Meet Our Authors

MEET OUR AUTHORS

Jill Adams

Jill Adams grew up by the cornfields of Iowa and the lakes of Minnesota. She moved to Lawrence, Kansas to pursue her teaching career. Since moving to Lawrence, she has taught English to a variety of people, aged 12 - 65. After receiving her PH.D. from KU, she taught one-year in English Education and is now teaching at Metro State College in Denver.

Jannette Allai

Jannette Allai received her bachelor's and master's degree from Pittsburg State University. Jannette has been a teacher of fifth grade for the past thirty years. She has been actively involved with her school's improvement process. She has served on numerous professional committees. She feels strongly that QARs reading strategy can improve students' abilitiy.

Sandy Asher

Sandy Asher is a frequent participant at the Writing Conference activities. Sandy Asher has written many works of fiction including Missing Pieces, Everything is Not Enough, Out of Here, Things Are Seldom What They Seem, Just Like Jenny, Daughters of the Law and others. Sandy also has written two nonfiction works particularly useful to prospective writers: Where Do You Get Your Ideas and Wild Words! How To Train Them to Tell Stories. In addition, Sandy is editor for But That's Another Story, a collection of stories with introductions by the authors who wrote genres. Sandy is also a playwright having published many one, two, and three act plays. Currently, Sandy is retired from Drury University and lives in Pennsylvania. In addition, she visits schools and speaks at writing and literature conferences.

Jennifer G. Beasley

Jennifer Beasley has more than 17 years of experience in education as an elementary school teacher and a Gifted Education Facilitator. She has a B.A. in Elementary Education and Masters degrees in Education Administration and Gifted Education. Jennifer is currently graduate Research Assistant for the National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented at the University of Virginia, where she is completing her doctoral work in Educational Psychology. As a part of her work at the university, she is involved in facilitating workshops with schools and districts in the United States and internationally, specializing in Gifted Education and differentiation. She is currently the co-editor of the National Association of Gifted Children curriculum division newsletter, Scope.. She received the National Association for Gifted Children Curriculum Award in 2005.

Jim Blasingame

Jim Blasingame has been in education over twenty years. A native of Cedar Rapid, Iowa, Jim received his undergraduate degree in English education from the University of Northern Iowa, his master's degree in educational administration from Drake University, and his Ph.D from the University of Kansas. His past career experience has been as an English teacher in Iowa, Nebraska, Utah, and Kansas; as an administrator in Iowa and Kansas; and as a college coach in Colorado and Iowa. His areas of interest in English education are the six-trait model for writing instruction and assessment, western literature - especially cowboy poetry, young adult literature, poetry, and any kind of Native American literature. He is a professor at Arizona State University.

Bob Blumenthal

Bob Blumenthal has been an educator since he graduated from William Paterson College. He served as a teacher, demonstration school teacher, reading consultant, learning disabilities specialist, school principal, and college lecturer. He has spoken to colleagues on how to teach language arts without a textbook and creative writing. In addition, he has given hundreds of book talks. One of his goals in life is to develop life-long readers by getting students "hooked" on great books.

John H. Bushman

John is director of The Writing Conference, Inc. He began his professional work as a freshman English teacher. In addition, he is Professor Emeritus from KU. He is retired and loves it.

Gerry A. Coffman

Gerry Coffman is Associate Professor and Director of Reading in the Division of Early Childhood and Elementary Teacher Education at Emporia State University. She teaches undergraduate reading methods courses and graduate courses in the reading specialist endorsement. Prior to moving to Emporia, Gerry was an associate professor at Wichita State University. Gerry is a member of International Reading Association in the local, state, and national levels, College Reading Association, and the National Council of Teacher of English. She has presented and published Language Arts topics at the local, state, national and international levels. In 1993, Gerry received the Kansas Reading Association's Award for Excellence in Reading Research. In her free time, Gerry enjoys college sports, cultural events, and visiting family.

Matt Copeland

Matt Copeland earned his bachelor's and master's degrees from The University of Kansas. He teaches Freshman English and Advanced Composition at his alma mater, Washburn Rural High School, in Topeka, Kansas. In addition to his teaching duties, he also coaches the Ultimate Frisbee team and sponsors the school's Multicultural Student Union. A frequent presenter at local, regional, and national conferences, he has also published several essays and poems on the teaching of English.

