EXPERTISE

My work is often inter-disciplinary, helping colleagues 

to think across disAbilities studies, post-colonial theories, queer theory, gender theories, post-structural theory, multimodal literacy, multiliteracies, multilingual learning, and critical race theory, as well as literary theory.  I love to work with students, families, teachers, and school leaders, and belief in creating communities of care. ​​​

​

         For over twenty years I have studied, taught, and colloborated at Teachers College, Columbia University.
 
In this capacity, I've worked in the fields of curriculum development, staff development, and leadership support. Working with school leaders around literacy leadership. I designed and lead principal conferences and leadership institutes. 

 

I've developed and hosted climate change symposia, developed book club institutes focusing on historical fiction and nonfiction research, developed institutes on ethical research practices for teens, argumentation, and on critical literacies.

​

 

RESEARCH INTERESTS

​

Anti-Oppressive Education

• Civic Education

• Culturally Responsive Pedagogy

• Queer, Feminist, Critical Race, DisAbilities, and Post-Colonial Studies

• Multilingual Learning

Close Reading

• Applying Critical Literacy Theories as Interpretive Lenses

• Developing Language and Protocols for Close Reading

• Transactional Reading

Vocabulary Acquisition

• Literary Vocabulary

• Word Consciousness

• Domain Vocabulary

• Linguistic Histories of Power

Digital Literacies and AI

• Deep Reading Practices

• Multimodal Literacies

• Digital Reading Skills

• AI-Enhanced Literacy

• Tools to Increase Inclusivity and Access

​​

RECENT PUBLICATIONS

□ The Vocabulary Connection: a Structured Approach to Deepening Children's Academic and Expressive Language (in press for Jan, 2025)

 

□ Teaching Digital Literacies and AI Competencies:  Changing Children, Teachers, and Classrooms, (in press for Dec, 2025) co-authored with Philip Seyfried

 

□ The Civically Engaged Classroom: Reading, Writing, and Speaking for Change, co-authored with Pablo Wolfe and Marc Todd

□ Critical Literacy: Unlocking Contemporary Fiction, co-authored with Sonja Cherry-Paul and Heather Burns

 

 

ORGANIZATIONS

​​

• National Council of Teachers of English

• National Council of Teachers of Social Studies

• International Literacy Association

• American Educational Research Association

• Act Up, NYC

• PFLAG