I am a literacy coach, developer of educational resources, and writer. My training is in education; I received my bachelor’s and master’s degrees in education, and am permanently certified to teach pre-school to 6th grade, as well as secondary social studies in New York. I am currently pursuing my PhD in Curriculum, Instruction, and the Science of Learning (CISL) at the University at Buffalo.
My career began in Clarence Central School District, where I taught 3rd and 6th grades. During that time, I taught all core subjects, but I focused mainly on social studies and language arts. I utilized the six traits of writing to guide instruction in writer’s workshop, and I enhanced reading appreciation through book club using Harvey and Goudvis’s Strategies That Work.
After I moved to Pennsylvania, I supervised education majors and taught the following courses at Bloomsburg University, Bucknell University, or the University at Buffalo:
- Language Arts Methods
- Literacy Across Contexts
- Teaching Reading in Early Childhood: Birth-Kindergarten
- Teaching of Fine Arts in the Elementary School (both in-person and online)
- Teaching Literacy and Literature in Diverse Classrooms
- Language Arts Methods in the Modern Elementary School
- Teaching Social Studies in the Elementary School
- Seminar in Learning Experiences with Young Children
- Assessment in Early Childhood Education
I have worked with schools and teachers to help align and enhance writing instruction in grades K-12 while growing my business in developing educational resources. Some of the companies I have worked for include Lee & Low, Teacher Created Materials, and Teacher Created Resources.
Some of my education heroes are Nancie Atwell, James Collins, Ruth Culham, and Howard Gardner.
In addition to my day job, I also write. As an active member of SCBWI, I love to attend conferences and meet other kid lit enthusiasts. I have published two books with Teacher Created Materials, and my writing has appeared in Highlights for Children, The NY Daily News, Teen Vogue and more. I co-authored a third grade field trip on Systems for the Bloomsburg Children’s Museum in Bloomsburg, PA, and I have contributed numerous articles to News-O-Matic, the daily newspaper for kids. You can visit my personal webpage here.
Some of my children’s author heroes are Peter Brown, Christopher Paul Curtis, Jacqueline Woodson, and Jane Yolen.
I am thrilled to be a part of the efforts to connect the education and kid lit worlds.
Pamela Brunskill
Founder, Authors and Educators