Judy Gilbert

Judy was director of Curriculum at Eagle Rock School and Professional Development Center- an innovative high school in Estes Park, Colorado. She came to Eagle Rock from the Colorado Department of Education, where she was the English consultant in the School Effectiveness Unit. Prior to her time at CDE, she spent 17 years in middle school and high school English/drama/speech classrooms in Denver and Yuma, Colorado and McCook, Nebraska. Ms. Gilbert passed away June 9, 1997

Kari Goheen

Kari, the Author of Using Portfolios in the Elementary Classroom: A Step by Step Guide, has a lot of experience implementing portfolios into her classrooms. She began teaching in Plano, Texas, which was using portfolio assessment district wide. She has since moved to Kansas, completed her Master's degree from the University of Kansas with her thesis topic on portfolios, and taught at schools in the Shawnee Mission and Blue Valley districts, where she continues to use portfolios. She has shared her portfolio knowledge at many presentations, conferences, and classes.

F. Todd Goodson

Todd taught various combinations of English, speech and journalism in public schools in Missouri and Kansas for nine years. Currently, he is assistant professor of English Education at Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kansas.

Lori Atkins Goodson

Lori received a Master of Arts degree in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Kansas. She has been a newspaper writer and editor for the past 17 years. She presently is an eighth grade English teacher at Wamego Middle School in Wamego, Kansas. She has given numerous presentations for high school and elementary students about newspapers and news writing.

Marc Grout

Marc Grout received his undergraduate degree in English
education and master’s degree in curriculum and instruction fromthe University of Kansas. Marc currently teaches at Centre High School in rural Lost Springs, Kansas, where he began his teaching career three years ago. In that time, he has taught English in grades 7-11, as well as courses in Creative Writing, Yearbook, Shakespeare, and Speech. In addition to his teaching duties, he serves as the district’s QPA director and on numerous school improvement committees. He has presented workshops at several conferences at the local, state, and national levels on topics including: literature circles, reflective learning strategies, six-trait writing, and using young adult literature in the classroom.

Kay Parks Haas

Kay is currently Language Arts Coordinator for the Olathe Public Schools. She is formerly president of ALAN-Assembly on Literature for Adolescents of NCTE and is formerly a member of the Secondary Section of NCTE.

Jenny Heller

Jenny is an instructor in the Humanities and Western Civilization Program at the University of Kansas where she is pursuing a graduate degree in American Studies. She has taught sophomore English and American Literature in the North Kansas City (MO) school district and composition and literature courses at Johnson County Community College (KS). She earned her M.S.Ed. from KU in 1988 and has undergraduate degrees in education and religious studies.

Connie Hoag

An Associate Professor of Curriculum and Instruction, Connie Hoag teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in Language Arts at the University of South Dakota. In addition, Connie teaches Principles and Practices of Teaching and supervises students in the practicum that follows that course.
Connie is an active member of the International Listening Association, International Reading Association, and the
National Council of Teachers of English.

Donna Martin

Donna Martin received her bachelor's and master's degree's from Pittsburg State University. She has taught either third or fourth grade in the past eight years. She has been actively involved with her school's improvement process. She has served on numerous professional committees. She feels strongly that QARs reading strategy can improve students' abilities to comprehend what they read.

Linda McCoy

Linda McCoy is a Professor Emeritus in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction, School of Education, Pittsburg State University, Pittsburg, Kansas, where she has taught Reading and Language Arts courses since 1976. She received the university's Outstanding Teaching Faculty Award in 1993 and the Kansas Reading Association's Award in 1988. Literacy and Assessment in Today's Inclusion Classroom is the end result of many years of writing materials for her students to use in studying assessment and assessing children's literacy in practicum situations or their own classrooms.

Kenan Metzger

Kenan Metzger has a PhD from the University of Kansas in Lawrence where his dissertation concerned the attitudes of high school students towards writing and how that affects their success in school. He has eleven years of teaching experience in the greater Kansas City area with experience in grades K-College. He is presently Assistant Professor at Ball State University.

Jean Smiley Ketter

Jean is currently an assistant professor at Grinnell, Iowa, where she teaches English Education and general methods classes. A recent graduate of The University of Kansas, she also taught high school English and journalism for 10 years. She has presented several programs for the Writing Conference and the Kansas Association of Teachers of English.

