Speaking & Workshops
Drawing on my experience as a published writer, researcher, and English Language Arts teacher, I offer practical workshops for educators and school divisions looking to improve their English Language Arts pedagogy.
Digital Media for Meaning Making
Smartphones, with their ability to capture high definition video and audio, are changing the way humans make meaning through texts. Training is needed to help educators adapt to this new media landscape. Building on my research into the topic and my own experience as a multimodal artist, I offer workshops on adapting English Language Arts instruction to the text creation practices of contemporary life.
Setting Writing Goals
Setting Writing Goals was identified by Ross and Ferguson (2019) as the instructional strategy that has the greatest impact on improving student writing. This workshop provides teachers with a practical framework for incorporating writing goals into their practice. Participants also receive editable ready-for-the-classroom handouts
Designing Chapbooks
Chapbooks are small books that allow students to share their work in an authentic publication. After this workshop, teachers will know how to use Microsoft Word and a standard printer to empower students to produce quality chapbooks that elicit excitement about writing. Participants also receive an editable unit-plan along with assignment sheets.
Audio Production
The media landscape has shifted. Podcasts and quickly replacing print media as the primary means of accessing news, information, entertainment, and artistic content. Classroom teachers need to accept this shift and adjust their classroom practice to include teaching audio production skills, such as recording and editing. After this workshop, teachers will know how to record and edit audio in Audacity, a free audio editing software used by school divisions across Canada, and will be equipped to teach their students to do the same.​
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