Planning Powerful Instruction, Grades 2-5

Christopher Butts has worked in education since 2003. He spent the first ten years at the elementary level as a paraprofessional with English Learners and a classroom teacher for third and fourth graders. During that his grade level team created a community garden. He also taught at a migrant summer school and English classes for parents in the evenings. As a Teacher Consultant with the Boise State Writing Project Chris co-designed and co-facilitated online courses about informational and argument texts. He also provided local Idaho districts training around the Common Core Standards. Starting in 2013, Chris worked with Teacher Consultants from the National Writing Project and the Idaho State Department of Education to establish the Idaho Coaching Network - opens in a new tab, an organization that provides training in literacy instruction and teacher leadership. Since 2016-17, he has been a Title I Coach at the alternative school for the Boise School District, Frank Church High School, where he enjoys co-teaching various levels of math and English

Adam Fachler is a strategist, coach, and consultant for Pre-K-12 teachers and educational leaders throughout New York. Formerly a middle school teacher, staff developer, and intern principal, he left the classroom in 2014 to co-found the School in the Square, a public charter school in Washington Heights. In addition to creating the EMPOWER framework, Adam is also a leading expert in Thinking Maps®—a visual language for learning—and leads acclaimed regional certification workshops in the methodology. In all his work, Adam strives to provide educators with the engaging professional development that they deserve. Adam lives with his wife Liz in Brooklyn, NY.