Brad Buhrow
Brad grew up in Whitewater, Wisconsin, a small town in the southeastern part of the state. For the past 12 years he has worked with culturally and linguistically diverse learners teaching fourth, second and first grade.
Reading self-selected professional development books, educational journals, attending conferences, and participating in book study groups outside of school with his teaching team have taught him so much. He's been fortunate to work a lot with and learn from Anne Goudvis. Together they have co-taught and discussed teaching practice. “This reflection has helped to inform me of critical questions and next teaching steps.”
He believes that "to be a teacher it takes thinking, imagination, creativity, curiosity and a lot of energy. That's why I became a teacher - I love that challenge. I've learned from critical theory that establishing a solid knowledge base and being conscious of my practices is the first step toward action and positive change”.
For Brad, ideal professional development would include choice for teachers. "I dream about the idea of book/journal study groups that are approved on school time. This means times and spaces set aside for only this, that is discussing how we can put theory into practice. I also imagine school libraries with large collections of journals and professional development books that are displayed beautifully and are accessible. First of all, that would be great modeling for our kids. Also, visitors could see from the texts our principles, beliefs, and rationale. I also imagine our entire staff leaving the building and going to conferences together."
Brad Buhrow is the coauthor of Ladybugs, Tornadoes and Swirling Galaxies: English Language Learners Discover Their World Through Inquiry (Stenhouse, 2006), and has participated in the professional development videos included in Reading The World (Goudvis & Harvey, Stenhouse 2006; The Primary Toolkit (Harvey & Goudvis, Heinemann, 2008). Learn more about Brad's Books HERE.
Check out an Interview with Brad HERE
Over the summer he did some part time consulting work with Teachers College Press. Over the next year Brad will be collaborating with University of Northern Colorado doctoral student Lindsey Guccione. He has worked with schools in New York City, New York; Albany, New York (Fall 08): Raleigh, North Carolina; South Bend, Indiana; Harligen, Texas and with Cornerstone Literacy http://www.cornerstoneliteracy.org/NEWSLETTER/volume_9_1/First_Lesson.html.
Brad will be a keynote speaker at the upcoming 2009 Oregon International Reading Association Conference.
Anne Upczak Garcia has lived and worked in Latin America and in the United States for more than a decade with both children and adults learning two languages. She holds a Masters Degree in Multicultural, Bilingual and ESL Education from the University of Colorado. She recently authored a book with her colleague Brad Buhrow titled "Ladybugs, Tornadoes and Swirling Galaxies, English Language Learners Discover their World through Inquiry". You can learn more about the book
HERE . Her passions are her family, writing fiction and traveling to anywhere.
Check out a PODCast interview with Anne & Brad
Lynn Albert
I am originally from the East Coast and my mother, my brother and one of my sisters live in Connecticut. My youngest sister is a judge and lives in Washington, D.C. I have lived in the West: California & Colorado since I was 25. I moved to Boulder in 1990 with my husband Dan. Dan is a professor of Neuroscience at C.U. Boulder. Dan and I live on Uni.Hill near Chautauqua with our yellow Labrador Retriever: Moab. Moab was named after our favorite camping place: Moab, Utah. Along with camping, I like to hike, bike and draw. One of our favorite bicycle trips is on our tandem bike which we ride to Denver over the Labor Day weekend!
I have been teaching at Columbine for 10 years. My first four years were as a special education teacher and the last six were in the classroom as a first grade and second grade teacher. For the last three years, I have been part of one of the first grade/second grade looping teams. I have teaching credentials in elementary education and art education (K-12) as well as endorsements in special education and ESL. I have a Master's in education from U.C.L.A. and a Master's in Multicultural Foundations of Education from C.U. Boulder.
Marisol Payet
Marisol Payet teaches 1st and 2nd grade. She is from Lima, Perú and came to the United States in May of 1999. She travels once a year to Perú to visit her family and friends. Marisol also likes to stop in Miami because her brother lives there. Marisol studied Elementary Education at Metropolitan State College of Denver.She received her bachelor's degree in the Fall of 2003. This is her second year studying in the masters program for Bilingual Special Education at CU Boulder. She loves to teach, read, hike and paint with pastels. Marisol also loves to go to the mountains and visit places that she doesn't know.