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As a poet, memoirist, and essayist, Blanco captivates audiences around the nation and the world with his dynamic storytelling and powerful craft. Selected by Barack Obama as the fifth Presidential Inaugural Poet in US history, Richard Blanco stands as the first Latinx, immigrant, and gay person to serve in such a role. In the words of Obama, himself, “Blanco’s contributions to the fields of poetry and the arts have already paved the path forward for future generations of writers.” He has authored four poetry collections and two memoirs. His latest book of poems, How to Love a Country, both interrogates the American narrative, past and present, and celebrates the still unkept promise of its ideals. |
Dr. Belkis L. Cabrera is a teacher, mentor, consultant, and professional development facilitator, who has worked with over 100+ institutions and organizations on education reform and educational equity and has 25+ years of teaching experience. She has an M.A. in English and a Ph.D. in Instructional Design and Technology. Most recently, she served as Instructional Consultant for FIU's Center for the Advancement of Teaching, where she worked across departments and campuses to redesign 21 critical high enrollment, high failure (or high impact) courses. Presently, Dr. Cabrera leads the WeLearn 366 Institute at Miami-Dade College's Padrón Campus.
Time to Start Slacking: Returning Presence and Connection to Our Online Classrooms
Dr. Ulrich Oslender is a political and cultural geographer with regional interests in Latin America. He gained his Ph.D. in Geography from the University of Glasgow (Scotland), and is currently Associate Professor of Geography in the Department of Global & Sociocultural Studies at Florida International University in Miami, where he is also Affiliated Faculty at the African and African Diaspora Studies Program (AADS), and the Latin American and Caribbean Center (LACC).
He has published over fifty articles and book chapters in both English and Spanish, mostly in relation to social movement theory and political geography. He has authored two books, most recently The Geographies of Social Movements: Afro-Colombian Mobilization and the Aquatic Space (Duke University Press, 2016), and co-edited Bridging Scholarship and Activism: Reflections from the Frontlines of Collaborative Research (Michigan State University Press, 2015). He has also frequently worked with the media and produced, amongst others, programs on black cultural politics in Colombia for the BBC World Service.
Dr. Leslie Bofill is an experienced Director of Training with a demonstrated history of working in the higher education industry. Skilled in Moodle, Captivate, Learning Management, Educational Technology, and Instructional Design. Strong professional with a PhD focused in Computing Technology in Education from Nova Southeastern University.
Mr. Derek Dorsett is an Instructional Designer with international project management experience. He received a Master of Science (M.S) in Instructional Design and Educational Technology from Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi. While there he founded the Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi Chess Club and served as the club leader. He also founded the English as Second Language (ESL) Conversation Club and served as the first President. In 2016 Derek managed a team of educators in South Korea and trained the staff to use technology in the classroom which led to a notable increase in student engagement and retention. He supervised the implementation of an international letter writing exchange and was responsible for maintaining the daily operations of the franchise. He oversaw several projects at the University of Texas at Arlington using a modified Instructional Systems Design (ISD) approach and helped develop content and assessment strategies for the University of Texas at Austin.
Nathalie Cajuste has been teaching for 25 years in grades kindergarten to adults. She worked in Miami Dade County Public Schools, Leon County Schools, and Miami Dade College’s School of Education, and English for Academic Purpose (EAP) programs. She has also coached teachers for the MDCPS district. In 2013, she collaborated with the MDC School of Education, World Vision, and USAID when she delivered professional development to teachers and directors in Haiti with MDC Professor Rebecca Sanchez. Professor Cajuste has presented in the International TESOL Conference in Vancouver, Canada on Testing and Assessment in ESOL, and has collaborated with the University of Miami as a consultant for their Science for All program, a research project on teaching strategies in Science to ESOL students of Hispanic and Haitian background. Since 2015, she became a trained consultant with MindUP, providing Mindfulness training, and Social Emotional workshops to teachers, parents, and administrators around the US. Nathalie Cajuste holds a Master's degree TESOL from the University of Miami, and a Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education from Florida International University. She is fluent in French, and in Haitian Creole.
