Clare Landrigan

Clare Landrigan (left) has been working with her coauthor Tammy Mulligan (right) for the past twenty-three years. They began their work together coteaching an integrated first- and second-grade classroom at the Eliot Pearson Children's School in Medford, Massachusetts.

Clare says that at first she chose the position because she needed to finance her graduate degree, but then she "ended up loving it and choosing to become a teacher." Clare says that teaching combined her love of research with an engaging, practical experience in the classroom. "I love that teaching allows me to use both my creative and analytical mind," Clare explains. "Teaching allows me to constantly question, reflect, observe, teach, and revise. I love observing students in the process of learning and thinking about how to engage them.... I love that moment when learning clicks for a student and they believe that they have the power to control their learning. It also doesn't hurt that they keep me laughing all the time!"

Clare and Tammy now run a private staff development business, Teachers to Teachers. They work with varied school systems to implement best practices in the field of literacy and to engage in institutional change. They blog regularly at Perspectives, and are also regular contributors to Choice Literacy and Lead Literacy. They would love to connect and hear your perspective!