Affiliate Professor
Department of English
English Education

273 Lake Huron Hall
(616) 331-3552
[email protected]

Courses
ENG 201 Foundations of Literacy Instruction
ENG 400 Critical Issues in K-12 Literacy

Research Interests

• Using reading and writing to foster social justice in the English classroom
• Using diverse children's and young adult literature in the English classroom
• Using writing instruction in meaningful and relevant ways
   

Recent Publications
Spinner, Elisabeth. “Using Indigenous Young Adult Literature to Encourage Action on Climate Change.” Empowering Youth to Confront the Climate Crisis in English Language Arts, edited by Allen Webb, Richard Beach, and Jeff Share, Teachers College Press and The National Writing Project. Expected to be published January, 2025. 

Spinner, Elisabeth. “Using Writing to Make Change: Implementing culturally relevant writing instruction and mentor texts in the secondary writing classroom.” Handbook of Research on Writing Instruction Practices for Equitable and Effective Teaching, edited by Tracy Hodges, IGI Global, 2022, pp. 63-79.

Education
Ph.D. Western Michigan University 
M.A. Michigan State University
B.A. Michigan State University