Rafranz Davis Editor & Author

  Peter M. DeWitt, EdD is a former K–5 teacher (eleven years) and princi­pal (eight years). He is a school leader­ship coach who runs competency-based workshops and provides keynotes nationally and internationally, focus­ing on school leadership (collaborative cultures and instructional leadership), as well as fostering inclusive school climates. Additionally, Peter coaches school-based leaders, directors, instructional coaches, teacher leaders, and school-based leadership teams both in per­son and remotely. In summer 2021 Peter created a yearlong on-demand asynchronous coaching course through Thinkific where he has fostered a community of learners that includes K–12 educators in leadership positions. Peter’s work has been adopted at the state and university level, and he works with numerous school districts, school boards, regional networks, and ministries of education around North America, Australia, Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and the UK. Peter writes the “Finding Common Ground” column for Education Week, which has been in circulation since 2011. In 2020 Peter co-created Education Week’s “A Seat at the Table” series, where he moderates con­versations with experts around the topics of race, gender, sexual orienta­tion, research, trauma, and many other educational topics. Additionally, Peter is the editor for the Connected Educator series (Corwin) and the Impact series (Corwin), which include books by Viviane Robinson, Andy Hargreaves, Pasi Sahlberg, Yong Zhao, and Michael Fullan. He is the 2013 School Administrators Association of New York State’s (SAANYS) Outstanding Educator of the Year and the 2015 Education Blogger of the Year (Academy of Education Arts & Sciences), and he sits on numerous advisory boards. Peter is the author, co-author, or contributor of numerous books, including the following: ·       Dignity for All: Safeguarding LGBT Students (Corwin, 2012) ·       School Climate Change (co-authored with Sean Slade; ASCD, 2014) ·       Flipping Leadership Doesn’t Mean Reinventing the Wheel (Corwin, 2014) ·       Collaborative Leadership: Six Influences That Matter Most (Corwin/Learning Forward, 2016) ·       School Climate: Leading With Collective Teacher Efficacy (Corwin/Ontario Principals Council, 2017) ·       Coach It Further: Using the Art of Coaching to Improve School Leadership (Corwin, 2018) ·       Instructional Leadership: Creating Practice Out of Theory (Corwin, 2020) ·       10 Mindframes for Leaders: The Visible Learning Approach to School Success (edited by John Hattie and Ray Smith; Corwin, 2020) ·       Collective Leader Efficacy: Strengthening the Impact of Instructional Leadership Teams (Corwin/Learning Forward, 2021) Peter’s articles have appeared in educational research journals at the state, national, and international level. His books have been translated into four languages. Some of the organizations Peter has worked with are the American Association of School Administrators (AASA), Arkansas State University, EDUTAS, University of Oklahoma, Victoria Department of Education (Australia), University of Rotterdam (Netherlands), Washington Association of School Administrators (WASA), Texas Association of School Administrators (TASA), the National Education Association (NEA), New Brunswick Teacher’s Association (Canada), the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP), Education Scotland (Scotland), Glasgow City Council (Scotland), Kuwait Technical College (Kuwait), the National Association of School Psychologists, ASCD, l’Association des directions et directions adjointes des écoles franco-ontariennes (ADFO), the Catholic Principals’ Council of Ontario (CPCO), the Ontario Principals’ Council (OPC), National School Climate Center, GLSEN, PBS, NPR, BAM Radio Network, ABC, and NBC’s Education Nation. Steven W. Anderson is a learner, blogger, speaker, educational evangelist, and Dad. As a former teacher and Director of Instructional Technology, he is highly sought after for his expertise in educational technology integration and using social media for learning. He regularly travels the country talking to schools and districts about the use of Social Media in the classroom and how they can better serve students through technology. Steven has been a presenter at several educational technology conferences, including ISTE, ASCD, FETC, VSTE, and numerous state and local conferences. He is also responsible in helping create #edchat, a weekly education discussion on Twitter that boasts over 500 weekly participants. Steven has been recognized with the the 2009 and 2011 Edublogs, Twitterer of The Year Award, a Microsoft Heros of Education Award, along with a 2013 Bammy Award - recognized worldwide as the Educational Emmy - for his work with #edchat.  