Teaching
Her teaching practice values critical, reflective & creative project-based learning. She develops curriculum, teaches & mentors undergraduate students at the University of Minnesota in CI4121: Culture, Power & Education, CI3401W: Diversity in Children’s Literature & CI1124: Global Stories of Education - Literature for Young Adults.
KidLitLab!
In 2019, she co-founded KidLitLab! with Nick Kleese, PhD, a children’s literature incubator at the University of Minnesota. Inspired by afterschool programming, KidLitLab! was originally conceived as an opt-in biweekly participant-led workshop series to support those creating their own works of children’s literature. Participants learned with local artists, writers, and educators about artistic processes, as well as how to write socially-conscious stories for young people.
As the workshop grew, KidLitLab! has hosted a number of guest artists, writers, and educators for lessons and read alouds in-person and virtually. Guests have included Carole Lindstrom, author of We Are Water Protectors; Saymoukda Vongsay, author of When Everything is Everything; and Emma Reynolds, author-illustrator of Amara and the Bats and founder of KidLit4Climate.
In December 2021, KidLitLab! published a collection of picture books called Here on Earth: A Children’s Literature Ecology Anthology. The anthology aims to support future educators with understanding picturebooks as curriculum, showcasing picturebooks in progress from the IDEA! stage all the way to the draft and revision of picturebook dummies.
KidLitLab! believes that by presenting educators with examples of works-in-progress, the creative process itself becomes more accessible, generative, and joyful. The anthology collects work from KidLitLab! students alongside an interview with Bao Phi, spoken word poet and children’s literature author of A Different Pond.