Speakers Bureau

First Team Education can assist your school or district in obtaining first-rate speakers for your professional days.  Contact us with your needs and we will put you in touch with the correct speaker.  If you are interested in having a Stenhouse or Scholastic Teaching Resources author speak to your district, please call Brenda at 317-834-1652 or email.

• Linda Morgason
  Linda Morgason earned her BS and MA in Education from Ball State University.  She has taught kindergarten through fifth grade during her 38 years as an educator.  Linda received extensive training at The Ohio State University in 1999-2000 to become a Primary Literacy Coordinator to train teachers in Literacy Collaborative, a research-based literacy framework.  She served as a Literacy Coordinator in Richmond Schools for 7 years.  Linda has authored several literacy idea books for teachers through The Education Center.  She has presented at numerous national and state conferences including: The International Reading Conference, The National Reading Recovery Conference, Indiana Association for the Education of Young Children, and The Indiana State Reading Conference.  Linda has done many literacy workshops for teachers and has done literacy consulting for school districts.  In 2000, Linda was named Teacher of the Year for Richmond Community Schools and was among the top ten finalists for Indiana Teacher of the Year.  She now serves as the Preschool Literacy Coach for Wayne County.

• Nancy Spurlock
  Nancy Spurlock earned her B.S. at Indiana University.  She earned her M.A. in elementary education and did her administrative coursework at Ball State University.  During her career in education, she has taught first through fourth Grade.  Also, in 1998 Nancy received Reading Recovery Training and was a Reading Recovery teacher and Title I coordinator at the building level at Maplewood School for five years.  Nancy then received extensive training at Purdue University in 2003 to become a Primary Literacy Coordinator to train teachers in Literacy Collaborative, a research-based literacy framework.  She was a Literacy Coordinator from 2003 to 2005 at Maplewood School in Connersville, Indiana.  In 2006 she became a Literacy Coordinator in four elementaries in Fayette County.  Nancy has presented at the Indiana State Reading Conference and the National Reading Recovery Conference.  She has also presented at Butler University and Ball State Reading Conferences, as well as in other school corporations in Indiana.  Her present position is Literacy Coordinator in four elementary schools in Fayette County.

• Lynne Ecenbarger
  Lynne has dedicated her career to improving literacy in her roles as a teacher, administrator, literacy specialist, and education consultant. She has consulted with over 200 schools throughout Indiana as well as schools across the nation.  Lynne has served as an adjunct faculty member of the Teacher’s college at Purdue University.  And, she is the author of Method Mania: Activities to Teach Comprehension Skills and Strategies and Method Mania: Activities to Teach Phonological Awareness Skills and Strategies.

• Neal Brewer
  Neil Brewer spent the first twenty years of his teaching career in 5th and 6th grade classrooms, and has drawn from that journey with students on many occasions in various written forms.  Now in his 5th year as a full time instructor of Graduate and Undergraduate Education an Indiana University Southeast, Neil enjoys sharing his passion for writing and expressive reading with new, as well as with highly experienced teachers, and he performs for audiences of all ages as often as possible.  Neil enjoys playing a variety of instruments, has written hundreds of poems related to personal experiences, and performs the very best of the ‘school ones’ in his current presentation.  All of us can relate to the poetic observations and music of The 8 O’Clock Bell.

Workshop Topics Covered

Linda Morgason and Nancy Spurlock

• Overview of Comprehensive Literacy Framework
• Components of Reading Workshop
• Shared Reading
• Guided Reading
• Interactive Read Aloud
• Independent Reading/Conferences
• Components of Writing Workshop
• Shared Writing/Interactive Writing
• Writing Mini-lessons
• Independent Writing/Conferences
• Integrating Content into Comprehensive Literacy Framework
• Word Study
• Spelling
• Vocabulary
• Connecting Reading and Writing
• Using Read Alouds Across the Curriculum
• Fluency
• Comprehension Strategies
• Standards-Based Instruction within a Comprehensive Literacy Framework