, mathematics, differentiation, classroom management, and new teacher support.
Carrie Eicher M.A.Ed
Carrie Eicher is currently serving as an Academic Officer for Teacher Created Materials. In her role, she provides professional development and training on TCM curriculum materials and Shell Education professional resources for school districts, teachers, and educational trainers.
Prior to joining TCM, Carrie worked with Dr. Sharroky Hollie as a Consultant and Coach with the Center for Culturally and Linguistically Responsive Teaching and Learning. Carrie started her career in education as a lower elementary teacher, then an instructional coach, the Dean of Academics and Instruction, and finally an assistant principal.
Cathy Collier
Cathy Collier has been an educator for more than 30 years, with a variety of roles, most notedly as a kindergarten teacher and reading specialist for K-2 Title 1 and non-Title 1 schools with Chesapeake Public Schools. In the role of reading specialist, Cathy was responsible for data collection, interventions, reporting, and professional development throughout her school site and her district where she also worked with curriculum development. Cathy’s passion is curriculum and learning practices within the early childhood classroom and she has channeled that passion into her new Shell Education professional resource, The Road to Independent Reading and Writing.
Cathy has spoken at numerous state and national conferences and is a member of several leading literacy associations, including the Virginia State Literacy Association for the last 20 years where she served as Conference Chair/Vice-President, and President, and being elected to the International Literacy Association Board of Directors in 2015 where she served for three years, and was a member of the Global Literacy Committee which focused on literacy opportunities for children worldwide. Cathy has received numerous accolades for her work, most recently as a Darden Fellow at Old Dominion University (her alma mater) for her contributions to literacy.
Chris Shore M.A.Ed.
Chris Shore currently serves as the Coordinator of Curriculum & Instruction for Murrieta Valley Unified School District. Prior to holding this position, Mr. Shore served as a math coach for Temecula Valley Unified School District in California.
Mr. Shore is also the founder and editor in chief of The Math Projects Journal where he writes lessons for secondary math teachers and provides professional development. Mr. Shore has received several awards during his career, including the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching, and Outstanding Teacher Award for Riverside County in 2000. Finally in 2018, in partnership with Shell Education, Chris published Clothesline Math: The Master Number Sense Maker.
Claudia Bermúdez Ph.D.
Claudia Bermúdez is currently a post-doctoral fellow at Claremont Graduate University conducting research on highly effective teachers of traditionally underserved populations. As an education consultant for TCM, Claudia focuses on long-term English learners, ELD, cross-curricular education, and academic English.
Dr. Bermúdez has 20 years of experience in the field of education. She held various positions in the Los Angeles Unified School District including teacher, literacy coach, bilingual coordinator, district EL expert, assistant principal, and principal. Most recently, Claudia was principal of a California distinguished elementary school for four years.
Claudia Rodriguez M.S.
Claudia Rodriguez is an education consultant with extensive experience training on best educational practices, ESL/bilingual instructional practices, and classroom management.
Claudia was previously a dual language strategist, a bilingual learning team coach, a bilingual literacy strategist and a bilingual elementary teacher.
Danny Brassell Ph.D.
Dr. Brassell is an education consultant, where he motivates audiences to create cultures that stimulate innovation through widespread reading. His topics range from literacy to technology. Danny serves as chairperson of the board of directors for Book Ends.
Dr. Brassell is a former teacher who has worked with students ranging from preschoolers to rocket scientists. In addition to publishing numerous books and 40 articles for academic journals, magazines, newspapers, book chapters, and textbooks; Dr. Brassell has published several professional resources for TCM including The Reading Makeover, Bringing Joy Back Into the Classroom, and A Baker's Dozen: Lessons Learned from the Teaching Trenches. In 2003, he founded the Lazy Readers’ Book Club.
Darielle Blevins M.Ed.
Darielle Blevins currently serves as a Teaching Associate at San Diego State University where she develops curriculum and teaches undergraduate Liberal Studies students to understand the impact of culture and community on the multiple facets of human development.
In addition to her position at SDSU, Ms. Blevins also serves as an Instructor of Child and Family Development at Miracosta College, a facilitator at the College of Continuing Education Sacramento State, San Diego, and as a presenter at multiple national conferences where she has received several awards and finalist recognition.
Finally, Ms. Blevins is published writer and serves as an Education Consultant for TCM where she provides professional development and training on TCM’s curriculum materials and Shell Education professional resources for school districts, teachers, and educational trainers.
Donna Boucher
Donna Boucher has been an educator for more than 20 years, with 16 years of elementary classroom experience. As a campus-based mathematics instructional coach, she found a passion for early numeracy and worked with K–2 teachers to take the mystery out of teaching math.
