Untitled Document
SPEAKERS



 

Carl Anderson
Carl Anderson is one of the leading experts on teaching writing to students in grades K-12. He dedicates his energies exclusively as an education consultant and writer. Carl recently worked for Teachers College Reading and Writing Project at Columbia University as a Lead Staff Developer, providing staff development in the teaching of writing grades K–8. He spent school days in New York City elementary and middle schools demonstrating effective teaching in the writing workshop and coaching teachers. He gave day-long workshops for teachers at Teachers College on launching the writing workshop, conferring with student writers, mini-lessons, and developing curriculum for the writing workshop.

Stephen G. Barkley
Stephen G. Barkley, 
Executive Vice President
, PLS 3rd Learning

For the past 30 years, Steve has served
as a consultant to school districts, teacher organizations, state departments of education, and colleges and universities nationally and internationally, facilitating the changes necessary for them to reach students and successfully prepare them for the 21st century. A prolific published author, his weekly blog, Steve Barkley Ponders Out Loud, has evolved into
a go-to resource for teachers and administrators all over the world.  

 
 Chad Fairey
Chad Fairey is the Director of the Mediterranean Center of Innovation in Education.  With over fifteen years of leadership in international and American schools, he has served as a Head of School, Deputy Head of School, Technology Director, Curriculum Coordinator and a middle/high school history teacher in schools in the Florida, Washington, D.C., France and Spain.  Originally a history teacher, he received his B.A. in History from Florida State University, his M.Ed in Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Virginia, and is currently pursuing his Ed.D. in educational leadership and administration from the University of Bath in the United Kingdom. Actively involved with leadership in the US as well as in international schools, he has served as a fellow with the Library of Congress, as a member of the Curriculum Committee of the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS), as the chair of the IT Committee of the European Council of International Schools (ECIS), the chair of the Professional Learning & Action Research Committee for ECIS, and the founding chair of the International Schools SIG of the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE).  

Darlene Fisher
Darlene Fisher is Chief Learning Officer at ECIS has started her career in education in Melbourne Australia as a History teacher, and became an examiner for the Victorian State system, moving into the International Bacalaureate and becoming a History Examiner, Team Leader and Extended Essay marker when working at ABA in Oman. In school, Darlene progressed from Head of Department to Housemaster (Melbourne Grammar-Australia), to Dean of Students (Prem Tinsulanonda Int.School-Thailand) to Head of High School (EMWS- Mumbai) , and finally Director at Enka Schools Istanbul. All of these positions have allowed Darlene to work with her passion of empowering those around her to believe in themselves and reach for their best in their teaching and learning.


Dr. Gary Gruber
Dr. Gary Gruber has served in every capacity in independent schools - teacher, coach, department head, head of school, parent, trustee, and grandparent. He has taught in college and university settings, co-authored a book on adolescence and published a recent one on choosing the right school for your child. Gary was the Head of School at The Shipley School in Pennsylvania, the founding head of Bosque School in Albuquerque, where he served most recently as the Interim Head of School, 2010-11. He served as the Chaplain and Department Head at Choate Rosemary Hall. He was the founding Board Chair of Monte del Sol School in Santa Fe and for the past fifteen years he has been an executive search consultant and management consultant to schools in the United States and abroad. Gary spent two years as interim Principal at the American School in London. He holds a B.A. from Miami University, an M.Div. from Princeton and an M.S. and Ph.D. from Penn State University. Gary is based in northern New Mexico where he has been a resident for the past 20 years. His TEDex talk is available on YouTube: Seven Decades of Learning: The Beat Goes On


Adele Hodgson
Adele Hodgson’s experience spans the business and not for profit worlds ranging from banking, to medical research, to education. She is the author/editor of three books, and numerous articles on strategic planning, marketing and development, and governance. She worked very successfully with the Frankfurt International School for 12 years.Some of her most recent activities have involved advising local government and economic development agencies on the establishment and effective management of schools, strategic planning for mature schools, curriculum development, teacher recruitment and governance training.   Adele has been involved in the establishment of two international schools in Europe – Dresden International School, and Thuringia International School and is currently advising PHORMS AG on the establishment of a network of bi-lingual schools in Germany. She has hands on experience of the CIS/NEASC accreditation process, and excellent knowledge of the full IB Programmes, AP, and British “A” levels, Financial modeling for start ups, and Crises Management Planning.  


