Presenter Biographies

Whitney Carpenter has been a teacher for 12 years. She’s taught grades first through fifth grade. Whitney graduated from Mckendree University in 2009 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Elementary Education and began her career as a self-contained special education teacher.

Whitney spent the first seven years of her career as a special education teacher in a variety of settings. During this time, she also graduated with her Master’s Degree in Special Education with a Reading Teacher Endorsement.

After “grad” school, she was looking for a change and accepted a position in a fourth-grade general education classroom for one year. For the last four years, she has been a third-grade general education teacher in a co-taught classroom.

Whitney has been a PD provider for the last four years. In 2020 she was honored to receive the Emerson Excellence in Teaching Award. She’s embarking on a new journey this school year as an educational leader and K-8 instructional coach in her school district .

Whitney believes that “The most valuable resource that all teachers have is each other. Without collaboration our growth is limited to our own perspectives”. - Robert John Meeham.

Whitney is passionate about spending time collaborating and learning from other educators across the country. Whitney is married and has two sons who are one and three years old. Whitney and her family enjoy living in a small country town since she and her husband were born and raised on farms.

Jennifer Crider received her B.S. in Deaf Studies, Teacher Education from Mac Murray College and an M.S. in Curriculum and Instruction from Bradley University. She taught high school mathematics at the Eastern North Carolina School for the Deaf, taught as a substitute teacher in almost every grade level and subject area, and taught Fine Arts & Movement at Valeska Hinton Early Childhood Center in Peoria, Illinois, before joining the Educational Studies department as an adjunct faculty member in January 2004. She teaches curriculum courses, supervises student teachers and is certified in Illinois in the areas of deaf education (K-12) and elementary education (K-9); she has had additional training in the field of Dyslexia and Orton-Gillingham reading methods.

Barbara D. O’Donnell, Ed.D., is a Professor of Teaching and Learning in the School of Education, Health, and Human Behavior at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. She joined SIUE in 2002, after teaching at Eastern Illinois University and the University of Northern Iowa. She taught 15 years in grades 1, 2, 3, 4, and 6 and 8 mathematics before entering her Master and Doctorial programs. Currently, Dr. O’Donnell is the Director of the Master of Science in Education Program. In addition to serving as director, she also advises the graduate students and teaches the Analysis of Instruction, Problem-Based Learning, and the Teaching with Primary Sources graduate courses. She also teaches courses in the undergraduate Elementary Education program in Creativity, Problem Solving, and Critical Thinking, Teaching Social Studies Methods for Elementary School, and the Social Studies Methods for Middle Grades. Dr. O’Donnell is also an Assistant Director of the Library of Congress Teaching with Primary Sources grant housed at SIUE, which includes presenting and facilitating workshops, coordinating efforts with other social studies entities, such as iCivics, the Illinois Geographic Alliance, the Federal Reserve in St. Louis, and National Geographic Society.

Dr. Kelly Monson is the Director of Education Graduate Studies; and Assistant Professor of Education at Rockford University.

Dr. Elizabeth Sturm is an associate professor of education at Lewis University. She currently serves as the Special Education Program Director, and also as the co-chair of the Education Department at Lewis University. Her research areas include special education, social studies, disability studies, and educational technology.