Welcome to my Writing Page!
I didn’t grow up knowing I would be a writer, but I did grow up being a reader. I was a quiet, rule-following kid, but I used to get in trouble for rushing through my school assignments so I could get back to my book. Such a rebel!!
Features are articles I have written over the years. Feel free to browse!
Profiles are the kind of writing I like best. Check out these cool people I got to meet and chat with! Ordinary people doing extraordinary things. It makes for great reading!
Sister Act
Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority marks 100 years on University of Illinois campus Illinois Alumni magazine October 2014 The hallways of the I Hotel were packed as women sporting pink and green t-shirts...
Encore!
When Healing Arts Enhance the Arts Outlook magazine January 2014 This year Devyani Hunt had an epiphany. During Dancing in the Streets, a St. Louis outdoor dance festival featuring more than 60...
LLVM
Starting Out as a Research Project, Hits the Big Time Click! magazine December 2013 Vikram Adve, professor of computer science, and his first-year graduate student, Chris Lattner, made a plan for...
Beam Us Up
From hoops to Commencement to the "King," the U of I's spaceship-shaped center has hosted half a century of memorable moments From hoops to Commencement to the "King," the U of I's spaceship-shaped...
Tectonic Shifts, Turbulence, & Opportunities
Adam Banks on How CCCC Can Help Re-vision Higher Education NCTE Council Chronicle November 2013 For Adam Banks, 2014 CCCC chair, the conference is an opportunity to look hard at the future and...
Reading Instruction That Meets Students Where They Are
Helping Students Learn to Enjoy and Succeed at Reading
For those who have mastered reading, it is like breathing: they don’t consciously think about how to do, they just do it. For others, though, reading may be anything but unconscious, and can be difficult, frustrating work.
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Thank you for signing up for my newsletter! Every month I’ll send a new post sharing my thoughts on writing — especially children’s non-fiction — and creativity, posting writing prompts, discussing my favorite middle grade authors and more.