Our Journey
When Krista and I (Dana) first started working together, I don’t believe either of us would guess we would one day co-author a book. In those early days of our relationship – 30+ years ago, we met as a young teacher (Krista) and an education consultant (Dana) on a project to reimagine an urban school. Given the support to try new approaches and explore how to create a school to meet the needs of a diverse population, we were able dive deep into who we were as educators.
Those discussions really framed who we were as friends and educators. We loved to talk about schools, teaching, and kids. We loved playing with ideas and sometimes debating what we thought was best. Throughout our careers, we always found ways to reconnect and talk about schools.
At one point, we were consulting with a school located over two hours from Kansas City. Every couple of months, we would meet to drive together and talk. In two hours, in each direction, you can cover a lot of ground. A few years after that consulting work ended, we met to catch up and continue our conversation. That was the seed of our book Constructivist Teaching by Heart.
Initially, those meetings were to reconnect as friends with a long history. Somewhere along this journey, it became a bigger project, a deeply personal exploration. It became an unveiling of who we are and what we believe. We put it all out there: our stories, our philosophy on education, and our hopes and dreams for what makes education work for children.
For us, the journey is not over. But what will always remain the same is that as constructivists, our passion to talk about schools is what we do.
Who we are
Krista Calvert, EdD, is an elementary reading specialist in Kansas City, Kansas, and teaches literacy graduate courses at Avila University. Additionally, Krista collaborates on a blog highlighting multicultural children’s literature for a local education nonprofit. Before becoming an elementary reading specialist, Krista worked on literacy professional learning initiatives in urban Kansas City school districts. Krista has taught children from kindergarten through grade 8. She has presented at multiple national and regional conferences on topics ranging from best practices for teaching struggling literacy learners, professional learning frameworks that increase student achievement, meeting kids where they are and who they are in the classroom, teaching with high-quality children’s literature, and culturally responsive instruction. Krista advocates for all children to be known as readers, writers, learners, and individuals who matter. You can reach Krista at kristateachingbyheart@gmail.com.
Dana McMillan is an education consultant and has dual degrees in elementary and early childhood education and a master’s degree in literacy education. She taught early primary grades for eight years. As an education consultant, Dana has written over 30 teacher resource books and two education curricula, provided consultation to museums, supervised student teachers, and served on multiple design teams, creating interactive experiences for students. She has presented at national and international conferences on topics related to constructivist theory, including developing learning environments supportive of children’s cognitive, social, and emotional development. Dana spent a school term in a British primary school working in a classroom of 5- to 7-year-olds and later facilitated a group of educators on an educational trip to the same area of England. Dana has a passion for urban education, and much of her work has centered on the long and rewarding process of helping teachers become more child-centered in their educational journey. You can reach Dana at danateachingbyheart@gmail.com.