BUNDLE: Corwin Connected Educators Series: Fall 2014

Peter DeWitt (Ed.D) is a former K-5 teacher (11 years) and principal (8 years). He runs workshops and provides keynotes nationally and internationally focusing on collaborative leadership, and fostering inclusive school climates. Within North America, his work has been adopted at the university and state level, and he works with numerous districts, school boards, regional and state organizations where he trains leadership teams and coaches building leaders.

Additionally, Peter is a Visible Learning Trainer for John Hattie, and was an Instructional Coach for Jim Knight for several years. He is the Series Editor for the Connected Educator Series (Corwin Press) and the Impact Series (Corwin Press) that include books by Viviane Robinson, Pasi Sahlberg, Yong Zhao and Michael Fullan.

His Finding Common Ground blog (http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/finding_common_ground/) has been published by Education Week since 2011. He is the 2013 School Administrators Association of New York State's (SAANYS) Outstanding Educator of the Year, and the 2015 Education Blogger of the Year (Academy of Education Arts & Sciences).

Peter is the author of several books including Collaborative Leadership: 6 Influences That Matter Most (Corwin Press/Learning Forward) and School Climate: Leading with Collective Efficacy (Corwin Press/Ontario Principals Council. 2017) and Coach It Forward: Using the Art of Coaching to Improve Leadership (Corwin Press. 2018).

His articles have appeared in education journals at the state, national and international level, and he has presented at forums, conferences, and panel discussions at state, national and international conferences. Some of the highlights has been to present for the National Association of Elementary School Principals (NAESP), ASCD and NBC's Education Nation.

Tom Whitby has presented at many national, statewide, and local education conferences as well as Edcamps. He has contributed to the WISE Conference in Doha, Qatar, an International Education Conference, for the last two years. He served as a social media consultant for SmartBrief and a contributing Editor for SmartBlog on Education for SmartBrief.

Tom is a retired Adjunct Professor of Education at St Joseph’s College in New York, having taught for 6 years. He came to that position after 34 years as a secondary English teacher in the Public School system. He was also a leader in the New York State United Teacher Locals for 30 years. He has founded a number of Educational Groups on Linkedin including Technology Using Professors Group. He has been recognized with an Edublog Award for the most Influential Educational Twitter Series, Edchat, which he founded.

Additionally, Tom hosts The Edchat Radio Show for the BAM Network, which is available as free podcasts from K-12 education at the Apple iStore. He blogs at My Island View and has contributed articles to several education journals and has been a guest blogger with contributions to The Royal Treatment and Teacher’s Reboot Camp. He created the Ning site, The Educator’s PLN: http://edupln.ning.com/. Follow him on Twitter @tomwhitby.

Mark Barnes is a veteran classroom teacher, education consultant, and author of the critically acclaimed Role Reversal: Achieving Uncommonly Excellent Results in the Student-Centered Classroom (ASCD, 2013), The 5-Minute Teacher (ASCD, 2013) and Teaching the iStudent (Corwin, 2014). A longtime adjunct professor at two Ohio colleges, Mark has created five online courses on web-based instruction, mobile learning, and using Twitter in the classroom and as a professional development tool. A leading expert on student-centered learning, Mark has helped thousands of educators build digitally enhanced, project-based, no-grades classrooms. Mark is the creator of the internationally recognized how-to video site for educators, Learn it in 5, and publisher of the popular education blog Brilliant or Insane. Named a Top 10 education technology blog by EdTech Magazine in 2014, B or I inspires hundreds of thousands of loyal readers. Mark’s Facebook group, Teachers Throwing Out Grades, is a growing collection of educators dedicated to changing the way learning is assessed, and this group helped launch the #ThrowOutGrades Challenge. Mark can be found sharing information and articles about best practices in education daily on Twitter at @markbarnes19.

http://www.markbarnes19.com/

http://www.brilliant-insane.com/

https://www.facebook.com/groups/teachersthrowingoutgrades/

View the author's TED talk here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JShsO5PvYG4

Dr. Spike C. Cook is currently serving in a leadership position as the Principal of RM Bacon Elementary for the Millville Public School District located in the City of Millville, New Jersey. He joined RM Bacon staff in April of 2011. Since that time, he has been influential in increasing technology use with students and teachers, reorganized the Basic Skills Program, and worked on improving the climate and culture of the building.

He began his educational career in 1999 and has worked in higher education, middle school and elementary school. Dr. Cook has served as a counselor, teacher, adjunct professor, Executive Director, vice principal, guidance director and principal. His blog “Insights Into Learning” received a nomination for the Best Administrator Blog by Edublogs.

Dr. Cook has presented at numerous state and local conferences. In addition, he has presented at the 2012 ASCD Texas in Dallas, 2013 ASCD National Conference in Chicago, and the 2013 National Association for Elementary School Principals in Baltimore. He was the keynote speaker at the Millville Public Schools Opening Day for over 1,200 staff. Dr. Cook was one of the featured “connected educators” in the 2014 Corwin Press book, “Digital Leadership” by Eric Sheninger.

Pernille Ripp is a teacher, speaker, author, blogger, and passionate advocate for education. She is a Skype Master Teacher; Microsoft Innovative Educator Expert; recipient of the 2015 WEMTA Making IT Happen Award; and the 2015 ISTE Award for Innovation in Global Collaboration. In 2010, Pernille founded The Global Read Aloud, a global literacy initiative that began with a simple goal in mind: one book to connect the world. From its humble beginnings, the GRA has grown to connect more than 1,000,000 students in 60 different countries. She is the author of Passionate Learners – How to Engage and Empower Your Students, now in its second edition, and Empowered Schools, Empowered Students, both focusing on creating learning spaces and communities where students thrive and all stakeholders are empowered and passionate about learning. Her work has also been featured by many print and online journals including Edutopia, School Library Journal, The Guardian, and MiddleWeb. You can follow Pernille’s work on Blogging Through The Fourth Dimension, her personal blog and a frequent Teach100 top rated education blog. Pernille’s current research interest is in creating passionate literacy environments within the restriction of our current educational systems to helping students fall in love with literacy again. She uses her own classroom as a laboratory, as well as the many educators she works with across the country.