Donna now serves as a K–5 math interventionist, putting theory into practice on a daily basis. She has spoken at numerous state and national conferences, and through her blog, Math Coach’s Corner, she is able to share her love for math with a worldwide audience.
Donna co-authored the classroom resource Guided Math Workstations by Shell Education, a division of Teacher Created Materials.
Eric LeMoine M.Ed.
Eric LeMoine is an Innovation Strategist for the Beaverton School District in Oregon. A hands-on educator for almost 30 years in Title I schools, Eric is passionate about involving students and their families in the instructional cycle. He's had the opportunity to work with educators in all corners of the globe, including Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Lebanon, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates.
Eric also serves as an education consultant for Teacher Created Materials, where he provides professional development and coaching for TCM’s curriculum materials and Shell Education professional resources for school districts, instructional leads, and teachers across the country. Eric’s diverse instructional background allows him the expertise to train educators that span the education spectrum, including ESL specialists, reading specialists, social studies teachers, science teachers, and technology leads, just to name a few.
During Eric’s tenure as an educator, he has worked as an elementary classroom teacher, a curriculum specialist, and has spent seven years in a district-level position supporting K‐12 curriculum initiatives.
Erica Bowers Ed.D.
Erica Bowers, Associate Professor at the College of Education at California State University, Fullerton, is the director of the Hazel Miller Croy Reading Center and teaches graduate courses. These graduate courses include clinical courses and leadership/professional development courses in reading.
She has published articles on academic English, English language learners, and motivation. Her main areas of research are English language learners and writing. Erica co-authored the Shell Education professional resource, Building Academic Language through Content-Area Text: Strategies to Support English Language Learners.
Erick Herrmann M.A.
Erick Herrmann is an independent education consultant for Teacher Created Materials and the author of the Shell Education book Effective Strategies for Integrating Social Emotional Learning in Your Classroom.
Erick has a high degree of expertise in social emotional learning as well as sheltered instruction, meeting the educational needs of multilingual learners, and integrating academic language and literacy instruction into the content areas at all grade levels. He has taught Spanish at the high school level, Spanish literacy and English Language Development at the elementary level and served as a title VII grant coordinator and teacher on special assignment (TOSA).
Eugenia Mora-Flores Ed.D.
Eugenia Mora-Flores is a professor in the Rossier School of Education at the University of Southern California (USC). She teaches courses on first and second language acquisition, Latino culture, and in literacy development for elementary and secondary students. Her research interests include studies on effective practices in developing the language and literacy skills of English Learners in grades Pre-K-12.
She has written 9 books in the area of literacy and academic language development (ALD) for English learners. Eugenia further works as a consultant for a variety of elementary, middle and high schools across the country in the areas of English Language Development (ELD), ALD and writing instruction. Published by Shell Education, she wrote Connecting Content and Language for English Learners,and co-authored Science for English Language Learners: Developing Academic Language through Inquiry Based Science and four publications on Strategies for Connecting Content and Language for English Learners across the curriculum.
Fred Freking, Ph.D.
Dr. Frederick W. Freking is a Professor of Clinical Education at the USC Rossier School of Education. Dr. Freking began his career in Science Education as a Biology Major at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He earned his teaching credential at Azusa Pacific University and taught Biology and Human Anatomy and Physiology at Covina High School.
His desire to learn science at a deeper level led him to doctoral studies in neuroscience at UCLA. For the past twenty years, Freking has utilized his science teaching and science research experiences to prepare future secondary science teachers.
During the past ten years at USC, Dr. Freking has also prepared elementary teachers to implement NGSS-aligned curriculum using the 5E model. In collaboration with colleagues at the USC Rossier School of Education and the Mattel Children’s Foundation, Freking helped develop and implement Speedomety, which provides teachers and their students with meaningful opportunities to explore their scientific ideas. Dr. Freking has extensive experience preparing science teachers to use culturally relevant pedagogy, inquiry teaching practices and literacy strategies to meet the needs of all students.
Heather Brooke M.A.
Heather Brooke, Director of Professional Learning at Teacher Created Materials, provides professional development and training on TCM curriculum materials and Shell Education professional resources for school districts, teachers, and educational trainers.
In particular, Ms. Brooke has worked extensively with the Exploring Social Studies state-specific series created for a multitude of different states across the country. Heather is directly involved with supporting state social studies adoptions, creating training materials, and conducting professional development trainings for educators of all grade levels.
Heather spent ten years in the classroom teaching all levels of secondary social science, including AP psychology, regular and sheltered ELL world history and U.S. history, and a reading & writing workshop class.
Dr. Ingrid Twyman
Dr. Ingrid Twyman is an education consultant for Teacher Created Materials and owner of TwyLight Solutions, LLC. Ingrid is extremely passionate about building teacher and leader capacity to enact culturally responsive-sustaining practices and create cultures of equity so that all students receive access to a high-quality education.
