Meet Your PLC+ Consultants

John Almarode conducts staff development workshops, keynote addresses, and conference presentations on a variety of topics including student engagement, evidence-based practices, creating enriched environments that promote learning, and designing classrooms with the brain in mind. John’s action-packed workshops offer participants ready-to-use strategies and the brain rues that make them work. John is author of PLC+: Better Decisions and Greater Impact by Design and The PLC+ Playbook.

Olivia Amador-Valerio has been in the field of education for twenty-four years with 14 of those serving as an Elementary School Principal. Her teaching experience includes 10 years as an Elementary Bilingual Teacher and Reading Language Arts Specialist supporting Students with reading deficits. She is a full-time consultant with a wealth of knowledge and experiences as a leading learner and has been innovative in her practices to develop effective teachers, improve student performance, and enhance levels of family engagement.

Karen T. Flories is currently a full-time professional learning consultant for Corwin. In her role, she works with teachers and leaders across the nation to understand the Visible Learning research and use it as a guide to inform decisions about what best impacts student learning. Karen also facilitates professional learning centered on teacher clarity and formative assessment, and works hands on with teachers and leaders to drive learning at surface, deep and transfer levels. Prior to her role with Corwin, Karen was the Executive Director of Educational Services for 5 years and Director of Literacy and Social Studies in VVSD for 2 years, after serving as the English Department Chair for Romeoville High School. Karen is author of PLC+: Better Decisions and Greater Impact by Design and The PLC+ Playbook.

Sonja Hollins-Alexander is the Director of Professional Learning for Corwin Publishing. She has been in the field of education for 24 years with 18 of those being in educational leadership at the school, district and higher education levels. During this time, she has served as a school social worker, teacher, assistant director and director of professional learning for DeKalb County School District in Metro Atlanta. She also is a professor in the Education Department at Argosy University.

Dave Nagel is a full-time consultant for Corwin Press. A former high school teacher and administrator, Dave has been a professional developer; presenting, keynoting, and coaching teachers and school administrators at all levels pre-K-12, since 2003. His primary areas of expertise have in effective collaboration (PLCs), common formative assessments, effective use of scoring guides for learning targets, and meaningful and practical grading practices. Dave is also one of Corwin's certified presenters in Visible Learning^plus and PLC+. Dave is author of PLC+: Better Decisions and Greater Impact by Design and The PLC+ Playbook.

Aida Rotell is a nationally recognized consultant whose primary aim is to engage all learners through reading and writing. She worked to create a bilingual program designed to build literacy skills in both Spanish and English, and often uses collaborative learning to build the social and academic language skills of her students. She is also an administrator at Health Science High and a lecturer in the teacher education department at San Diego State University. She also is a professor in the Education Department at Argosy University.