Mark Barnes is a veteran classroom teacher, education consultant, and author of the critically acclaimed Role Reversal: Achieving Uncommonly Excellent Results in the Student-Centered Classroom (ASCD, 2013), The 5-Minute Teacher (ASCD, 2013) and Teaching the iStudent (Corwin, 2014). A longtime adjunct professor at two Ohio colleges, Mark has created five online courses on web-based instruction, mobile learning, and using Twitter in the classroom and as a professional development tool. A leading expert on student-centered learning, Mark has helped thousands of educators build digitally enhanced, project-based, no-grades classrooms. Mark is the creator of the internationally recognized how-to video site for educators, Learn it in 5, and publisher of the popular education blog Brilliant or Insane. Named a Top 10 education technology blog by EdTech Magazine in 2014, B or I inspires hundreds of thousands of loyal readers. Mark’s Facebook group, Teachers Throwing Out Grades, is a growing collection of educators dedicated to changing the way learning is assessed, and this group helped launch the #ThrowOutGrades Challenge. Mark can be found sharing information and articles about best practices in education daily on Twitter at @markbarnes19. http://www.markbarnes19.com/ http://www.brilliant-insane.com/ https://www.facebook.com/groups/teachersthrowingoutgrades/ View the author′s TED talk here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JShsO5PvYG4 Susan M. Bearden is the Director of Information Technology at Holy Trinity Episcopal Academy in Melbourne, FL. A former teacher, she frequently presents about social media, education technology, and digital citizenship at national and state conferences including ISTE, FETC, CoSN, Miami Device, and the Digital Citizenship Summit. In 2015 she was named to the Center for Digital Education′s list of "Top 30 Technologists, Transformers and Trailblazers" and received the "Making IT Happen" Award from the Florida Society for Technology in Education.  In 2014, she received the Bammy Award for School Technologist of the Year and was a finalist in the education talk show host category. Bearden co-founded and moderates the #edtechchat and #digcit (Digital Citizenship) Twitter chats, which are weekly online discussions about Education Technology and Digital Citizenship. She is a regular contributor to the popular EdTechChat Radio broadcast for the BAM Radio Network (www.bamradionetwork.com/edtechchat). A popular guest blogger, she has written for a variety of online publications including the Huffington Post, SmartBrief on Education, and Edsurge, and was named as one of Common Sense Media′s Favorite Digital Citizenship Bloggers to follow in 2014.  Inspired by her experiences with Twitter, she developed Tweechme, a mobile app specifically designed to teach educators how to build Personal Learning Networks on Twitter. Connect with her on Twitter @s_bearden and @Tweechmeapp or at www.susanmbearden.com. Dr. Spike C. Cook is currently serving in a leadership position as the Principal of RM Bacon Elementary for the Millville Public School District located in the City of Millville, New Jersey. He joined RM Bacon staff in April of 2011. Since that time, he has been influential in increasing technology use with students and teachers, reorganized the Basic Skills Program, and worked on improving the climate and culture of the building.  He began his educational career in 1999 and has worked in higher education, middle school and elementary school. Dr. Cook has served as a counselor, teacher, adjunct professor, Executive Director, vice principal, guidance director and principal. His blog “Insights Into Learning” received a nomination for the Best Administrator Blog by Edublogs. Dr. Cook has presented at numerous state and local conferences. In addition, he has presented at the 2012 ASCD Texas in Dallas, 2013 ASCD National Conference in Chicago, and the 2013 National Association for Elementary School Principals in Baltimore. He was the keynote speaker at the Millville Public Schools Opening Day for over 1,200 staff. Dr. Cook was one of the featured “connected educators” in the 2014 Corwin Press book, “Digital Leadership” by Eric Sheninger. Brad Currie has been an educator for 20 years as a coach, teacher, and administrator. He currently serves as a Director of Planning, Research, and Evaluation for the Chester School District in Chester, New Jersey. Brad is the 2017 NASSP National Assistant Principal of the Year and