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Ferdi Serim's experience includes board membership for the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) and for the Consortium for School Networking (CoSN), director of the New Mexico State EdTech; and editor of MultiMedia Schools Magazine.
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Cara Shores
Cara Shores, EdS, began her career as a special education teacher and taught children in both pullout and inclusive classrooms. She received her master's degree and educational specialists's degree from the University of West Georgia and has since served as Student Support Services Coordinator and District Director of Special Education. Mrs. Shores has trained thousands of teachers and administrators across the United States and Canada on practical strategies for inclusion, co-teaching, and increasing achievement for all students through differentiated instruction and RTI. She provides regional and national training for the Council for Exceptional Children. Mrs. Shores is author of A Comprehensive Approach to RTI: Integrating Academic and Behavioral Interventions (in press). She is co-author of Response to Intervention: A Practical Guide for Every Teacher andUsing RTI for School Improvement: Raising Every Student's Achievement Scores.Mrs. Shores now serves as the President of Wesley Educational Services.
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Debbie Silver has 30 years experience as a classroom teacher, staff development instructor, and university professor. A Louisiana State Teacher of the Year, Dr. Silver has been an invited author for several educational journals and has given keynotes at state, national, and international conferences in 49 states, Canada, Europe, and Asia. A featured teacher for the PBS OnLine Teacher Chat, Silver has authored Drumming to the Beat of Different Marchers: Finding the Rhythm for Teaching Differentiated Learning, which has been updated and re-released by Incentive Publications. Songs she co-wrote with Monte Selby are featured on his CDs.
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Grace E. Smith
Grace E. Smith earned her Ph.D. from Wayne State University in instructional technology and organizational communication and has taught for the Chippewa Valley Schools, Wayne State University, and Northwood University in Michigan. The co-author of such texts as Differentiating Instruction with Technology in Middle School Classrooms, Differentiating Instruction with Technology in K-5 Classrooms, and the online course, Differentiating Instruction in the K-12 Classroom Using Simple Technologies, Smith has co-presented on similar themes at many conferences. Among other leadership positions, she has served as the instructional technology curriculum coordinator and social studies curriculum coordinator for the Grosse Pointe Public School System; as corporate-wide curriculum coordinator for a Fortune-500 company; as a senior human resources consultant; as executive director of a women business owners association; as the director of continuing professional education for a business college; and as a lead systems analyst and senior systems analyst for Wayne State University. Smith was also the director of the Reading and Learning Center and chair of the English department for a high school in Detroit.
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Marilee Sprenger
An educational neuroscience consultant, Marilee Sprenger has taught pre-kindergarten to graduate school and now teaches brain-compatible strategies and memory courses as an adjunct professor at Aurora University. A member of the American Academy of Neurology, the Cognitive Neuroscience Society, and the Learning and Brain Society, as well as of many education organizations such as Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development and Phi Delta Kappa, she is the author of Learning and Memory: The Brain in Action, Becoming a Wiz at Brain-based Teaching;Differentiation through Learning Styles and Memory;and How to Teach So Students Remember. Sprenger assists schools by translating and aiding in the application of current educational neuroscience and memory research.
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Mark Springer
Mark Springer is the developer (with Ed Silcox) of the Watershed Program, now widely recognized as one of the nation's foremost integrated curriculum models. A decade later, he developed the Soundings Program as a model of a full integrative curriculum. Both launchings were accompanied by publications: Watershed: A Successful Voyage into Integrative Learning; The Watershed Whole-Learning Activities Book; and Soundings: A Democratic Student-Centered Education. Springer has devoted decades to teaching seventh and eighth grade students at the Radnor Middle School in Wayne, Pennsylvania, where he has designed and taught a variety of integrated curricula, including interdisciplinary humanities, American Studies, and that of his school's gifted program.