She is a former middle-school teacher, principal, instructional coach, and teacher residency director who partnered with Latino students and families in northeast Los Angeles for over 16 years. She holds an Ed. D. from the University of Southern California in Urban Educational Leadership with a focus on Teacher Education in Multicultural Societies.
Dr. Twyman currently designs and facilitates professional development modules and experiences on topics such as culturally responsive-sustaining classrooms, classroom management, multilingual instruction, and Social Emotional Learning and is an adjunct faculty member at the Alder Graduate School of Education.
Jared DuPree Ed.D.
Dr. Jared DuPree has been a high school principal in the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) since 2014. Dr. DuPree’s area of expertise is in the field of mathematics.
Previously, Jared was a high school mathematics teacher and mathematics coach for 12 years.
Jennifer Jump M.A.
Jennifer Jump is an Academic Officer for Teacher Created Materials. In this role, Ms. Jump provides professional development and training on TCM curriculum materials and Shell Education professional resources for districts, teachers, and educational trainers.
Jen is a passionate educator, who has spent fifteen years in various roles dedicated to student achievement. Before joining TCM she contributed curriculum and professional development support to the fastest growing urban school district, the public school system in Washington D.C. She led the curriculum work, providing teachers with organized, content-rich, text set curriculum for ELA in grades K-5.
She also provided professional learning for both large groups of teachers and individual teaching through coaching to improve the literacy outcomes in the district.
Jordana Benone M.Ed.
Jordana Benone has over 20 years of educational experience both in and out of the classroom and is currently a founding Humanities Coach at Portal High School in California where she teaches ELA and social studies. She is proud to be building a new kind of high school experience designed for future game-changers, entrepreneurs, and innovators. Through Portal Schools’ career-immersed education, students earn their high school diploma and college credit in tandem.
Jordana has been part of the Teacher Created Materials team since 2013 as an Academic Officer and Educational Consultant. She has developed national presentations and provided customized professional development for TCM curriculum resources and Shell Education professional resources that are inclusive of the most current educational research and best practices. She holds a Masters of Arts in Curriculum and Instruction from Lesley University, as well as Masters of Arts in Educational Administration from Concordia University.
Judith Goodman M.Ed.
Judith Goodman is currently an education consultant for Teacher Created Materials where she provides teachers and administrators nationally with high-quality professional development trainings, covering all content areas and grade spans.
Additionally, Ms. Goodman is the author of Strategies for Interactive Notetaking, published by Shell Education. Ms. Goodman has spent over 30 years in education, spending the majority of that time in the classroom teaching all levels of students across multiple content areas.
Karie Gladis M.S.Ed.
Karie Gladis is an independent academic officer for Teacher Created Materials who has extensive professional development training experience with administrators and teachers across all content areas.
Karie is the author and editor of several mathematics and language development resources and provides extensive professional development around the guided math framework of teaching mathematics. During the course of her teaching career, Ms. Gladis taught multiple subjects for 5th and 6th grade.
Karie has conducted various workshops at conferences and works closely with key stakeholders all over the United States to design and deliver customized professional development solutions.
Kim Carlton M.Ed.
Kim Carlton currently serves as an Academic Officer for Teacher Created Materials, where she works with teachers in a variety of areas including literacy and writing instruction to help teachers infuse reading and writing instruction into their daily instruction.
Ms.Carlton provides professional development and training on TCM curriculum materials, Shell Education professional resources, and best instructional practices for districts, teachers, and educational trainers. Ms.Carlton's extensive teaching background includes ten years as a classroom teacher, an instructional coach, a literacy coach, and a curriculum director.
She is a Diamond-Level Abydos Writing Trainer, the 2005 Secondary Teacher of the Year for her district, and contributed an article to Teacher Magazine.
Kimberly Saguilan, Ed.D.
Kimberly Saguilan currently serves as a K-8 Principal, Part-Time Instructor at the University of Southern California, and an educational consultant, whose focus is to empower students by honoring their funds of knowledge and build on their assets. As a consultant, much of her work corresponds with a systematic process to review student data to understand areas of need and to create professional development plans ensuring that data-driven decisions are made in support of student success.
In 2009, Dr. Saguilan received her Bachelor of Arts in Art History and Chicano Latino Studies from the University of California, Irvine. In 2010, she earned her Multiple Subject Teaching Credential and Master of Arts in Teaching from the University of Southern California. She passed the CPACE for Preliminary Administrative Services Credential in 2017, and in the following year went on to earn her Educational Doctorate in K-12 and Higher Education Leadership from the University of Southern California.
