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Melissa Swartzentruber Westfall

PhD Student

Biography

Melissa is from Lexington, Kentucky. She received her B.A. in Mathematics and M.A.T. with K-6 teacher licensure from Belmont University in Nashville. She has spent the last 7 years teaching children in kindergarten and first grade. Melissa's research interests include examining the social and emotional development of young children and how various cultural contexts affect that development.


Education

Curriculum Vitae


Awards and Recognitions

  • Tennessee Teaching Scholars Program (TTSP) 
    • $5,000 Scholarship
  • State of Tennessee Practitioner Teacher License
    • 499 K-6 Endorsement

Publications

Presentations (international, national, regional and/or local):

Swartzentruber, M. (2018, July). The language of connections: Exploring culture, identity, and sense of place in kindergarten. Presented at the Tennessee Department of Education Early Childhood Summit, Nashville, Tennessee.
Deal, S., DeMartino Newton, E., & Swartzentruber, M. (2019, November). Teachers as learners: Individualizing professional development to meet teachers’ diverse learning needs. Presented at the National Association for the Education of Young Children Annual Conference, Nashville, TN.
Swartzentruber, M. (2019, June). From trap to home: An exploration of bees and butterflies in kindergarten. Presented at the Early Learning Institute, the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
Swartzentruber, M. (2018, June). The language of connections: Exploring culture, identity, and sense of place in kindergarten. Presented at the Early Learning Institute, the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.


Contact Information