Teaching is my passion, And I want to share that with you!

Amanda Profile Picture

I still remember the warmth and joy I felt daily walking into Mrs. Kramer’s 5th-grade classroom. She was the teacher I loved and the woman who inspired me to become a teacher: I knew that if I could spend my life creating a space for others to love learning as much as I did, I would be living my dream.

Many years later, here I am. After years of coursework, international travel, mentorship, and classroom experience, I’ve arrived at a place in my career where I’m ready and excited to share my experiences with other teachers. Here at Mud and Ink Teaching, I aim to inspire, educate, and support other teachers in their curriculum design experience and help improve their practice in the classroom.

How Can You Bring Professional Development to Your Staff, administrators?

I have presented at several conferences and professional development events nationwide. I am excited to partner with your school or district for your upcoming event. Presentations can include any of the following areas of my professional expertise:

  • Curriculum design in ELA: building Essential Questions, vertical and horizontal articulation, cultural relevance and diversity, and more.

  • Poetry Instruction: building a department-wide strategy, incorporating more contemporary works, new instructional methods, building a poetry club or spoken word poetry team, and more.

  • Best Practices in Lesson Design: structuring engaging lessons with routines and high-interest strategies, integrating multiple forms of assessment, backward planning, weekly lesson plans to keep your weekends free, and more.

  • Teaching and Grading the Literary Analysis Essay: best practices in creating a game plan that will alleviate grading stress and have a higher return on investment in writing instruction

 
 

My Professional Development Experience

I have been featured on a number of podcasts and YouTube channels and have a wide range of experience in leading workshops for staff members. Here are just a few of the events where I’ve presented both in-person and virtually.

My WORK WITH SCHOOLS:

Amanda Mud & Ink teaching Professional Developement

  • Crafting a Unit Vision Board - Clark Elementary School, Waukegan, IL: February 2022

  • Essential Questions & Vertical Alignment - Triton Regional Area Schools: March 2022

  • Essential Questions & Vertical Alignment - Reed High School: April 2022

  • Best Practices in Rhetorical Analysis - Aventura Charter Middle School: August 2022

  • Equity in Inquiry and ELA: Illinois District 211: October 2022

  • Essential Question Workshop & Best Practices in Dystopian Literature: Dayton Area School District: October 2022

  • Essential Question Workshop - Unit Design & Assessment: Dayton Area School District: May 2023

 

WHAT TEACHERS HAVE TO SAY:

How do you plan to implement the information from this training in your position and/or district?

  • “I already have two units 95% done because of this training.”

  • “I have used essential questions in my classroom but have not necessarily utilized them in a meaningful way. I cannot wait to start planning more units around essential questions and really using them to guide my assessments as well as the supplemental activities.’

  • “I'm going to try and implement the weekly plan that was shared with us during the training, and sticking to it. I want to create and implement Sesame Street Quizzes as well as utilize my novels for Close Reading, instead of whole class reading.”

  • “I would very much like another training with Amanda in the future. I plan to use many of the tools revamping some of my lessons and quizzes.”

  • “I have several things that I can implement IMMEDIATELY (style of trackers, close reading focus docs), and I have a few things that I will slowly implement (the bigger picture of her presentation).”

Would you recommend Amanda's work to other teachers and schools? Why or why not?

  • “Yes. I like how it's forcing me to change pace.”

  • “YES! Her use of essential questions is so engaging and I think this can be used in many classes.”

  • “Yes! She is very energetic and passionate about her work. I came out of this workshop with lots of ideas.”

Conference Style Presentations:

 

Step Up to the Mic: slam poetry & Performance (October 2011)

Character Education Conference - San Francisco, CA

Best Practices in Lesson Planning for New Teachers: a Six Week Course (SUMMER 2009-2010)

Golden Apple Foundation - Chicago, IL

New Edtech Ideas for Assessment (SPRING 2016)

West Chicago Community High School Inservice Day - West Chicago, IL

Travel as Teacher Self Care (January 2-5, 2019)

Educators 2 Educators New Year Reboot - Online Conference

Bringing Literature to Life Through Simulations (March 1, 2019)

English Language Arts County-Wide Institute Day - Wheaton North High School, Wheaton, IL

Battlefields, Castles, and Starlit Nights: Harnessing the Magic of Setting (June 20, 2019)

Keeping the Wonder Workshop - Lexington, KY

Six Technology Solutions to Cure Reading Boredom (July 22-24, 2019)

Teach With Tech Conference - Online

Step Up Your Poetry Game (July 28-30, 2019)

Educators 2 Educators Summer Conference - Online Conference

The Shakespeare Teacher Festival (SPRING 2021)

Virtual event with 2,000+ attendees worldwide and still available to the public

The Dystopia Teacher Festival (FALL 2021)

Virtual event with 2,000+ attendees worldwide and still available to the public