Kimberly Sinclair Ed.D.
Kimberly Sinclair is the district Dyslexia Program Director for Aldine Independent School District in Houston, Texas. Dr. Sinclair provides realistic research-based methods that are ready to implement in the classroom and strategies that will benefit ELL, dyslexic, bilingual, special education, and any student that is struggling academically.
Kimberly is a professional development trainer for Teacher Created Materials.
Kimberly Williams Ed.D.
Kimberly Williams is an education consultant and a university professor in the Department of Educational Studies.
Kimberly has over 20 years of experience in education where she served at the middle school level as a mathematics and science coordinator, dean of instruction, assistant principal, curriculum coach, and teacher.
Kris Hinrichsen M.A.T.
Kris Hinrichsen currently serves as an Open Option Classroom 1st and 2nd grade teacher at Chinook Elementary in the Anchorage School District in Alaska. Here, he also serves as the lead for the Social Emotional Learning team.
In the past 7 years as lead, he has created and delivered quarterly staff professional development on SEL teaching techniques. Furthermore, he served on a steering committee for SEL designated with the task of designing an implementation plan to have all schools in the district teaching social skills to students.
Mr. Hinrichsen contributed to the Shell Education release of Creating Social and Emotional Learning Environments by Dr. Amy Cranston and presented at the National ESSA Conference in 2019.
Kwame Alexander
Kwame Alexander is the bestselling author of The Crossover.
With 10+ years of experience conducting writing workshops in schools, Alexander shows how to shake up the “traditional” writing workshop and make writing fun again!
His contagious enthusiasm and love of teaching will motivate every student to write.
Laura Hancock Ph.D.
In addition to being a TCM Education Consultant, Dr. Laura Hancock has extensive experience in K-12 and post-secondary teaching, presenting, mentoring, and coaching within both low and high socioeconomic communities. She has also presented on the topics of vocabulary, comprehension, and reading intervention to diverse international educators from countries such as Puerto Rico, Saudi Arabia, Russia, and The Bahamas. Dr. Hancock earned her Ph.D. from Claremont Graduate University, California, in Education with an emphasis on Literacy and Social Justice.
LaVonna Roth M.S.Ed.
LaVonna Roth is an internationally known author, keynote speaker, and consultant. She presents very interactive and engaging seminars and has done so across three continents.
Ms. Roth is the author of the Shell Education book, Brain-Powered Strategies to Engage All Learners. Her passion is bridging neuroscience and education. Thousands of educators and students have benefited from her abundance of practical, applicable, and down-to-earth strategies for the most common and frustrating issues in education.
Lisa Callahan M.A.
Lisa Callahan, Education Consultant for Teacher Created Materials, provides professional development training for teachers across the country. Lisa has 20 years of experience in the educational field. She completed her years in public education as the Director of K–12 Literacy for Community Unit School District 200 in Wheaton, Illinois.
Prior to being an administrator, Ms. Callahan was a third grade teacher, Title I teacher, reading specialist, and curriculum leader and served on many school improvement committees.
Lisa Donvan Ph.D.
Lisa Donovan, Ph.D., is currently Associate Professor in the Fine and Performing Arts Department at the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts. Most recently she served as Associate Professor of Education and former director of the Creative Arts in Learning Division at Lesley University. A theater artist, educator, and researcher, she has taught internationally in Japan and Israel, and throughout the United States.
Her research interests include the impact of arts integration in education, and the role of the arts in developing a sense of voice and identity. Dr. Donovan has also co-authored the Shell Education professional resource Integrating the Arts Across the Content Areas as well as co-authoring and consulting in the Strategies to Integrate the Arts content-area specific series.
Lisa Wellborn
Lisa Wellborn is an education consultant.
She formerly served as the Elementary Social Studies Coordinator for Plano Independent School District in Texas.
Ms. Wellborn writes curriculum and presents for the law-related education department of the State Bar of Texas. Her expertise is the writing and implementation of curriculum and presenting professional development on best instructional practices and gifted and talented strategies. Prior, Ms. Wellborn taught elementary grades and was a gifted specialist, instructional specialist, and coach.
Lori Oczkus M.A.
Lori Oczkus, is an accomplished educator, keynote speaker, and author. She has inspired many teachers through her motivating workshops and best-selling books. Lori has authored several books including Just the Facts: Close Reading and Comprehension of Informational Text and Close Reading with Paired Texts, published by Shell Education.
Ms. Oczkus is an experienced bilingual elementary teacher, reading intervention specialist, staff developer, and literacy coach. She spends time in classrooms and helps teachers refine their reading instruction. Lori has been inducted in the California Reading Association Hall of Fame for her many contributions to the field of reading.
Marc Pioch M.A.Ed.