Kevin Hawkins
Kevin Hawkins has worked with adolescents in various contexts for over 30 years - as teacher, school head, and social worker in the UK, Africa, and Europe.  Until recently, and for the past 10 years, he was Middle School Principal at the International School of Prague in the Czech Republic. Kevin has taught mindfulness to teenagers, teachers and parents since 2010 and he currently manages Partnership Development for the Mindfulness in Schools Project and is one of their lead teacher trainers. In 2012 he co-founded MindWell which supports educational communities in developing mindfulness and social-emotional learning. Kevin also works independently as a consultant and trainer in Social Emotional Learning and Mindfulness.


Donald J. Jacobs
A thirty-two year education veteran, PLS 3rd Learning Chief Executive Officer Donald J. Jacobs, Ph.D. is the founder of the award-winning Center for Applied Technologies in Education (CATE) at the University at Buffalo, SUNY, where his team designed and implemented numerous educational technology projects for K-12 schools across the world. One of the founding members of the original 3rd Learning team, his work includes projects and planning initiatives with educational organizations and ministries of education in Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Oman, Panama, Poland, Tanzania, and numerous other schools across the world. For the past 12 years, he has collaborated with renown primatologist Dr. Jane Goodall in the design and development of environmental and education initiatives in various countries in Africa, Central America, and Europe.
 
Karim Medico Letwinsky
Dr. Karim Medico Letwinsky is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Educational Leadership at Wilkes University. As a former math teacher with over 20 years of experience in both K-12 and post secondary environments, her current coursework is concentrated in the Graduate School of Education focusing on Effective Instruction, Curriculum and Assessment, and Quantitative Research Methodology and Statistics. Dr. Medico Letwinsky prides herself in being both a practitioner and researcher with a contagious passion for the effective teaching and learning of mathematics. For this reason, her research trajectory includes the professional development of K-12 teachers, and more specifically the ability of classroom teachers to make learning mathematics attainable and meaningful to the unique 21st century learners in today’s classrooms. As an international consultant, she provides targeted professional development related to mathematics curriculum and instruction in K-12 classrooms world wide. Dr. Medico Letwinsky resides in Dallas, Pennsylvania, USA with her husband and their four children.

Margaret MacLean
Margaret MacLean, an educator with over 30 years’ experience, she currently provides professional development support to teachers and school leaders internationally. Margaret has taught at all grade levels from Pre K to grade 6 and served for over 15 years as a school administrator. In 1996 Margaret was named Vermont Principal of the Year. Her work takes her to school districts throughout the US to provide initial training seminars and follow up school coaching. Margaret has worked directly with a number of international schools to develop school wide systems for effective professional collaboration. She is a member of the School Reform Initiative.
Alexandra Metral
Alexandra Metral has worked in the field of convergence through her work in art and sciences. Most recently she has organized a league and hackathon (Make Pumps Not Suck) hosted by MIT’s Media Lab, which yielded 85 pieces of national and international press, a new international network for innovations in post-partum health. As a teaching fellow at Harvard University in both the fine arts and science departments, Alexandra talks to students from her position of contemporary installation artist. She is currently continuing her work on idea translation with Le Laboratoire Cambridge MA, a platform for convergence, experiments and exhibition. Alexandra also works with Cantor Center for the Arts in the implementation of a new family arts education program.


Kerry O’Grady
Kerry O'Grady is a senior consultant for Center for Responsive Schools and travels throughout the US and internationally to present workshops, coach teachers, and consult with school leaders about implementing the Responsive Classroom approach. Her prior experience includes working as an educator for 15 years in Virginia’s highly diverse Fairfax County School District. She also served as the on-site coordinator for the Responsive Classroom Efficacy Study, a multimillion dollar, federally funded project involving the University of Virginia and a large mid-Atlantic school district.


Stuart Stotts
Stuart Stotts is a songwriter, author, educational trainer, and Kennedy Center teaching artist. He has worked in schools for nearly thirty years and has led professional development sessions for teachers for over fifteen years. Stuart has presented in Europe, Malaysia, and throughout the United States and also published ten books, including the forthcoming "Beyond Nice: 149 Ideas to Nurture Kindness in Young Children." Stuart’s songs have been recorded by artists around the world. 


Philip Yenawine
Philip Yenawine is co founder of Visual Understanding in Education (VUE), a non profit educational research organization that develops and studies ways teaching visual literacy and of using art to teach thinking and communication skills. Director of Education at The Museum of Modern Art from 1983-93, he worked in 1992-94 as consulting curator at the Institute for Contemporary Art, and during the academic year 1993-94, as Visiting Professor of art education at Mass College of Art, both in Boston. Yenawine is the author of How to Look at Modern Art, Key Art Terms for Beginners, and has written six children's books about art.


