Maria’s work as an educational leader includes 33 years with the San Diego Unified School District, where she served as a Demonstration Teacher, Literacy Coach, and eventually as the Director of School Innovation. Her passion for transformational approaches to teaching and learning powered by the constructive, dynamic nature of talk now fuels her efforts as a literacy consultant, working with educators, districts and organizations across the U.S. and internationally. Above all else, Maria honors the innovative capacity of teachers and students alike, and finds immense joy engaging alongside both.
Maria is the author of numerous texts and articles focused on engaging students through talk, including Comprehension Through Conversation: The Power of Purposeful Talk in the Reading Workshop (Heinemann, 2006), “Real Talk, Real Teaching” (Ed Leadership, November 2014), and most recently, Building Bigger Ideas: A Process For Teaching Purposeful Talk (Heinemann, 2019).