Marc Pioch has served in the education field for the past 20 years. Currently, Marc is the Program Leader for DaVinci Extension in Hawthorne, California, where he works to provide students with their college freshman general education courses and on-the-job work experience.
In addition to those duties, Marc supports DaVinci Extension students by teaching a hybrid high school model where students receive their high school diploma as well as a college degree. Additionally, Marc was an editor and contributing author to the second edition of Teaching Social Studies Todayfor Shell Education, a division of TCM. Marc is also an education consultant for TCM, where he provides professional development and training on TCM curriculum materials and Shell Education professional resources for school districts, teachers, and educational trainers across the content areas and grade levels.
Marva Cappello Ph.D.
Marva Cappello currently serves as a tenured and full professor of teacher education at San Diego State University in California, where she teaches credential, masters, and doctoral level courses in literacy and education research methods.
Dr. Cappello is also the graduate advisor for all of the university reading programs including the Reading and Literacy Added Authorization, Reading and Literacy Leadership Credential, and M.A. programs. Marva is the Director of the Center for Visual Literacies, which focuses on improving student learning through visually integrated teaching practices and exploring the potential of visuals as data and for data analysis in qualitative inquiry.
Dr. Cappello is also co-author of the Shell Education professional resource, Get the Picture: Visual Literacy in Content-Area Instruction.
Mary Buck M.Ed.
Mary Buck, Education Consultant for Teacher Created Materials, provides job-embedded professional development, modeling, and consulting for teachers, school administrators, and district personnel.
She has taught mathematics in the middle grades and high school, served as a curriculum support specialist in the Office of Curriculum and Instruction's Division of Mathematics, and was a middle school assistant principal. Mary has authored a STEM Project and mathematical textbook, and was the editor for the Mathematics Experience.
Mary Jo Fresch Ph.D.
Dr. Mary Jo Fresch is professor emeritus from the Department of Teaching and Learning at The Ohio State University and holds the title of University Academy Professor. Her current responsibilities include overseeing the development of a mentoring program for new faculty at Ohio State.
Mary Jo’s area of focus is in literacy and children, where she provides expertise in literacy methods-particularly in word study. In addition to authoring the Shell Education professional resource, Strategies for Effective Balanced Literacy, Dr. Fresch belongs to the International Literacy Association (ILA), Ohio Council of ILA, National Council for Teachers of English (NCTE), and the Literacy Research Association (LRA). Dr. Fresch’s extensive professional background is supported with a strong educational foundation.
Michael Murphy Ed.D.
Dr. Michael Murphy is a national education coach, facilitator, consultant, and author. He draws from 36 years of educational experience as he trains and works with teachers, teacher and school leaders, and district leaders across the United States. Michael has authored Orchestrating School Change: Transforming Your Leadership, published by Shell Education, a division of Teacher Created Materials.
He has published numerous articles for national journals and has been the contributing or lead author on four educational books in the last 15 years. Formerly, Dr. Murphy was the Director of Education for the Salesmanship Club Youth and Family Centers in Dallas. His function was as executive director of the Principal Assessment and Action Center, a joint collaborative among the Region 10 Educational Service Center, the Dallas Independent School District (DISD), and the Dallas Institute for Urban Leadership.
Michelle Mikes Ed.D.
Dr. Michelle Mikes, K-12 Mathematics Supervisor with Cobb County Public Schools in Marietta, Georgia, supervises the mathematics program for the district and collaborates with counselors, administrators, and departments such as ESOL, Title 1, Personalized Learning, Assessment, and Special Education. Michelle provides professional learning for administrators and teachers, develops mathematics resources, and acts as a liaison between Cobb County Schools and the State of Georgia Mathematics Department.
Dr. Mikes has presented on numerous occasions at the state-wide level Georgia Council of Teachers of Mathematics conference and at the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics annual conference. She has served as President of the Georgia Council of Supervisors of Mathematics and Secretary and NCTM Liaison for the Georgia Council of Teachers of Mathematics. Michelle has served in many capacities on Math Advisory committees for local, universities and state levels. She is also a published author and long-time education consultant for TCM.
Myrna Reyna MBE, M.Ed.
Myrna Reyna assists districts in developing their bilingual programs and provides professional development, as well as institutes and seminars, for educators working with ELL and dual language programs and students. Currently, Myrna also provides professional development and training on TCM curriculum materials and Shell Education professional resources for school districts and teachers.
In her 17 years in education, Myrna has held various positions at both the district and regional levels, including her position as a district Bilingual/ESL Coordinator. During this time, she supported campuses in the implementation of the Dual Language Enrichment Program and the ESL Program adopted by the district.
