Learning Through Teaching

Tomasen M. Carey, Director of the UNH Writers Academy, Field Coordinator for the Learning Through Teaching Program, and Instructor of the New Hampshire Literacy Institutes. Her articles have appeared in the New England Reading Journal and she is the voice behind the blog conversationeducation.com .

Faculty

The Learning Through Teaching faculty are selected for their range of expertise in literacy and their years of classroom experience. They are published authors and graduates of the summer New Hampshire Literacy Institutes.

Kristina Peterson has been teaching English at Exeter High School since 2008. She has served as a New Teacher Mentor at EHS for nearly a decade and supervised teaching interns at UNH for 5 years. Her commitment to equity and community involvement is evident through her collaboration with NH's Racial Unity Team, leading to the development of the award-winning "Arts in Action" program. Furthermore, she has been instrumental in securing grants for the Arts in Action Writers Series, fostering a connection between students at EHS and local writers. An advocate for diversity and inclusion, Kristina co-founded Bookshelf Diversity, a grant that provides teachers with a diverse set of books for their classrooms. She has also shared her expertise and passion through peer-reviewed publications in the English Journal and the California English Journal. Kristina holds a Master of Arts in Teaching from George Fox University and has served the educational community as the Secretary for NHCTE since 2017.

Dr. Dennis Magliozzi has been teaching high school English since 2008. He has supervised UNH teaching interns since 2017, and he teaches in UNH’s Writers Academy and the Summer Literacy Institute. Magliozzi is a co-writer and developer of "Arts in Action," winner of a 2023 New Hampshire Governor's Arts Education Award. He is also a co-founder of Bookshelf Diversity, a statewide grant project designed to get diverse books into the hands of New Hampshire students. He has had essays and research published in the English Journal as well as California English Journal. He has an MFA in poetry from Vermont College of Fine Arts and a Ph.D. in Education from the University of New Hampshire. 

Dr. Kimberly Stephens joins the Learning Through Teaching team with a focus on Mentoring and Coaching using observation, feedback, and experiential learning through scenario analysis. She remains a public-school educator and administrator at the Dover School District for over twenty years. She completed her doctoral research at the University of New England in 2022 studying high impact activities for new teacher induction programs using social learning theory. The social learning framework guides her pursuit to combine work experience with the power of storytelling and game dynamics to help educators explore and expand their professional network. In her spare time, she extends her love for fiber as an active volunteer for Feel Better Dolls (2019).

Diana (Dee) Salonen taught 45 years at Winchester School in Winchester, NH.  She earned her Bachelor’s degree from Keene State College and her master’s at the UNH summer literacy institute.  Dee taught 3, 4, and 5 grades at Winchester School, was the part-time curriculum coordinator for 3 years, and served as interim principal for a few months.  She has been a Learning Through Teaching facilitator at Winchester School for several years.  She shared her classroom and love for teaching with dozens of methods students and student teachers from Keene State College over the years and found it a truly rewarding experience.  She is currently enjoying retirement with her husband as they garden and preserve, kayak, hike, fish, ski, and golf. 

Alicia Spates-Messier grew up in Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom but sought out the city for her undergraduate degree.  She earned her BA in art and communications from Simmons College in Boston and later earned her Master’s in education at UNH.
She has spent the last thirteen years in education and has had a broad range of teaching experiences- from a general elementary school teacher to a middle school language arts teacher, a technology teacher and literacy specialist, she's done a bit of everything.  Her passion lies in literacy and the arts and finding creative ways to merge the two.  
Alicia stepped away from teaching full time in 2017 to take care of her babies, Poppy, Romy, and Thatcher, and found her way to the UNH Learning Through Teaching program.  Since then, she has worked in several local schools with teachers focusing on the reading and writing workshop model. She's also spent summers at the UNH Writers Academy.

 

Jaclyn Karabinas is an energetic, creative educator who was a classroom teacher until 2014. Now an independent consultant and instructional coach, she is passionate about mixing and matching skill sets from the worlds of educational technology integration, arts integration, and progressive literacy instruction. She holds a Master’s Degree in Arts Integration in Curriculum & Instruction, is a Google for Education Certified Trainer, Heinemann Professional Development Online PD consultant, UNH Learning through Teaching adjunct, and mother.

 

Shawna Coppola has been a public school educator for over twenty years and received both her Bachelor's degree (in English Teaching) and her Master's degree (in Reading) from the University of New Hampshire. Certified as a literacy specialist as well as a K-8 educator in the state of New Hampshire, Shawna is also a sought-after speaker and consultant. She has written two books about writing for teachers, Renew! Become a Better--and More Authentic--Writing Teacher (2017) and Writing, Redefined: Broadening Our Ideas of What It Means to Compose (2019), both from Stenhouse Publishers. She is passionate about teaching literacy through both an inquiry and a social justice lens. 

 

The New Hampshire Literacy Institutes

For more than 30 years, the New Hampshire Literacy Institutes have earned national recognition for their work with teachers. Courses typically include: Creative Nonfiction, Digital Storytelling, Blending Genre, Altering Style, and Boys’ Literacy. For information on summer programs visit www.cola.unh.edu/nhliteracy.

UNH English Department and The Graduate School

Master of Science for Teachers Degree

The English Department offers a graduate program designed for practicing teachers who are interested in innovative approaches to literacy education. Students in the program have the opportunity to learn from teachers who have helped shape classroom instruction in the United States. We invite you to be part of this continuing tradition.

English M.S.T. program information