Janea Judge-Hemans is a second year communication instructor at Miami Dade College, Padron Campus. She earned her B.A. in Mass Communication with a concentration in Broadcasting from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and her M.A. in Communication Studies from Florida Atlantic University.
OER & Open Pedagogy at MDC: Looking at Current Resources & Introducing OpenSkill
Emma Franck is a creative individual who loves to express herself in everything that she does! She is a mathematician, by training. Emma Franck currently serves as the Consortium of Open Active Pathways (COAP) Project Manager at Miami Dade College. The Consortium consists of a national partnership between Arizona State University, Ivy Tech Community College (located in Indiana) and Maricopa Community Colleges (located in Arizona). Prior to relocating to Miami, Miss Franck lived in New York City for nearly fourteen years where she worked as a mathematician, program director and mathematics professor for the City University of New York system. It was during her time in New York City where she completed her undergraduate education at Columbia University and her graduate degree in mathematics at Brooklyn College. Her passions include serving as an activist and volunteer at the American Red Cross.
OER & Open Pedagogy at MDC: Looking at Current Resources & Introducing OpenSkill
Allari Dominguez, a Miami Dade College alumna went from an Associates of Arts degree to Bachelor's from Barry University to her Juris Doctor (JD) from St. Thomas University. Allari built on her education from Democracy's College to serve in the Broward County Public Defender's Office whose motto is "And each shall stand equal." Today, Alari is a board-certified specialist in criminal trial law and the only board-certified Latina in Broward County. To date, she has been involved in 100+ jury and bench trials. In this conversation, she will share her journey to help inspire yours!
And Each Shall Stand Equal: My Journey into the Law from MDC to JD!
Born in Havana, Cuba, poet Sandra Castillo moved to Miami, Florida, with her family in 1970. Castillo earned both her BA and MA in creative writing from Florida State University. She is the author of My Father Sings to My Embarrassment (2002), selected by Cornelius Eady for the White Pine Press Poetry Prize. Her poems have been published in Cimarron Review, Midway Journal, Borderlands: Texas Poetry Review, PALABRA: A Magazine of Chicano & Latino Literary Art, and the anthology Cool Salsa: Bilingual Poems on Growing Up Latino in the United States (1994). She is also a writing and social science professor at MDC's Kendall Campus.
Maria Guerrero teaches Biology and Microbiology in the Math and Natural Sciences Department. She earned her undergraduate degree at the Universidad de Guayaquil, Ecuador and then completed her graduate studies in Biological Sciences at Florida International University. Dr. Guerrero worked as an Associate Scientist at the Environmental Research Center at FIU before she became a faculty member at MDC. She has been teaching at the Padron campus for 16 years and is the Advisor for the Tribeta Biological Honors Society Delta Iota chapter.
Adrianne Aiko Thompson obtained her master's degree in teaching English to speakers of other languages (TESOL) from Columbia University, Teachers College and her bachelor's degree in Spanish and global studies from the University of Iowa. She taught English in Japan for nearly nine years and is currently an associate professor at Miami Dade College, where she has taught English for academic purposes since 2002. She was a founding member of the Asian American and Pacific Islander heritage committee at MDC and has been studying and practicing Japanese tea ceremony since 2009. In 2013, she was appointed to the Asian American Advisory Board of Miami Dade County. She has received recognition from the Coalition of South Florida Muslim Organizations (COSMOS), the Hindu American Foundation (HAF), and the League for Innovation for her contributions in education. She is currently a Doctoral Degree Candidate in Educational Technology at the University of Florida.
