Meet Sarah
As a current 8th grade Language Arts teacher, asking 'why' is as common as drinking my daily morning cup of coffee (or two...or some days...three!). From a young age, I had a calling for teaching because of my love of learning, my passion with reading, and my ever-lasting curiosity on how the world worked. However, throughout my learning journey, I remember being placed in leveled groups, identified by test scores, and hardly ever challenged in learning that related to topics that seemed meaningful to me. Entering teaching 16 years ago, I felt confident in my ability to design quality learning experiences, but I found myself at a crossroads around Year 10 when I asked, "Why do I feel like my teaching doesn't offer more meaning and importance to my students?" Asking why and saying 'yes' have driven my current practice into spaces and places that have taken student learning experiences to new heights such as integrating technology, Genius Hour, and Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR). Additionally, asking why and saying 'yes' have impacted my work with middle school students, preservice teachers, and other teacher professionals as we continue to meet the needs of our kids in today's world.
​
Sarah is a current 8th grade Language Arts teacher for the Heyworth Community Unit School District in Heyworth, IL. She's also a doctoral candidate at Illinois State University, an adjunct instructor for the Illinois State University School of Teaching and Learning, and a dedicate mom and spouse!
Meet Robyn
A former middle and high school ELA teacher, I started asking "why" at a very early age. Rumor has it that it was my favorite way to drive my parents crazy. After a brief stint in the advertising and sales promotion world, I left the business world to pursue my passion of teaching. Although I had a love affair with school, I had watched my brother and future husband who were both brilliant men, struggle with our education system. It has been my quest to explore the whys behind similar students' journeys in schools and to figure out how to address these whys. To do this, I have never stopped asking why. I asked why I do what I do in my practice as I worked toward earning my National Board Certification in ELA. I asked why technology and literacy are enacted in the ways they are as I worked on my graduate studies. I asked why great teachers are great as I worked with the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards to update the ELA standards and Five Core Propositions. And I continue to ask why as I work with my students at the middle, high school, undergraduate and graduate levels.
Interested in more of what we have learned? Check out this selection of other writings.
Articles
Who You Gonna Be?: Designing Novel Lessons that Matter to Students, Voices from the Middle, December 2018 (with 8th grade student Kirrstein Hays)
Disrupting Complacency: Helping Students Find Their Voices through Inquiry, Literature and Technology, Middle School Journal, October 2016
"It Just Gives You Another Look on Things": Using Adolescent Literature to Construct Inquiry and Deconstruct Social Stereotypes, Middle Grades Review, February 2016.
​
Blog Post
We Need to Speak Up and Be Heard: Changing Worldviews with the Help of Nic Stone, Random House Teachers & Librarians Blog, January 2018
​
Book Chapters
"Creating Wobble in a World of Spin: Positioning Students to Challenge Media Poses" co-authored with our colleague Antero Garcia in Critical Media Literacy and Fake News in Post-Truth America edited by Christian Z. Goering and Paul L. Thomas
​
​