part of the ASCD Emerging Leaders Class of 2014. He is the co-founder and co-moderator of a weekly Twitter discussion for educators called #satchat. Brad has authored five books including the newly released Tech Request: A Guide for Coaching Educators in the Digital World. He presents nationally on leadership, teaching, and learning in the digital era. Brad has served as an adjunct professor in Drew University′s Graduate School of Education and is a Google Certified Trainer. Connect with Brad by following him on Twitter @thebradcurrie or visiting his company website at www.evolvingeducators.com. Lisa Michelle Dabbs is an Educational Consultant, blogger and speaker. Lisa began her career as an elementary school teacher in Southern California. During that time, she assisted in writing a federal grant project and became the Project Director of a Language and Literacy program. She managed that program, reporting on a regular basis to OBEMLA (now OELA) and successfully guided it through 5 years of completion. Her passion to serve as a leader soon moved her to apply for a principalship. She did so and spent 14 years as an elementary school principal in 4 LA County School Districts. In time she was selected to work as a Coach/Consultant for Kaplan K-12 Educational Corporation as a Middle School Consultant & ELA Coach in Los Angeles Unified School District. She provided staff and teachers with Professional Development, Technology Support and in classroom coaching. Lisa is currently a university Adjunct Professor, teaching undergraduate students and has taught Graduate Level courses in School Administration.   Lisa has a B.A. in Child Development, a M.Ed. in Educational Administration from the University of La Verne, Life Multiple Subjects Credential, Bilingual Certificate of Competency and Administrative Credential. Lisa is active in social media and with her passion to support and mentor new teachers, in 2010, she created and founded New Teacher Chat #ntchat. The chat is a vibrant, weekly, education discussion group on Twitter and is practitioner focused and supportive. New, Pre-service and experienced teachers join her weekly on the chat to discuss topics germane to the needs of the new practitioner. A Facebook,  Google Plus community, and Remind.com class, which she moderates, add additional ways to connect.   Lisa is a resident blogger at Edutopia.org and has served as a member of their Social Media Marketing Team. She also served for 4 years as the facilitator of Edutopia’s New Teacher Connections group. Lisa is on the Teacher Advisory Board and Admin Task Force for Remind.com and blogs for Teachability.com. Lisa has also written for the Huffington Post, Smartblogs, Kids Discover, The Teachers Lounge and other on-line publications.   Lisa is a regular commentator at the BAM! Radio Network where she discusses leadership, and educational issues. She is also a big #edcamp fan and is on the organizing team for @edcampLA and @edcampLDR and was one of the founding members of the first edcamp in California. Lisa is also a co-moderator of California Edchat #caedchat.   Lisa has presented at local, statewide and national education conferences including the 140 Character Conference in Los Angeles on Social Media, Computer Using Educators (CUE), San Diego Computer Using Educators (SDCUE), California Council on Teacher Education (CCTE), Orange County Reading Association (OCRA), Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD), and International Society of Technology Educators (ISTE). She also frequently presents webinars for Simple K12, Edweb, Follett, Laura Candler, McGraw Hill, Reform Symposium, and Classroom 2.0 Live. She is active in her community having served as a library board trustee and currently as the vice president of an award-winning literacy nonprofit in her town. You can find her blogging and sharing her passion to support and mentor new teachers at LisaDabbs.com and on Twitter @teachwithsoul. Rafranz Davis is a math educator, leader, learner and advocate who believes in the power of digital learning opportunities amongst kids. As someone who has built a career on empowering students through the use of relevant technology, Rafranz is now working directly with other educators as an instructional technology specialist where she serves students through supporting their teachers in best practices. Dr. Robert Dillon serves the students and community of the Affton School District as Director of Technology and Innovation. Prior to this position, he served as a teacher and administrator in public schools throughout the Saint Louis area. Dr. Dillon has a passion to change the educational