Tony Sinanis is currently in his sixth year as the Lead Learner of Cantiague Elementary School in Jericho, New York. Cantiague was named a 2012 National Blue Ribbon School and Tony received the 2013 Bammy Award for Elementary School Principal of the Year. Tony was also recently nominated for the New York State Elementary School Principal of the Year Award. Tony taught at the elementary level for 8 years and he started his career as a 5th Grade Teacher in the New York City Public School. Tony graduated from New York University with a degree in Early Childhood and Elementary Education and then went on to receive his Master’s Degree in Educational Technology and an Advanced Certificate in Educational Leadership and Technology from the New York Institute of Technology. Tony is currently enrolled in a doctoral program at the University of Pennsylvania where he is studying the relationship between active participation on Twitter and the professional development of principals. Tony is active on Twitter (@TonySinanis) and serves as the founder and co-moderator of #NYedchat and co-moderator of #PTChat. Finally, Tony co-hosts the BrandED podcast with Dr. Sanfelippo.

Brad Currie is the Middle School Vice Principal and Supervisor of Instruction for the Chester School District in Chester, NJ. He is passionate about Personal Learning Networks (PLNs), Educational Technology and Social Media in the school setting. Brad began his career as a Middle School Social Studies and Computer Education Teacher for the Hanover Township School District in Whippany, New Jersey. He then transitioned to the field of administration in 2009 as a Middle School Vice Principal/Athletic Director for the Readington Township School District in Whitehouse Station, NJ. Brad is a 2014 ASCD Emerging Leader and 2014 Bammy Award Finalist.

Brad is the co-founder and co-moderator of a weekly Twitter discussion for current and emerging school leaders called #Satchat. The online discussion takes place every Saturday morning on Twitter at 7:30 AM EST/PST. Brad is an avid blogger and truly enjoys presenting to audiences about best practices in the school setting. More information about Brad can be found by visiting his website at www.bradcurrie.net or following him on Twitter @bradmcurrie.

Brad is married to Leigh, a special education teacher for a K-12 school district in New Jersey. Leigh and Brad have two children, Cooper, 8; and Sydney, 3. Brad was incredibly fortunate to have been raised by outstanding parents, Bruce and Karen. They continue to be a supporting and encouraging force behind all that he does. Brad was inspired to be an educator from the wonderful teachers and coaches he had as a student in high school. He is truly appreciative of all the inspirational people in his life from near and far.

Kristen Swanson helps teachers design meaningful, interactive curricula at the local and national level. She has taught at the elementary level, served as a regional consultant for Response to Intervention, and worked as an educational technology director for a public school district in Pennsylvania. She holds a B.A. degree from DeSales University, two M.A. degrees from Wilkes University, and an Ed.D. degree from Widener University. Kristen is currently an adjunct in the DeSales University instructional technology M.Ed program and a senior technology leader for BrightBytes.

In addition to her experience as an educator, Kristen is also passionate about meaningful professional learning. She serves on the board of the Edcamp Foundation, a nonprofit organization designed to facilitate local, grassroots professional development. She has shared her ideas and expertise at ASCD conferences, TEDxPhiladelphiaEd, TEDxNYED, and Educon. She has also been published in academic journals, including Literacy Learning: The Middle Years and the Journal of Reading, Writing, and Literacy. She is the author of Professional Learning in the Digital Age: The Educator’s Guide to User-Generated Learning and Teaching the Common Core Speaking and Listening Standards.

Kristen is active in the educational technology sphere. She is a Google Certified Teacher, Twitter Teacher, Edublog Award Nominee, and avid blogger. She strongly believes that rigorous curriculum fosters meaningful technology integration, and she is also interested in the learning opportunities provided by asynchronous learning.

Steven W. Anderson is a learner, blogger, speaker, educational evangelist, and Dad. As a former teacher and Director of Instructional Technology, he is highly sought after for his expertise in educational technology integration and using social media for learning. He regularly travels the country talking to schools and districts about the use of Social Media in the classroom and how they can better serve students through technology. Steven has been a presenter at several educational technology conferences, including ISTE, ASCD, FETC, VSTE, and numerous state and local conferences. He is also responsible in helping create #edchat, a weekly education discussion on Twitter that boasts over 500 weekly participants. Steven has been recognized with the the 2009 and 2011 Edublogs, Twitterer of The Year Award, a Microsoft Heros of Education Award, along with a 2013 Bammy Award - recognized worldwide as the Educational Emmy - for his work with #edchat.

Dr. Joe Sanfelippo is the Superintendent of the Fall Creek School District in Fall Creek, Wisconsin. Joe holds a BA in Elementary and Early Childhood Education from St. Norbert College, a MS in Educational Psychology from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, a MS in Educational Leadership, and a PhD in Leadership, Learning, and Service from Cardinal Stritch University. He also serves on the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction Educator Effectiveness Teachscape Team. Joe is a co-host for the BrandED Podcast, which features great leaders across the country telling the amazing stories of schools. His research interests include Organizational and Systems Change in Schools, Personalized Professional Growth for Staff, and Advancing the Use of Social Media in School Districts. He can be found on Twitter @Joesanfelippofc