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Barbara Wheatley

POSITION: Assistant Professor of Education

DEPARTMENTS:
School of Social Sciences and Professions
Education

LOCATION: Main Campus, Harrisonburg | CC 213

PHONE: (540) 432-4955

EMAIL: barbara.wheatley@emu.edu

Dr. Wheatley has a life-long Wissensdurst – thirst for knowledge.  While Barbara has several degrees that cover elementary, educational technology, library media, and of course, literacy, the emphasis on her education has been using texts of all types to strengthen literacy in students.  In addition, Barbara believes that our children deserve the best literature in their learning and reading experiences.  This literature should be high-quality, and encompass not only narrative genres, but also expository genres.  Children love the natural world and by exposing them to texts that covers science, our social world, and other concepts, we help engage them in becoming active literary learners.  As a literacy expert, she believes that all students are able to learn and become avid readers and lovers of literature. As a college professor, Barbara’s experiences have helped inform best-practices found in research-based literacy instruction.  Barbara believes that using research with our practical experiences provides the best learning for our students.

Dr. Wheatley has taught in various schools across the country, mainly in the elementary grades with students that ranged from three-year olds to twelve-year olds.  As a classroom teacher she emphasized high-quality literacy instruction and developing a love of reading in her students.  As a reading specialist, the goals were the same and these continued in her career as a library media specialist.  The common theme in each of these is literacy, strengthening literacy skills to enable children to read well, and instilling a love of learning. 

Barbara is married to Chris and has three children and four grandchildren.  Since her family resides across the country--Virginia, Texas, Vermont, Utah, and Mississippi--travel is a big part of family visits.  Reading to her grandchildren is one of her favorite activities when family is together.  In her spare time when she is not visiting family, Barbara enjoys reading, running, and activities that allow her to be creative, such as sewing, cross stitch, and crafts. 

Education

BS, MS Univ for Women (Elementary Education)
MSED, Wichita State Univ (Elementary Education/Reading)
MS, Indiana State Univ (Instructional Tech/Library Media)
EDD, University of Virginia (Curriculum and Instruction/Reading)

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