She provided professional development to staff throughout the district in best practices in both the Dual Language and ESL programs, as well as in the implementation of state required standards. She was also able to collaborate with the secondary coordinators to support teachers in the implementation of best practices for second language learners at the secondary level.
Nancy Padak Ed.D.
Nancy Padak, Principal Investigator for the Ohio Literacy Resource Center, directs the Reading and Writing Center at Kent State University.
She has co-authored several professional resources for Shell Education, including Greek & Latin Roots: Keys to Building Vocabulary, Starting with Prefixes and Suffixes, Practice with Prefixes, as well as the extremely popular Building Vocabulary TCM curricular resource series.
Nancy Walker Ph.D.
Dr. Nancy Walker is a full faculty professor in the College of Education and Organizational Leadership at the University of La Verne.
In addition to being an education consultant for TCM, Dr. Walker is co-author of the Shell Education professional resource, Get the Picture: Visual Literacy in Content-Area Instruction, and author of When Textbooks Fall Short (Heinemann). Nancy has spent the past 21 years overseeing the teacher education (K-12) reading faculty and courses and holds memberships in many educational organizations including AERA, NCTE, ILA, and LRA.
Peter Yackus M.Ed.
Peter Yackus has served as the Coordinator of Technology Integration Literacy for Fort Bend Independent School District for over two years. In this position, he works with K-12 teachers to help integrate technology, coding, and robotics into their content areas, including ELA, social studies, health and physical education, and world languages.
He also serves as an education consultant for Teacher Created Materials.
Reka Barton M.A.T.
Reka Barton is a Literacy and Dual Language Specialist and currently serves as a lecturer for San Diego State University in California, teaching reading and language arts in the elementary classroom, to teacher credential candidates. Additionally, Ms. Barton serves as a research assistant for several professors at SDSU, collaborating on educational equity research projects around issues of binational students, equity in STEM courses, and equitable teaching and schooling practices for students of color.
Ms. Barton has held many positions in PreK-12 and higher education, including classroom teaching positions in grades TK-5, District Literacy Leader, Biliteracy Curriculum Writer, Professional Development Facilitator, Dual Language Coach, University Supervisor, and Adjunct Professor. The majority of her classroom experience was as an elementary school dual language teacher.
In this role, Ms. Barton wrote curriculum for biliteracy programs in the district and provided professional development and coaching for dual language teachers. Ms. Barton has presented her work at numerous national and regional conferences including La Cosecha and the California Association for Bilingual Education (CABE).
Ricardo Romanillos Ed.D.
Ricardo Romanillos is an education consultant and small business owner who is passionate about building structures and pathways that empower underserved communities. His work both in education and with his company, Marquee Results, allows for Ricardo to champion change agents and work towards achieving equity in education.
Currently, Ricardo also provides professional development and training on TCM curriculum materials and Shell Education professional resources for school districts, teachers, and educational trainers. Ricardo earned his Doctorate in Education from Johns Hopkins University, focusing on improving teachers’ sense of self-efficacy to engage more minority students in the sciences.
Prior to receiving his doctorate degree, he graduated with honors from Southwestern University with a BA in Chemistry, and a minor in Biology, and earned a Masters in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies from UT Arlington.
Rick Jetter Ph.D.
Rick Jetter, Ph.D., is an educator, author, speaker and national education consultant. He has worked in the field of education for over 20 years and has held the positions of alternative education teacher, English teacher, assistant principal, principal, assistant superintendent of human resources and technology and superintendent of schools.
Rick is currently the Asst. Head of Schools at Western NY Maritime Charter. He is also the co-founder of Pushing Boundaries Consulting and has written 7 books for teachers and school leaders. Dr. Jetter currently serves as an education consultant with Teacher Created Materials.
Robin Johnson Ed.D.
Dr. Robin Johnson, an Assistant Professor at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi in the College of Education and Human Development, has been in the field of education for more than 23 years.
Dr. Johnson has been the School-University Partnerships Coordinator for the Department of Curriculum, Instruction, and Learning Services and the Program Director for Barrio Writers with Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi for 4 years. In this position, she teaches early childhood on oral language development, assessment and evaluation, and Early Childhood - 6 Professional Roles and Pedagogy to pre-service teachers during their field-based experiences in their final year of college.
Additionally, Dr. Johnson serves as an education consultant and contributing author for the Exploring Readingseries with Teacher Created Materials.
Ryan O'Donnell
Ryan O’Donnell is a former social studies and technology teacher and current Technology Teacher on Special Assignment at Rocklin Unified School District in Rocklin, California. As a social studies teacher he taught AP World History and Geography and in technology he has taught Web Design and Broadcasting.