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Hui Fang Huang "Angie" Su
Dr. Hui Fang Huang "Angie" Su is a professor of mathematics education for Nova Southeastern University's Graduate Teacher Education Program at the Fischler School of Education and Human Services. She is the creator of Project M.I.N.D.—Math Is Not Difficult—a K -12 mathematics enhancement project implemented in several school districts. Prior to her professorship, Dr. Su was the K-12 mathematics specialist for the Palm Beach County School District. Partnering with the Annenberg Foundation, the Quantum Foundation, and the Toppel Family Foundation, Su initiated the state's first Teacher Incentive program. As an instructional specialist in the Palm Beach County School District's Department of School Improvement and Staff Development, Su designed and managed the Technical Assistance Plan for the District to help students in critically low-performing schools improve their achievement. The recipient of many awards and recognitions, including the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching from the National Science Foundation, the William T. Dwyer Award for Excellence in Teaching, and the Women of Distinction Award from the Soroptomist International, Su was also named 2003 Professor of the Year by Fischler School. She has also received the Governor's Points of Light Award for her innovative work with homeless women. Su garners significant attention from the media for her expertise in mathematics education, curriculum development, early childhood education, gifted education, and child rearing.
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Clifton Taulbert, a Pulitzer nominated author for Once Upon a Time When We Were Colored (1989) and the president and founder of the Building Community Institute, speaks worldwide on the critical issue of building community. His books Eight Habits of the Heart and Eight Habits of the Heart for Educators advance the theory that "unselfish leadership...ensures student success." Before he became an author (including of the Little Cliff children's series) and professional speaker, Taulbert worked in the banking industry. After a stint as a sergeant in the US Air Force, Taulbert earned his B.A. at Oral Roberts University, and earned continuing professional education credits (toward an MBA) from Southwest Graduate School of Banking at Southern Methodist University. Recipient of the 17th annual National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Image Award for literature, Taulbert was one of the first African American writers to win the Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters Award for nonfiction, and was named by Time magazine one of America's outstanding black entrepreneurs.
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Stephanie Throne
Stephanie Throne earned her Ph.D. in Romance Languages and Literatures from the University of Michigan and has been a professor of Spanish and German. The co-author of such texts as Differentiating Instruction with Technology in Middle School Classrooms, Differentiating Instruction with Technology in K-5 Classrooms, and the online course, Differentiating Instruction in the K-12 Classroom Using Simple Technologies, Throne has presented on similar topics at many conferences, workshops and webinars. In addition, Throne teaches/tutors Spanish, math, reading and writing for various instructional and private organizations. For the last ten years, she has served as a faculty consultant for the Educational Testing Service, for which she supervises and trains faculty consultants to score the audio section of Advanced Placement examinations in Spanish and to evaluate examinations. Throne is the co-author of a forthcoming Spanish text for upper elementary and middle school students, and is a frequent editor/proofreader for several publications. Prior to her work as a language professor, Throne served as a trainer and course developer for a large financial services corporation.
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Donna Walker Tileston
Donna Walker Tileston's ten-book collection, What Every Teacher Should Know, received the 2004 Distinguished Achievement Award for Excellence in Educational Publishing by the Association of Educational Publishers. She has served education as a leader in teaching, administration, research, writing, software development, national consulting, curriculum development, management, technology, finance, grants management, public relations, and drug abuse prevention programs. Dr. Tileston now specializes in brain research and the factors that inhibit learning or increase the brain's ability to put information into long-term memory. To date Dr. Tileston has made over 500 presentations on her research and materials at state, national, and international conferences, notably at The Hague in November, 2005, and in Prague in March, 2006.
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Carol Ann Tomlinson
Carol Ann Tomlinson, who has both an M.Ed. and Ed.D. from the University of Virginia, is a professor at the Curry School of UVA, as well as program coordinator for their educational psychology/gifted education program, and co-director of their Institutes on Academic Diversity. Tomlinson's career as an educator includes 21 years as a public school teacher, with 12 years as a program administrator of special services for struggling and advanced learners. She was Virginia's Teacher of the Year in 1974, Tomlinson was named Outstanding Professor at Curry School of Education in 2004 and received an All University Teaching Award in 2008. A reviewer for journals and prolific author, Tomlinson has published in addition to other materials, these seminal documents: How to Differentiate Instruction in Mixed Ability Classrooms; The Differentiated Classroom: Responding to the Needs of All Learners;Leadership for Differentiated Schools and Classrooms; the facilitator's guide for the video staff development sets, Differentiating Instruction and At Work in the Differentiated Classroom; as well as a professional inquiry kit on differentiation. Most recently, she co-authored a book with Jay McTighe, Integrating Differentiated Instruction and Understanding by Design: Connecting Content and Kids, and another with Kay Brimijoin and Lane Narvaez, The Differentiated School: Making Revolutionary Change or Teaching and Learning. For Corwin Press, she is co-author (with five others educators) of The Parallel Curriculum Model: A Design to Develop High Potential and Challenge High Ability Learners.
