Brenau University

Areas of Expertise

• Child development
• Educational psychology
• Social-emotional development
• Whole child teaching
• Issues in education
• Social presence and student engagement in online teaching

Research Interests

• Whole child teaching
• Social-emotional learning
• Online learning

Awards and Accolades

• Master in Teaching Award, Featherbone Communiversity
• Selected as a Higher Education Program Peer Reviewer by the National Association for the Education of Young Children
• Appointed to the Commission on Classroom Teachers as Associated Teacher Educators by the Association of Teacher Educators
• Selected as a Founding Clinical Fellow by the Association of Teacher Educators

Recent Publications

• “Online Educator Preparation That Meets the Needs of Today’s Early Childhood Professionals” in Handbook of Research on Empowering Early Childhood Educators with Technology, 2021
• “Social Presence in the Online Learning Environment” in eLearning Engagement in a Transformative Social Learning Environment, 2021
• “Online Undergraduate Educator Preparation Program: A Way to Diversify the Early Childhood Teaching Force” in Impactful Practices For Early Childhood Educators, 2019
• “An Enhanced Role for Cooperating Classroom Teachers During Student Teaching: Effective Collaboration Within a Professional Learning Community” in Teacher to Teacher Mentality: Purposeful Practice in Teacher Education, 2018

Leadership Positions

Co-Chair, Association of Teacher Educators Early Childhood Teacher Educators Special Interest Group

Academic Affiliations

• Southeastern Regional Association of Teacher Educators
• Georgia Association of Teacher Educators
• Southern Early Childhood Association
• National Association for the Education of Young Children

What are three words that best describe your teaching philosophy?

Informed, Intentional, Responsive

Favorite Quote

What we know matters, but who we are matters more (Brene Brown)