Dedra Stafford is a passionate educator with a belief in the power of positive purposeful teaching. Her goal to play a small part in helping educators find (and keep) their joy for education while gaining new strategies and skills to reach today’s learners. Known for her practical, easy to use implementation ideas, Dedra gets teachers engaged and ready to try new ideas. The training she provides is centered around research-based best practices and solid pedagogy.
As an internationally known speaker, trainer and author, Dedra has presented in 3 international schools and over 40 states. She is a former middle level teacher and district professional development specialist who now consults and provides staff development in best practices centered around a variety of topics including: social and emotional learning, growth mindset, instructional strategies, differentiated instruction, technology integration, and teacher motivation.
Much of Dedra’s time is spent supporting high-risk schools in an embedded capacity. She has the ability and versatility to come into a school and work with the leadership team to develop a professional development plan that is responsive to the students’ needs and teachers’ needs in that specific school. Dedra strives to help teachers understand how to use rigor practices, differentiated instruction, technology, formative assessment, and other research based tools to gain engagement and achievement. Dedra has worked with multiple “School Improvement Grant-SIG” Schools in a “whatever it takes” approach, developing embedded PD plans that combine PLC Training, model teaching, co-teaching, and classroom observations.
Dedra is the author and co-author of 4 educational books including, the best-selling book Teaching Kids to Thrive: The Other Essential Skills for Success and newly released in 2018, Summarization in Any Subject with Rick Wormeli. She stays connected to teachers and the classroom through the Teaching Kids to Thrive website, full of resources for teachers, and the teacher’s social media resource, Teachtivities: From Pencils to iPads.
Categories: Educator, Educator - Differentiated Instruction, Educator - Motivation and Inspiration, Educator - Technology and 21st Century Learners, Educator - Virtual Learning, Quality Virtual Keynote
