About

I moved to Manhattan after graduating from The George Washington University. I worked in public relations, but knew I wanted to teach children. Therefore, I obtained a M.S.Ed. in Childhood Education from Hunter College. Once I became a certified elementary school teacher, I began my teaching career at P.S. 171 in East Harlem, NY where I taught fifth grade. While teaching in New York, I obtained a second master's degree in Literacy Education from Columbia University's Teachers College, which allowed me to become a certified literacy specialist. In 2007, I relocated to New England where I taught fourth grade at The Learning Community in Central Falls, RI. Two years later, my husband's job took us to Pennsylvania. I decided to turn my passion for balanced literacy instruction into a career as a literacy consultant. Since 2009, I have worked as a literacy consultant with public and private schools around the country. In addition, I've taught graduate courses about the teaching of writing as an adjunct professor for Lesley University and Penn State - Harrisburg.

I'm the co-author of Welcome to Writing Workshop: Engaging Today's Students with a Model That Works (Stenhouse Publishers, 2019), the author of Craft Moves: Lesson Sets for Teaching Writing with Mentor Texts (Stenhouse Publishers, 2016), and the co-author of Day by Day: Refining Writing Workshop Through 180 Days of Reflective Practice (Stenhouse Publishers, 2010). My most recent project, Jump Into Writing (Zaner-Bloser, 2021), is a writing curriculum I co-authored with Lynne Dorfman.

I am the Chief of Operations and the Lead Writer at Two Writing Teachers, a site solely devoted to the teaching of writing. Two Writing Teachers has been a labor of love since I co-founded it in 2007. Our mission is to unite a community of teachers through the practice of writing while inspiring and guiding the teaching of a writing workshop approach. Two Writing Teachers does not accept advertising nor does it contain affiliate links. The co-author team wants to provide ideas with words from our hearts and our process as educators and writers, which is why we do not receive profits from the writing we do at Two Writing Teachers.

I present at local, state, and national conferences. I have served on the editorial review board for The Language and Literacy Spectrum, the New York State Reading Association's Journal. My professional memberships include NCTE and SCBWI. I am a Kappa Delta Pi Teacher of Honor. In addition, I served as the Vice-President of the Board of Directors for the Silver Academy from 2015 - 2019. Prior to that, I was a member of Silver Academy's Board of Directors from 2009 - 2015.

I live in Lancaster, Pennsylvania with my husband and children. When I'm not reading or writing, I enjoy swimming, Pilates, and cooking.