Classroom Caffeine

Dr. Robert Petrone talks to us about reconsidering structures of schools, valuing the expertise of young people, and how he learned about these ideas in a seemingly unlikely place, the skatepark. Dr. Petrone is known for his interdisciplinary work, particularly as he examines the cultural production of ideas of “age,” “youth” and “adolescence,” explores youth cultural, learning, and literacy practices beyond school contexts, and co...

Dr. Stephanie Lemley talks to us about agriculture literacies and connecting with our communities. Stephanie is known for her work in the areas of disciplinary literacies and specifically agricultural education. Dr. Lemley recently served as a Mississippi Education Policy Fellow. She is an Associate Professor of Literacy Education at Mississippi State University.

Resources from this episode:

• Mississippi Blues Trail Curr...

Bethlene Ferdinand is known for her work in the areas of educational leadership and health and wellness. Ms. Ferdinand is from St. Vincent and the Grenadines, an island west of Barbados. She holds a BA in Linguistics, a Postgraduate Diploma in the Teaching of English and a Masters of Education in Educational Leadership from the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill. Bethlene has worked for eight years as a secondary school Educa...

Dr. Erin Mahon and Judy-Ann Allison Auld talk to us about special education in the Caribbean context, the prime positioning of the Eastern Caribbean islands for growth in inclusive teaching practices, and research collaboration with teachers and school leaders. Erin is known for her work investigating special education and inclusive practices in Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean. Judy-Ann is best known for her work in the areas of...

Dr. Leacock is known for her work in the areas of literacy and numeracy, including the teaching and learning of mathematics, student achievement, technology use in education, democratizing classrooms, and literacy across the curriculum. Dr. Leacock is the Project Coordinator for the RISE Caribbean research team and a Senior Lecturer in Mathematics Education and Research Methods in the School of Education at the University of the We...

Dr. Skerrett is known for her work in the areas of secondary English and literacy education in urban contexts, including among transnational youth. Dr. Skerrett’s book, Teaching Transnational Youth: Literacy and Education in a Changing World published by Teachers College Press in 2015, is the first to examine the educational opportunities and challenges arising from increasing numbers of students living and attending school across ...

Dr. Dana Robertson talks to us about connections between conversation and music, the power of motivation and engagement, and opportunities for creating meaningful contexts for learning in schools. Dana is known for his work focused on classroom discussion and teachers’ talk, reading and writing challenges, and literacy professional learning through coaching and whole school literacy improvement. Through each of these projects, he h...

Drs. Amy Vetter and Melissa Schieble talk to us about teacher agency, community, and critical conversations. A third scholar, Kahdeidra Monét Martin, is also involved in their recent research. Amy is known for her work in understanding how classroom interactions impact developing reader and writer identities as well as teacher identities, the role of critical conversations in educational settings, and the impotence of learning from...

Dr. Shea Kerkhoff talks to us about literacies in the disciplines, an inquiry stance, and authentic learning. She is known for her work in disciplinary literacies, adolescent literacy instruction, and literacies in global contexts. She utilizes mixed methods to investigate critical, digital, and global literacies. Her research centers on integrating inquiry-based global learning with adolescent literacy instruction. She is co-autho...

Dr. Lakeya Omogun talks to us about freedom, identity as an outcome of language and literacy, and arts as a key to communicating and expression. Dr. Omogun is known for her work that explores the role of language and literacies in Black African immigrant youth identity constructions and negotiations across school, community, and digital spaces. As an artist and advocate, as well as a former middle school teacher, Lakeya pays partic...

Dr. Jerome Harste talks to us about writing in early childhood, the inherent social risks in writing, Sketch to Stretch writing, arts-based ways of communicating, kids as curricular informants, teachers as intellectuals and philosophers, and schools as spaces of possibility. Dr. Harste is best known for his work exploring young children’s written language literacy learning, connecting arts and literacies, and critical literacies. A...

Dr. Karen Harris talks to us about Self-Regulated Strategy Development, elements of and strategies for writing instruction, and how social inequities can influence learning. Dr. Harris is best known for developing the Self-Regulated Strategy Development (SRSD) model of strategies instruction. Her research, which has primarily been conducted in under-served schools, focuses on effective instruction for complex learning areas. Karen ...

Dr. Rachael Gabriel talks to us about the influence of policy on education, shadow policies, teaching outside of our integrity, and leaning on each other in hard times. Dr. Gabriel is known for her work in the areas of literacy instruction, leadership and intervention, as well as policies related to teacher development and evaluation. Her current projects investigate supports for adolescent literacy, state literacy policies and dis...

Dr. Cynthia Brock talks to us about learning from our histories, considering our futures, the central role of listening, and the situatedness of our contexts. Cindy is known for her work in the area of opportunities-for-learning literacy. Specifically, her studies have explored children’s learning, pre- and in-service teachers’ learning in university classrooms and in professional development contexts, and her and her colleagues’ l...

Dr. Theresa Rogers talks to us about politics in the lives of young people, adolescents’ multimodal responses to the world, and engaging young people in critical literacies to help them prepare for unknown futures. Dr. Rogers is known for her work in the areas of adolescent/youth literacies and critical perspectives on literature teaching. Her recent articles and the book, Youth, Critical Literacies and Civic Engagement: Arts, Medi...

In this episode, Dr. Alfred Tatum talks to us about a grand dichotomy in America, embracing our roles in teaching, disciplinary equity, and the power of literacy. Al is known for his work around the literacy development of African American boys and his most recent work focuses on the roles of texts and writing to advance the literacy development of African American males. Dr. Alfred W. Tatum is the Provost and Executive Vice Presid...

Dr. Sarah J. McCarthey is known for her work in the areas of writing and writing instruction within the context of education policy and global education. Sarah’s work has been funded by the National Writing Project, the U.S. Department of Education Institute of Education Sciences, the National Academy of Education and Spencer Foundation, and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She has won multiple awards for her teachin...

Dr. Mandie Bevels Dunn is known for her work in the area of teacher wellness. In particular, she studies how teachers who were grieving a death managed their emotions in the context of teaching in English language arts classrooms. In studying teachers’ grief-related emotions, she focuses on how power dynamics between teachers and students influence what teachers disclose or hide about loss experiences when they talk, read, or write...