Günther K.H. Zupanc
Günther K.H. Zupanc is Professor of Biology at Northeastern University, Boston, Massachusetts (U.S.A.).He graduated in Biology and Physics from the University of Regensburg (Germany). He received his Ph.D. in Neurosciences from the University of California, San Diego (U.S.A.) and his Habilitation (Dr. rer nat. habil.) in Animal Physiology from the University of Tübingen (Germany). After working as a Research Biologist at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla, California, Zupanc headed a Junior Research Group at the Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology in Tübingen, Germany, and he was on the faculty of the University of Manchester (U.K.) and of the International University Bremen (Germany). His research focuses on neural plasticity in the adult brain, and on its relevance to plastic changes in behaviour. Professor Zupanc has taught lecture and laboratory courses at both the undergraduate and the graduate level to numerous students in the U.S.A. and in Europe. His book Behavioral Neurobiology: Integrative Approach (Oxford University Press) is currently the most frequently adopted text for teaching behavioral neurobiology classes in the world. In recognition of his research and teaching, and of his contributions to the public understanding of science, he has received many awards. 


Paul Corbière
Paul Corbière lives in Coralville, Iowa, and teaches at Roundy Elementary in Columbus Junction where he is the K-6 General Music Teacher. Prior to continuing his career in Iowa, Paul taught in Palm Beach County, Florida for fourteen years. He is the cofounder of the Beat For Peace program combining World Music Drumming and Resiliency Research. Paul received his Masters of Music in Percussion Performance from the Ohio State University in 1992 and his Bachelors of Fine Arts degree in Music Education in 1989. Paul has been a featured clinician at the Florida, Oklahoma, Virginia, and Texas, Iowa and Illinois Music Educators Association Conferences. In October, 2005, he was composer and co-facilitator of the Iowa Groove, a 1300 person drum ensemble. Paul is a consultant for the Just Play It! Classroom Harmonica Method, a classroom Blues Harmonica. 


Paula Marra
Paula Marra has been a Junior School teacher at the United Nations International School in New York since 2008, and a member of the European Council of International Schools (ECIS) Technology, Innovation and Design Committee since 2013. She emphasizes self-confidence and resilience in learning, and prefers teaching techniques that integrate multiple intelligences. She uses project-based learning methods and integrates new technologies (e.g., digital reading portfolios, bilingual ebooks, 3D printing, digital images and video, QR codes, Livescribe) to make lessons more effective and engaging for the children. She has presented at conferences on project-based learning/STEAM and technology integration in education. Previously, she taught at international schools in her native Sao Paulo, and in London. Paula received her teaching Diploma at Sion in Sao Paulo, her Montessori certification at the London Montessori Center, and her Advanced Diploma in Professional Development (Inclusive Education) from Queens University, Belfast. She is a believer in continuous learning, and has taken courses at Harvard Wide World (on Differentiating Instruction, Teaching to Standards with New Technologies, Making Thinking Visible, and Teaching for Understanding) and at the Teacher Training Centre in London (on Inquiry Based Learning in the Classroom and Classroom Assessments Strategies), and has done courses on Positive Psychology with a focus on teaching Happiness, Hope and Optimism. Paula has published two books on project-based learning on the Apple Store.





Rebecca Murry
Rebecca Murry was an architect for 20 years and shifted towards education with the goal of teaching mathematics using a constructivist approach to making learning number relationships very accessible to all learners. She believes that every student needs to have the desire and the curiosity to learn and not be obliged and told how to think. Building from their own understanding, having discourse with peers, learning from misconceptions, making conjectures about the patterns in life through numbers and their relationships - are all part of a young mathematician’s life.  As an educator, her role is to facilitate and guide students to construct their own paths to find and solve problems. Thinking outside the box, asking provocative questions, and discovering dilemmas to muddle with ensures classrooms are not confined to prescribed thinking and are inclusive to all kinds of minds.  As Math Coach at the United Nations International School, she co-teaches, co-plans, provides in-house PD, and supports student learning needs while working to implement innovative & creative STEAM project-based learning in math.  Her previous presentations focused on Blended Learning, Project-Based math applications, and Brain-Based research on math classroom environments. She currently serves as a reviewer for the publication Teaching Children Mathematics by NCTM. Applied Mathematics has always been part of her life as an architect. She has a Bachelor of Architecture from Pratt Institute and a Masters Degree in Special Education and General Education from Bank Street College of Education.