landscape by building excellent engaging schools for all students. He looks for ways to ignite positive risk taking in teachers and students and release trapped wisdom into the system by growing networks of inspired educators. Dr. Dillon has had the opportunity to speak throughout the country at local, state, and national conferences as well as share his thoughts and ideas in a variety of publications. He is supported by his wife, Sandra and two daughters, Emily and Ellie. Dr. Dillon is also an avid runner, reader and cyclist. Laura Fleming has been an educator in the state of New Jersey for 17 years. She has been both a classroom teacher and media specialist in grades K-8 and currently as a Library Media Specialist for grades 9-12. Laura is a strong advocate of using New Media and Vanguard Techniques for Interactive and Transmedia (multi-platform) Storytelling. She has played a prominent role in education as a writer and speaker and has served as an educational consultant on next-generation teaching methods and tools. Laura has also consulted on Transmedia properties, working with producers to help maximize the value of their creations and toolsets for teachers and students. She is also the author of Worlds of Learning:  Best Practices for Establishing a Makerspace for Your School (Corwin, 2015). Laura’s goal is to create learning experiences that empower and equip students with necessary skills to effectively produce and consume content across multiple media platforms. She is also driven to enable educators and cohorts in applying these innovative methods and cutting-edge technology in their fields of expertise. She is an educational consultant, thought leader and speaker on education, librarianship, and technology.   Recently, Laura created a digital badge-based professional development platform in which educators all over the world earn badges in acknowledgement of their informal professional learning. Her library Makerspace has garnered national attention and has served as an inspiration for schools across the country. She is also a recipient of the National School Boards ‘20 to Watch’ in Educational Technology Leadership for 2014. Her goal is to create learning experiences that empower and equip students with necessary skills to effectively produce and consume content across multiple media platforms. She is also driven to enable educators and cohorts in applying these innovative methods and cutting-edge technology in their fields of expertise. Laura is an educational consultant, thought leader and speaker on education, librarianship, and technology. She is also the host of the BAM Radio Show "Movers and Makers." Billy Krakower (@wkrakower) is a full-time teacher at Woodland Park Public Schools in Woodland Park, New Jersey, where he has taught computers and special education to grades 3 and 4 for over eight years. He is the Chief Financial & Event Officer for Evolving Educators, LLC (evolvingeducators.com). Billy co-moderates two weekly Twitter chats, #NJed chat and #satchat (for educational leaders). He co-hosts “SatChat Radio,” a weekly show interviewing educators on BAM Radio Network and available on iTunes. Billy is one of the lead organizers of edcampNJ and edcampLeadership North NJ. He is on the teacher advisory board for ReadWorks. Billy is a 2014 ASCD Emerging Leader, and a member of the NJASCD Executive board and serves as the Technology Committee Chair. He also served as co-director of NJ-ASCD Northern Region (Fall 2013 - June 2015). He has presented at more than 20 local and national technology conferences on topics including Twitters & You, The Science Behind a Mystery Location Call, and Connecting Beyond the Classroom. ? Billy has an Advance Certificate in Educational Leadership and a dual Masters Degree in Special Education & Elementary Education from Long Island University. Billy is a Google Certified Educator and an Edmodo Certified Trainer. You can read more about Billy, his awards, and his presentations at www.billykrakower.com. He is passionate about helping every child and adult enjoy and learn using technology tools in easy, fun and empowering ways. Thomas C. Murray serves as the state and district digital learning director for the Alliance for Excellent Education located in Washington, DC. He has testified before the United States Congress and works alongside that body, the US Department of Education and state departments of education, corpo­rations, and school districts throughout the country to implement digital learning while leading Future Ready, Project 24, and Digital Learning Day. Murray’s experiences in K–12 digital leadership, which include implementing a 1:1 program, BYOD, blended learning, and a K–12 cyber school where he served as the director of technology and cyber education for the Quakertown Community School District in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, have been recognized nationally.   