In his current role as a TOSA, Ryan works with the teachers in his district to provide trainings and direction with their implementation of technology tools and pedagogy. Along with presenting, Ryan is the Vice President of the CapCUE organization; the Sacramento affiliate of CUE.org which is an organization which focuses on infusing technology and developing leadership.
Ryan also is the co-host of several education podcasts; "Check This Out" about educational technology strategies and “Talking Social Studies” which focuses on ideas and inspiration for social studies teachers.
Ryan Spears M.A.
Ryan Spears is currently a sought-after trainer and presenter for Teacher Created Materials. He specializes in professional development training and product/resource training.
Mr. Spears teaches social studies at the high school level in the Rocklin Unified School District in California. He is also a trainer and keynote speaker conducting presentations at the university level, and at various conferences and school districts.
Sally Creel Ph.D.
Sally Creel, K-12 STEM & Innovation Supervisor for Cobb County Schools in Georgia, has spent the last 22 years as an educator and science administrator working with teachers and K-12 students.
She also works as a professional development consultant for several organizations including the Georgia Department of Education, Kennesaw State University, Teacher Created Materials, and various MSP grants.
Sam Williams
Sam Williams has been a PreK-5 educator for more than 20 years. He has served in many positions from classroom teacher, literacy coach, District Resource Trainer in the 7th largest school district in the country, and Dean of Academics. Throughout these various roles, he has always known that his heart belongs in the classroom with students and fellow educators.
This passion is showcased during his lively presentations featuring engaging, interactive, hands-on strategies and modeling. In addition to sharing his practical classroom strategies with educators throughout the United States and Central America, Mr. Williams is a published author of several children’s books and is currently working on more.
Sara Johnson M.S.Ed.
Sara Johnson joined Teacher Created Materials to help create professional resources and curriculum for students worldwide. After overseeing the Shell Education imprint of TCM for nearly 6 years, she joined the Marketing team where she supported the department as the voice of the educator and led their philanthropic outreach efforts.
She now serves as an education consultant, supporting teachers through professional development and coaching across disciplines. Prior to joining TCM, Ms. Johnson was an elementary school teacher in North Carolina.
Sara McDaniel M.S.E.
Sara McDaniel’s lifelong commitment to education is evident in her accomplishments in her career. She has served as a 4th grade teacher for Bossier Parish Schools in Benton, Louisiana and a 3rd grade teacher for El Dorado Public Schools in Arkansas.
At the district level, she served as Assistant Principal and Education Technology Director, as well as Adjunct Faculty at South Arkansas Community College. Later, she expanded her love of education to become an Account Executive for both Compass Learning and McGraw Hill Education.
Sara McDaniel joined TCM in 2012 as the sales consultant in Louisiana and parts of Texas, and transitioned into an education consultant in 2018, specializing in education technology, in-classroom coaching, and is a generalist for grades K-5.
Sharroky Hollie Ph.D.
Dr. Sharroky Hollie is the author of numerous publications and professional resources and executive director of the Center for Culturally Responsive Teaching and Learning, a non-profit organization dedicated to educators desiring to become culturally responsive.
Shell Education is proud to have a partnership with Dr. Hollie in working toward the dual goals of making his theory of Cultural and Linguistic Responsiveness (CLR) palatable for teachers in the classroom and creating exemplary classroom models for what CLR classroom instruction looks like.
To that end, in collaboration with TCM's Shell Education division, Dr. Hollie has authored several best selling professional resources including Culturally and Linguistically Responsive Teaching and Learning as well as the Strategies for Culturally and Linguistically Responsive Teaching and Learning resource to support it. Dr. Hollie also curated the collections of culturally authentic literature and informational texts found in TCM's Culturally Authentic and Responsive Texts.
Dr. Hollie provides extensive professional development workshops and keynotes for school districts, administrators, and educators nationwide.
Stacey Kockler M.Ed.
Stacey Kockler is an independent education consultant and advocate for social studies education. She works with school districts across the country to improve instruction in social studies, including integration with language arts and technology.
As the former social studies curriculum coordinator for Denton Independent School District in Texas, she trained teachers in Denton and across the country in best practices for the social studies classroom. Prior to the role, Stacey was an elementary teacher and is a current member of ASCD, MSSSA, TSSSA, TCSS, and NCSS.
Stephanie Dewing, Ph.D.
Dr. Stephanie Dewing is the assistant professor of clinical education at the University of Southern California’s Rossier School of Education. In this role, Dr. Dewing supports teacher candidates’ knowledge of language and literacy development across all grade levels and content areas through her “Integrated Language Development Across the Curriculum” course and subsequent guided practice (student teaching).