Rene Revuelta wrote You Can Be a Minimalist (Yes, You Can) in “Resilience and Earth Literacy.” https://earthliteracy.blogspot.com/2020/09/you-can-be-minimalist-yes-you-can.html
Rene co-led the very first Global Sustainability and Earth Literacy Studies (GSELS) learning community. Aliens Among Us (Fall 2015), partly inspired by Rene’s collaboration with Arizona State University’s courseware Habitable Worlds and Biology Beyond. Learning about Science Education for New Civic Engagements and Responsibilities (SENCER) was another source of inspiration. Rene significantly contributed and participated in all GSELS learning communities: Black Lives Matter (Spring 2016), Identity and Adjustment (Fall 2016), IAC Recycles (Spring 2017), Vulnerability and Resiliency (Fall 2017), A Sense of Place (Spring 2018), War (Fall 2018), Peace and Justice (Spring 2019), Zero Hunger I (Fall 2019), Zero Hunger II (Spring 2020), Sustainable Cities I (Fall 2020), and Sustainable Cities II (Spring 2021).
Beth Cloues is a faculty librarian at Padron Campus. She has been a librarian at Miami Dade College since 1988. She earned a B.A. in French from Kentucky Wesleyan College and an M.S.L.S. in Library Science from Florida State University. Beth Cloues is certified as a GSELS instructor and has used GSELS modules in the LIS 2004 classes she teaches. She has been teaching face-to-face courses since 2006 and online courses for MDC Online since 2009. She has also provided support via Learning Resources to the past GSELS learning communities at Padron Campus.
Isabel M. Duque is a native Floridian and a daughter of exiled Cuban immigrants. She has a Master's Degree in Library Science, and a Bachelor's Degree in English with a minor in Film studies. Isabel has a background in both academic and public libraries, as well as teaching English literature in public schools. Her life’s work is to transform the library landscape in higher education, create a more inclusive, interdisciplinary curriculum and making curiosity contagious.
Isabel’s areas of interest are in storytelling, critical pedagogy, regenerative culture, and liberation studies, all of which are avenues to developing multi-literacies, community, and self.
Jaeson Clayborn is an assistant professor at Miami Dade College Padrón Campus. He teaches biology and environmental science courses. Through collaborations with experienced and unconventional professionals, he continues to improve his course materials using active and project-based learning techniques to improve the curricula. His professional life goals are to understand and preserve the entomological and botanical world, engage local communities through service-learning and inquiry-based activities, and empower people to be curious.
Let's Make a Dinosaur Tree Based on What You See: Cladograms
Video Surveillance: Community Service Projects to Understand Imperiled Butterfly Ecology
Jennifer Iturralde is a Miami Dade Honors College student and this semester I participated in a footage research with my Biology teacher Dr. Clayborn. This helped her learn more about the environment and the different ways to hopefully save some species. It aided her goal to be a veterinarian as she could go into the field, especially when treating wildlife, with more knowledge and insight than before. Once she graduates from the Honors College she would take this information and spread it to Ross University, the vet school she is applying to. This research opportunity taught her invaluable lessons. She hopes to continue promoting the safety of other endangered species through her studies and future work places.
Video Surveillance: Community Service Projects to Understand Imperiled Butterfly Ecology
Maria Abella is a student at The Honors College at MDC, majoring in Chemistry with a pre-medical orientation. Abella is a Florida Medallion Scholar and Phi Theta Kappa member. She has also participated in Shadowing a Neurologist and aiding in her current Alzheimer’s disease research. She holds a certificate for the Dean’s List of recognition for each semester at MDC since Fall of 2019. Maria has participated as a speaker for the Cancer O.U.T event and the fundraising for cancer research. She has earned over 98 credits towards her Associates in Arts degree.
Video Surveillance: Community Service Projects to Understand Imperiled Butterfly Ecology
Anna Guerrero is an instructor for the School of Education at Miami Dade College, Padron Campus. She has earned a BA in Elementary Education from FIU, an MS in Reading Education from FIU, and a MS in Special Education from Arkansas State University. Before becoming a MDC faculty, she taught for Miami Dade County Public Schools for twenty-two years and facilitated professional development opportunities at the District level.
Effective Use of Cognitive Strategies to Increase Content Comprehension