A former school principal, Murray is passionate about proper digital learning implementation and personalized professional learning. He was the recipient of the Blended Schools Network Leadership Award, named one of the top 16 “forward thinking EdTech leaders in the country,” named one of the “top 100 influential voices in education,” has been featured in Tech & Learning magazine’s Leadership Profile, and has appeared on various television shows. Murray’s cyber- and blended-learning programs have been highlighted by Forbes.com, T.H.E. Journal, District Administration magazine, Project Red, Tech & Learning magazine, the Innosight Institute, and iNACOL, among oth­ers, and on Digital Learning Day in both 2013 and 2014. He also serves on the advisory board for T.H.E. Journal and Remind. Murray is the cofounder of #edtechchat, a weekly educational technology Twitter forum, where hundreds of educators from around the world discuss digital learning. As a follow up, his weekly show, #edtechchat radio on the BAM Radio Network, regularly falls as one of the top downloaded education podcasts. Connect with him on Twitter @thomascmurray or at www.thomascmurray.com.   Speaking Engagements and Other Credentials: http://www.thomascmurray.com/#!2014-engagements/c1d9n Pernille Ripp is a teacher, speaker, author, blogger, and passionate advocate for education. She is a Skype Master Teacher; Microsoft Innovative Educator Expert; recipient of the 2015 WEMTA Making IT Happen Award; and the 2015 ISTE Award for Innovation in Global Collaboration. In 2010, Pernille founded The Global Read Aloud, a global literacy initiative that began with a simple goal in mind: one book to connect the world. From its humble beginnings, the GRA has grown to connect more than 1,000,000 students in 60 different countries. She is the author of Passionate Learners – How to Engage and Empower Your Students, now in its second edition, and Empowered Schools, Empowered Students, both focusing on creating learning spaces and communities where students thrive and all stakeholders are empowered and passionate about learning. Her work has also been featured by many print and online journals including Edutopia, School Library Journal, The Guardian, and MiddleWeb. You can follow Pernille’s work on Blogging Through The Fourth Dimension, her personal blog and a frequent Teach100 top rated education blog. Pernille’s current research interest is in creating passionate literacy environments within the restriction of our current educational systems to helping students fall in love with literacy again. She uses her own classroom as a laboratory, as well as the many educators she works with across the country. Starr Sackstein currently works at World Journalism Preparatory School in Flushing, NY as a high school English and Journalism teacher and author of Teaching Mythology Exposed: Helping Teachers Create Visionary Classroom Perspective. This year she begins a new blog with Education Week Teacher called “Work in Progress” in addition to her personal blog StarrSackstein.com where she discusses all aspects of being a teacher. Sackstein co-moderates #jerdchat and #sunchat as well as contributes to #NYedChat. This year she has made the Bammy Awards finals for Secondary High School Educator. In speaking engagements, Sackstein speaks about blogging, journalism education and BYOD, helping people see technology doesn’t have to be feared. Dr. Joe Sanfelippo is the Superintendent of the Fall Creek School District in Fall Creek, Wisconsin. Joe holds a BA in Elementary and Early Childhood Education from St. Norbert College, a MS in Educational Psychology from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, a MS in Educational Leadership, and a PhD in Leadership, Learning, and Service from Cardinal Stritch University.  He also serves on the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction Educator Effectiveness Teachscape Team.  