Donna M. Spisso

Donna has taught in the U.S. and nine other countries in Europe and Asia. As an international educator, she taught the English literature and language courses offered by both Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate English programs, IB Theory of Knowledge, and scholastic journalism courses in yearbook and newspaper. She is an examiner for IB English Literature exams and for TOK papers, and she judges literary magazines for the National Scholastic Press and Columbia Scholastic Press Associations.

Donna holds two masters degrees (MA in English and M. Ed in Technology in Education). She was an early convert to Macintosh desktop computing in the 1980s and online learning in the 1990s. In the 21st century, Web 2.0 technology has become an integral part of her teaching, and online coursework is one of her favorite forms of professional development. At educators’ conferences sponsored by the Journalism Education Association, National Council of Teachers of English, and the European Council of International Schools as well as at individual schools, Donna has led formal teacher workshops on literature, writing, digital storytelling, desktop publishing, multimedia and publications. In an administrative capacity, she has served as head of English and as Service Learning Coordinator.

Donna has coached drama and publications (yearbook, newspaper, literary magazine) and has organized young philanthropists training, fund-raising and numerous Habitat for Humanity builds in Asia and Africa. Other activities she has sponsored include Forensics, Global Issues Network and Model United Nations.