In addition to her professorship, Dr. Dewing is the chair of USC’s Master of Arts in Teaching syllabus review committee on diversity, equity, and inclusion and chair of the Bilingual Authorization Advisory Board. Dr. Dewing began her career teaching social studies and English at a bilingual school in Quito, Ecuador. Upon returning to the U.S., she taught English as a second language, Spanish, English language development, and Spanish heritage classes, and co-taught Algebra at the secondary and post-secondary level for about 10 years.
In 2003, Dr. Dewing transitioned into higher education at the University of Colorado in Colorado Springs in 2003 by developing their Master’s of TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Language) program and by teaching a variety of courses to both pre-service and in-service teachers in the TESOL program. She also served on the board of the Colorado TESOL organization for 10 years in various positions including Teacher Education Action Research Chair, Western Slope Liaison, and Colorado Springs Liaison. In addition to her teaching credential in Spanish (K-12) and Linguistically Diverse Education (K-12), Dr. Dewing has both a Bachelor of Arts in Teaching of Spanish and a Master of Arts in Teaching of English to Speakers of Other Languages from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, as well as a Ph.D. in Educational Leadership and Innovation from the University of Colorado, Denver.
Sue Monts M.Ed.
Sue Monts is an education consultant for Teacher Created Materials. Formerly, she worked as an assistant principal for Alvin Independent School District in Alvin, TX where she was employed for over 20 years.
Ms. Monts served as one of the assistant principals at Mary Burks Marek Elementary School PK–5 where she oversaw kindergarten, 2nd, and 4th grade operations and supervised the campus mathematics and science curriculums in all grade levels PK–5.
Timothy Rasinski Ph.D.
Timothy Rasinski is a professor of education at Kent State University and the author of numerous books and articles on reading education. Dr. Rasinski has co-authored many resources for Shell Education including, but not limited to, Greek & Latin Roots: Keys to Building Vocabulary, Starting with Prefixes and Suffixes, Practice with Prefixes, Vocabulary Ladders: Understanding Word Nuances series, Getting to the Roots of Content-Area Vocabulary series, Idioms and Other English Expressions series, Close Reading with Paired Texts series, Rhymes for the Times: Literacy Strategies through Social Studies as well as TCM’s curriculum resource Building Vocabulary series.
Dr. Rasinski is a frequent, well-known presenter nationwide.
Traci Vitug
Traci Vitug currently serves as an education consultant for TCM where she provides professional development and training on TCM’s curriculum materials and Shell Education professional resources for school districts, teachers, and educational trainers.
Prior to joining TCM, Ms. Vitug served as the Engagement Specialist at Cengage-National Geographic Learning. In her time in this position, she was responsible for product presentations and trainings and other projects, including one focused on the alignment of resources to California’s updated history social science framework’s addition of The Fair Act.
Ms. Vitug has extensive experience in providing professional learning, particularly in the history and social studies content areas specific to middle school. Prior to moving into the Education Publishing world, Traci did long-term substitute teaching and after school care work in the Huntington Beach City and Oceanview School Districts.
Trisha DiFazio M.Ed.
Trisha DiFazio is a professor in the Rossier School of Education at the University of Southern California (USC) and an education consultant for Teacher Created Materials (TCM).
She is renowned for providing inspiring and dynamic professional development to educators throughout the country. Trisha was also a contributing author for TCM’s Language Power: Building Language Proficiency series.
She is passionate about empowering teachers and students around social emotional learning and culturally and linguistically responsive teaching and learning.
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Valerie Ellery M.A. Ed.,NBCT
Valerie Ellery currently consults internationally and is truly passionate about creating strategic leaders and readers. Ms. Ellery has published many books, curriculums, and a staff-development video series to empower educators to create literacy reform globally.
Valerie has served in the field of education for more than 25 years as a National Board Certified Teacher, curriculum specialist, mentor, literacy coach, staff developer, and award-winning international author and consultant.
Ms. Ellery is also author of Creating Strategic Readers, a Shell Education publication.
Winnie DuRant, Ph.D.
Dr. Winnie DuRant currently serves as the Director of Curriculum and Instruction of TBG’s residential childcare facility. In this capacity, she develops, directs, coordinates, and monitors educational policies/documentation and procedures at the facility. Additionally, she supports the education coordinator with various training for teachers and ensures that teachers have all necessary materials. Dr. DuRant’s previous position was a math coach in DeKalb County Schools. She supported teachers with instructional strategies for math in the classroom, including modeling, observing and providing feedback, analyzing data, and conducting math professional learning workshops at both the school and district levels.
Dr. DuRant received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Elementary Education K-5, with a certification for Middle School education in Language Arts and Social Studies from the University of South Carolina Upstate. She earned her Master of Education degree in Post-Secondary Education from Troy University in Atlanta, Georgia. She then went on to achieve her Ph.D. in Curriculum in Education from Mercer University in Macon, Georgia
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