Click here for a printable version of the Speakers.
Eric Litwin is a guitar strumming, book writing, harmonica blowing, banjo picking, song singing, five-time national award winning, tale telling, former classroom teaching, song writing, CD producing, folksy fun type of guy. His dynamic performances blend song and story together into a joyful cultural arts experience! Eric has an M.A. in Education from George Washington University, an M.P.A. in Administration from State University of New York at Albany and is a former classroom teacher in both regular and special education. He has recorded two award-winning children’s CD’s entitled Smile at Your Neighbor and The Big Silly and is the author of the popular picture book Pete the Cat, I Love My White Shoes. Eric has received numerous national awards for his music and storytelling including a Parents’ Choice Recommended Award, Parenting Media Award and The Children's Music Web Award.
Steve Spangler is probably best known for teaching millions of people how to turn an ordinary bottle of soda into an erupting geyser of fun with his Mentos Geyser Experiment, which became an internet sensation in 2005. He has also been described as the guy who shoots potatoes, makes toilet paper fly and mixes up a perfect batch of slime. Steve started his career as a science teacher in the Cherry Creek School District in Colorado. He is currently based in Denver, but travels extensively, training teachers in ways to make learning more engaging and fun. His hands-on science “boot camps” and summer institutes inspire and teach teachers how to prepare a new generation for an ever-changing work force. Over the last 15 years, he has also made more than 500 television appearances, including entertaining segments on The Ellen Degeneres Show, as an authority on hands-on science and inquiry-based learning. This Emmy award-winning journalist, teacher and toy designer teaches people how to create unforgettable learning experiences that spread like a virus.
Exploding Soda & Flying Potatoes: How to Create Unforgettable Learning Experiences
Jerry Pallotta began writing books in 1986, getting the idea for his first book, Ocean Alphabet, while reading to his own children. While successfully selling Ocean Alphabet, inspiration for the next title, and the next, took hold. Information researched in the field, complimented with museum and library study, grew into a series of 22 nonfiction alphabet titles which includes Icky Bug Alphabet, Jet Alphabet, Flower Alphabet and Skull Alphabet. Jerry also brings nonfiction subjects to the field of elementary math in a beautifully illustrated format, and his math literacy books count from zero to zillions in titles such as Underwater Counting Even Numbers, Underwater Counting Odd Numbers, Count to a Million and Icky Bug Numbers. Jerry’s Math = Fun series includes the operations of addition, subtraction, division, multiplication, as well as fractions and measurement. Jerry has won several Children’s Choice Awards for titles such as Crayon Count by Twos, Desert Alphabet and Skull Alphabet. He has spoken in all 50 states and has been in over 3,000 schools and 250 conferences. From 2005 through 2007, Jerry presented the Read a Zillion Books® Literacy Conference, an assembly of nationally-recognized educators, authors and illustrators who promote reading and writing to emerging and experienced teachers. Jerry says, “I love writing books, and I love visiting schools all over the United States. I think I have the best job in the world!”
Welcome to My Publishing World
Friday, March 12 – Featured Presentations #2: Math = Fun and #79: Take a Tour of the Alphabet
Jack Hartmann is a nationally recognized children’s singer, songwriter and author specializing in “educational music that makes learning fun for everyone.” Jack received his B.A. in Psychology from the University of Florida and his M.A. in Child Psychology from Assumption College in Worcester, Massachusetts. He started his career in children's music working with autistic children at University of Florida Shands Teaching Hospital in Gainesville, Florida. As a counselor, social worker and trainer, Jack worked twenty-five years with children, families and human service professionals in Pinellas County, Florida. Jack has written and recorded over 500 songs for children on 25 albums such as ExerSongs: Music That Makes Fitness Fun!, Cool Beats That Teach!, Learning to Love and Follow-a-Dream. He has also written a wonderful sea-life counting picture book for children titled Over in the Ocean. His highly regarded educational songs are used by teachers and sung by children in schools all across the United States and around the world.
Let Music Make Learning Fun
Saturday, March 13 – Featured Seminar #101: Cool Beats to Help Children Read
Dr. Brian Faulkner completed his M.S. and Ed.D. in Early Childhood Education from Nova Southeastern University in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. His research was in the development of music centers in the early childhood classroom and the use of teaching songs as mnemonic devices for memory enhancement of three and four year-olds. In 1997, Brian and his wife, Shirley, started Makin’ Music, a preschool music service provider in Arkansas, and the company has grown over the past 12 years. Brian now teaches preschool music to over 800 children, five years of age and younger, each week in Arkansas Better Chance programs, Head Start, private childcare centers, faith-based centers, daycare family homes and also in five therapeutic centers working with special-needs children. His program implements the National Association for Music Education (MENC) pre-K standards and introduces children to numerous styles of music in addition to hands-on experiences with a multitude of different instruments. Brian also teaches college courses in early childhood education and provides thousands of hours of professional development training and in-service to early childhood professionals and music educators.
