After receiving my B.S. Degree in Elementary Education from the
College of St. Teresa in Winona, MN, I was a classroom teacher in
Grades 4 and 5 in two Catholic grade schools in Central Minnesota.
I have been a teacher educator at Mankato State University (Mankato,
MN), the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, and most recently at
the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh. My teaching focuses on helping
undergraduate and graduate apply their knowledge of literacy education
in their work with children through tutoring and clinical experiences.
While we can never undervalue the importance of teachers’
knowledge and skill, I believe that nurturing my students to become
lifelong learners is the most important job I have. A good friend
once said, “It’s what you learn after you know it all
that really counts.”
My scholarship has included self-studies of my own teaching as
a teacher educator and also an examination of how portfolios facilitate
reflection in preservice and inservice teachers. I have presented
at numerous international, national, regional, and local conferences,
and published in both state and national journals. In 2004 I was
elected as vice president of the Wisconsin State Reading Association,
an organization with 2500 members. I also serve as a member of the
WSRA No Child Left Behind Task Force and am the 2007 WSRA Convention
Chair. For more information on WSRA, see www.wsra.org.