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Diane Wagenhals
Diane Wagenhals is a program director, chief trainer, and curriculum writer for New Paradigm Training Institute (NPTI), Institute for Family Professionals (IFP), and Parenting Resource & Education Network (PREN). Her B.S. degree and an M.Ed. degree, as well as certification as a family life educator, have facilitated her work as a childbirth educator, teacher, family therapist, and educational consultant; she has designed training programs for family professionals, educators, and parents that focus on the implementation of best practices for school leaders, teachers, staff, and administrators with the expressed goals of fostering a positive learning environment, promoting emotional and relational health, and improving productivity of teachers and students. Wagenhals received certification as a Pennsylvania PQAS instructor in 2007.
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Todd Whitaker
A professor of education leadership at Indiana State University in Terre Haute, Indiana, Todd Whitaker earned his Ph.D. from the University of Missouri-Columbia. A former middle and high school teacher, Dr. Whitaker has also served as a middle school and high school principal and as a middle school coordinator. He has published widely in the areas of teacher leadership, instructional improvement, change, leadership effectiveness, technology, and middle level practice, including these titles: Dealing With Difficult Teachers, Motivating & Inspiring Teachers, Dealing With Difficult Parents, What Great Principals Do Differently, and the best seller, What Great Teachers Do Differently. Dr. Whitaker has provided professional development to teachers and administrators through over 700 presentations at the state, national, and international levels.
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Joyce Whitby
Joyce Whitby began as a NYC elementary school teacher working with English language learners. She then spent over ten years teaching educational technology at Long Island University, focusing on the emerging field of instructional technology. She developed key initiatives targeting at-risk learners in urban environments for several organizations including WICAT Systems, Jostens Learning, Scientific Learning, and the Education Division of Apple Computer. She is currently the Director of NYC Metro Strategic Initiatives for Headsprout Early Learning.
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Author and consultant Susan Winebrenner is founder and president of Education Consulting Service, Inc., a speakers' bureau for educational topics. A B.S. in education and M.A. in curriculum and instruction from the University of Wisconsin inform her work as a columnist for the journal Understanding Our Gifted and as a national and international presenter in her field. Winebrenner has published three books—Teaching Gifted Kids in the Regular Classroom, Teaching Kids with Learning Difficulties in the Regular Classroom, and Super Sentences—and a stand-alone compact disc, Differentiating Content for Gifted Learners in Grades 6-12. She has served on the faculty of New Leaders for New Schools, a national organization dedicated to training and supporting a new generation of outstanding school principals for urban schools.
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Rick Wormeli is a National Board Certified Teacher and a columnist for Middle Ground magazine, published by the National Middles School Association (NMSA). Awarded in April 2008 the prestigious New England League of Middle School's James P. Garvin Award for distinguished service and the winner of Disney's American Teacher Award for English in 1996, Wormeli has an international reputation for his presentations on middle-level education, innovation, and teacher professionalism. The author of Day One and Beyond: Practical Matters for New Middle Level Teachers;Differentiation: From Planning to Practice, Grades 6 – 12;Fair Isn't Always Equal: Assessing and Grading in the Differentiated Classroom; and Meet Me in the Middle: Becoming an Accomplished Middle Level Teacher, he consults for National Public Radio, USA Today, and the Smithsonian Institute.
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Karyn Wright
Karyn Wright is currently the Director of K-12 Teacher Development for the Clark County School District. She has been an educator for 27 years serving as a teacher, curriculum consultant, building level administrator and district level administrator. In her current role, she directs Preservice Development and the New Teacher Induction programs for the fifth largest school district in the nation. Karyn also designs, develops, and presents numerous district training sessions and workshops on a variety of topics for both teachers and administrators.
Presenters S—Z
Educational Experts