Karen Hickman is a Loving Guidance Associate and Certified Conscious Discipline® Instructor. She is a dynamic, encouraging, approachable and energetic presenter, receiving acclaim for her engaging style, audience attunement, knowledge and wit. Karen is passionate about providing adults with skills necessary to transform themselves, their classrooms and homes. A combined 20 years of experience in teaching grades 4-6, operating an in-home preschool program, teaching as an adjunct professor at the University of Missouri-Columbia, consulting, coaching teachers and parenting her own children have provided numerous opportunities to apply the skills of Conscious Discipline®. In 2003, the Central Missouri Association for the Education of Young Children awarded Karen with the Outstanding Early Childhood Award. Karen specializes in interactive and informative workshops for parents, early childhood educators, and elementary educators.
Sharron Krull is a passionate, enthusiastic and inspiring early childhood educator. Her special rapport with children stems from her positive attitude toward life, her in-depth training and her rewarding experiences while teaching kids, training teachers and speaking all over the country about early childhood related topics. Sharron has a bachelor’s degree in education from Miami University of Ohio, and her teaching experience spans over thirty-eight years, encompassing nearly all areas of early childhood education. She is a veteran preschool teacher, having taught and directed at parent cooperative preschools for over 20 years. Sharron has also taught parent education classes, school-age childcare programs and elementary school. She has been an instructor of child development courses at several California community colleges, as well as a trainer, speaker and writer. She is currently an Early Childhood Educational Consultant for Discount School Supply and is a member of the national training team for I Am Moving, I Am Learning, a Head Start childhood obesity prevention initiative. Sharron’s advocacy for children and her desire to share with other teachers and parents led her to co-author two teacher resource books entitled Circle Time Activities for Young Children and Play Power: Games and Activities for Young Children. She is presenting at CYY as a representative for Isabel Baker/The Book Vine.
Dr. Brad Mears is an Associate Professor at the University of Central Missouri in the Department of Kinesiology. For the last 14 years he has focused his research on the developing child, specializing in developmental neurology, autism and neuroeducation. Dr. Mears is considered to be one of the top presenters in his field and works extensively with professional organizations, school districts and early childhood education programs across the country. He also serves as a board member for the Midwest Center for Autism. Prior to the completion of his Doctorate degree and his appointment with the University of Central Missouri, Dr. Mears was a teacher in a kindergarten and early childhood special education school. He is dedicated to developing a better understanding of childhood development and demonstrating the importance of quality early childhood education.
Dr. Peggy North-Jones is a Certified Family Life Educator and family educational consultant based in St. Louis who has worked with children and families for 37 years. She also has her own business as a lecturer presenting seminars called THIS IS MY FAMILY. Currently, she is the Associate Program Manager with Caregiver Connections in Illinois and an early childhood consultant with the Start Up and Expansion Program at the University of Missouri. Born and raised in the New York area, Dr. North-Jones received her B.A. in Psychology from Carnegie-Mellon University in Pittsburgh and earned her doctorate in Counseling and Family Therapy from St. Louis University. As a nationally-known speaker and trainer, she has given hundreds of presentations in areas including family life education, family wellness, time and stress management and general parenting issues.
Marsha Shigeyo Hawley is an Associate Professor at Kendall College in Chicago. She has been teaching undergraduate and graduate courses specifically targeting culturally diverse paraprofessionals and professionals in early childhood care and education since 1985. She began her professional career as a teacher in preschool, then took a position in third grade and later continued through her work by moving into a position as an early childhood educator working with adult students. Throughout her career, Marsha has also directed and established infant toddler child care centers. She started her work in Head Start at a site in a migrant farm worker community in central California in 1978 and continues to work with Head Start to this day.
Willy Wood was a high school and university level English teacher for 14 years. He then served as the Language Arts Consultant for the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education for five years, during which he oversaw the development of Missouri’s Curriculum Frameworks for language arts and the Missouri Assessment Program’s language arts test. He also started the state’s first K-3 reading initiative, The Missouri Reading Initiative (MRI). Willy left DESE to become a full-time educational consultant and presenter, and he now serves as the president of the educational consulting firm Open Mind Technologies, Inc. For the past five years, Willy has been deeply involved in the brain-compatible teaching field and has presented many workshops in school districts and at national and international conferences including Eric Jensen’s Learning Brain Expos and the Learning and the Brain Conference at M.I.T. In addition to many brain-related topics, Willy continues to do workshops on effective teaching strategies for reading comprehension, literature, writing, and reading and writing in the content areas. No matter the topic, Willy “walks his talk” using music, movement and frequent processing activities to model brain-compatible teaching in his presentations.
Saturday, March 13 – Featured Presentation #111: Preparing the Young Brain for Reading