Joe is a co-host for the BrandED Podcast, which features great leaders across the country telling the amazing stories of schools. His research interests include Organizational and Systems Change in Schools, Personalized Professional Growth for Staff, and Advancing the Use of Social Media in School Districts. He can be found on Twitter @Joesanfelippofc Tony Sinanis is currently in his sixth year as the Lead Learner of Cantiague Elementary School in Jericho, New York. Cantiague was named a 2012 National Blue Ribbon School and Tony received the 2013 Bammy Award for Elementary School Principal of the Year. Tony was also recently nominated for the New York State Elementary School Principal of the Year Award. Tony taught at the elementary level for 8 years and he started his career as a 5th Grade Teacher in the New York City Public School. Tony graduated from New York University with a degree in Early Childhood and Elementary Education and then went on to receive his Master’s Degree in Educational Technology and an Advanced Certificate in Educational Leadership and Technology from the New York Institute of Technology. Tony is currently enrolled in a doctoral program at the University of Pennsylvania where he is studying the relationship between active participation on Twitter and the professional development of principals. Tony is active on Twitter (@TonySinanis) and serves as the founder and co-moderator of #NYedchat and co-moderator of #PTChat. Finally, Tony co-hosts the BrandED podcast with Dr. Sanfelippo. John Spencer is an assistant professor of instructional technology at George Fox University, where he is focusing on the integration of creative and connective technology with quality pedagogy. He has over a decade’s experience teaching middle school, including a year where he co-led the Twenty-First Century Classrooms, an innovative, STEM-centered, one-to-one initiative with twelve ELL classrooms. He is a frequent keynote speaker and workshop presenter. This last year he delivered a speech at the White House Future Ready Conference. He blogs regularly at SpencerIdeas.org and his work has been featured in Kappan Magazine, Education Week, The Answer Sheet, Edutopia, and Think Inclusive. Kristen Swanson helps teachers design meaningful, interactive curricula at the local and national level. She has taught at the elementary level, served as a regional consultant for Response to Intervention, and worked as an educational technology director for a public school district in Pennsylvania. She holds a B.A. degree from DeSales University, two M.A. degrees from Wilkes University, and an Ed.D. degree from Widener University. Kristen is currently an adjunct in the DeSales University instructional technology M.Ed program and a senior technology leader for BrightBytes. In addition to her experience as an educator, Kristen is also passionate about meaningful professional learning. She serves on the board of the Edcamp Foundation, a nonprofit organization designed to facilitate local, grassroots professional development. She has shared her ideas and expertise at ASCD conferences, TEDxPhiladelphiaEd, TEDxNYED, and Educon. She has also been published in academic journals, including Literacy Learning: The Middle Years and the Journal of Reading, Writing, and Literacy. She is the author of Professional Learning in the Digital Age: The Educator’s Guide to User-Generated Learning and Teaching the Common Core Speaking and Listening Standards. Kristen is active in the educational technology sphere. She is a Google Certified Teacher, Twitter Teacher, Edublog Award Nominee, and avid blogger. She strongly believes that rigorous curriculum fosters meaningful technology integration, and she is also interested in the learning opportunities provided by asynchronous learning. Tom Whitby has presented at many national, statewide, and local education conferences as well as Edcamps. He has contributed to the WISE Conference in Doha, Qatar, an International Education Conference, for the last two years. He served as a social media consultant for SmartBrief and a contributing Editor for SmartBlog on Education for SmartBrief. Tom is a retired Adjunct Professor of Education at St Joseph’s College in New York, having taught for 6 years. He came to that position after 34 years as a secondary English teacher in the Public School system. He was also a leader in the New York State United Teacher Locals for 30 years. He has founded a number of Educational Groups on Linkedin including Technology Using Professors Group.  He has been recognized with an Edublog Award for the most Influential Educational Twitter Series, Edchat, which he founded. Additionally, Tom hosts The Edchat Radio Show for the BAM Network, which is available as free podcasts from K-12 education at the Apple iStore. He blogs at My Island View and has contributed articles to several education journals and has been a guest blogger with contributions to The Royal Treatment and Teacher’s Reboot Camp. He created the Ning site, The Educator’s PLN: http://edupln.ning.com/.  Follow him on Twitter @tomwhitby.