Millie S. Muzyka

Millie currently teaches Louisburg Middle School where she works with the gifted and talented students. Besides her regular duties, she established and works with a advanced writing club. In 1992, she received an Outstanding Writing Teacher Award from The Writing Conference, Inc. and in 1996 she received National Teacher Certification.

Judy K. Oliver

Judy has taught third grade at Abilene Elementary School, Valley Center, Kansas for ten years. She has taught elementary and middle school students for thirty years. She earned a BS Elementary Education from Kansas State College of Pittsburg, Pittsburg, Kansas and a MS Education from Northwestern Oklahoma State University, Alva, Oklahoma. She enjoys teaching reading and believes that student achievement is directly reflected to their ability to comprehend and apply what they read. She is an active member of Kansas Reading Association and National Education Association.

Robyn Parker

Robyn Parker received her Bachelor's Degree from Bethany College, and has earned a Master's Degree from Kansas State with an emphasis in reading and language arts. She has taught various grade levels and currently teaching 5th grade at Ell-Saline Elementary.

Sam Rockford

Sam Rockford has the privilege of teaching ninth grade English, International Baccalaureate Language A1, and various Math classes at North Kansas City High School where he also serves as English department chair.
He is the author of Reader - Response: The "I" in Literature and is currently finishing a novel for young adults. He has earned a B.S. in Education and MS.Ed. in Teaching and Leadership from the University of Kansas.

Lisa A. Spiegel

Lisa is currently associate professor of Curriculum and Instruction at The University of South Dakota, where she teaches courses in language arts education, young adult literature, and middle/secondary education. She began her professional work as a middle level language arts educator.

Stephanie Svaty

Stephanie Svaty received her Bachelor's and Master's Degree from Kansas State. The emphasis of her Master's program was in the reading area of reading and language arts. Stephanie has multi-age experience and is currently teaching 5th grade at Ell-Saline Elementary.

Kelly Tines

Kelly is a graduate of The University of Kansas. She has presented at various local and regional conferences including The Writing Conference and Kaw Valley Inservice. Topics of presentations have included writing and reading workshop, using the six trait analytical scoring guide, integrated thematic units, portfolio assessment, and cooperative learning. Tines is also the author of Using the Writing and Reading Workshop in the Real Classroom published by the Writing Conference, Inc.

Brenda Kay White

Brenda Kay White has been involved in education for over 20 years. She received her bachelor's degree and initial teaching certificate from the University of Central Oklahoma in Edmond, Oklahoma. She has also held a certificate from the state of Nevada and currently retains a lifetime certificate from the state of Texas. Over the course of years she has worked with students from pre-school to high school seniors in the fields of Language Arts, English, and Reading. Through these experiences Mrs. White has discovered that her favorite student's to work with are sixth graders, and therefore gears her work toward this age group. As a classroom teacher, she writes about ideas and concepts usually taken directly from her own creative classroom files. Along with her family, Mrs. White currently resides in Austin, Texas.

Mary Nell Willis

Mary concluded her doctoral work at the University of Houston, Houston, Texas in the department of Curriculum and Instruction. She has experience in several areas of reading and language arts education. She has taught middle school and elementary reading and English/language arts for eighteen years. In addition, she has taught Language Arts in the Elementary School, to under-graduate students at the University of Houston. She is an active NCTE member.

Teena Winter

Teena teaches writing courses at Olathe North High School, Olathe, Kansas. She also teaches sophomore English. Her students are frequent winners in national writing contests.

Chris Yancey

Chris Yancey received his Bachelor's Degree in education in 1999 and his Master's Degree in 2002 from the University of Kansas. He teaches 6th grade language arts at Piper Middle School in Kansas City, Kansas

Shirley J. Yarick

Shirley is an instructor at Johnson County Community College in Overland Park, Kansas. She teaches English 101 and 102 to non-traditional college freshmen. Other classes she has taught include creative writing, business communications, literature classes and speech.

Writing Consultants

As a special service for school districts The Writing Conference, Inc. provides writing consultants in the following areas:

Keynote speakers for the beginning of the school year

Consultants for developing and maintaining school- and district-wide writing programs

Leaders for workshops for in-service and professional development programs

Writing assessment

Training in the 6-trait analytic scale

Using the 6-trait scale for instruction

Using portfolios in the classroom.

If The Writing Conference, Inc. can serve your district, contact:
John H. Bushman