UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN River Falls
Teacher Education
Office: 244 Wyman Teacher Education Bldg
Phone: 715-425-4648
Email: hiawatha.smith@uwrf.edu
Ph.D. University of North Carolina Greensboro --Educational Studies-Literacy Education
BS/MA.Ed North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University-Elementary Education
Select Publications:
Smith, H., Vesperman, D., & Frederick, A. (IN PROGRESS). Preparing Teachers for Linguistically Diverse Classrooms. In Andrews, O. & Tomlin A, When We Hear Them: Tools to Attune Teachers’ Ears to Voices of Language-Diverse Learners.
Smith, H., & Frederick, A. (under contract). Preparing Pre-service teachers to teach developmental word study in diverse classrooms. In Ittner, Frederick, Kiernan & Bear (Eds.), Implementing word study: Strategies for professional learning. Guilford Press.
Smith, H. D., & Miller, S. D. (2019). Digging Deeper: Understanding the Reading and Motivational Profiles of Students Who Do Not Demonstrate Proficiency on State-Mandated Reading Assessments. Reading Psychology, 39(8), 855-878.
Select Presentations:
Smith, H, & Frederick, A. (2022). Word Study: Pre-service Teacher Preparation within Diverse Classrooms. Word Study Study Group presentation at the Literacy Research Association annual meeting in Phoenix, AZ.
Hart, B., Hart, J., & Smith, H. (2022). Integrating Social Studies in K-5 classrooms: Using Read Alouds and Notable Social Studies Tradebooks. Presentation at NC Council for the Social Studies Annual Conference, Greensboro, NC
Smith, H. & White, S. (2021). Literature Re-envisioned: Strategies for using non-diverse, problematic, or controversial texts in literacy instruction. Paper presentation at the Association of Literacy Educators and Researchers annual conference in Hilton Head, SC.
Smith, H. & Sargent, S. (2021) Beyond windows, mirrors, and sliding glass doors: Strategies to address weaknesses in diverse perspectives of texts. Presentation at Hamline University’s Summer Literacy Institute, St, Paul, MN.
Smith, H. & Miller, S. (2019). Diggin Deeper: Understanding the Reading and Motivation Profiles of Marginalized Non-Proficient Readers. Poster presentation at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association in Toronto, CA.
Smith, H. (2015). Diggin’ Deeper: I assess what? Presentation at the Beginning Teacher Boot-Camp: Engaging, Equipping, and Empowering North Carolina’s Newest Teachers for 21st Century Classrooms Summer 2015, Greensboro, NC.
Smith, H. & Hampton, V. (2013). The role of literacy in promoting mathematical proficiency in the 3-5 CCSS classroom. Presentation at North Carolina Teachers of Mathematics Conference, Greensboro, NC.
Williams, E.R., Johnson, M., Smith, H., & Gadsden, K. (2010). Politics and pedagogy: Beginning black teachers in the 21st century. Presentation at the National Association of Multicultural Education, Las Vegas, NV.
Professional Memberships/Associations
In addition to his teaching responsibilities, Hiawatha is the director of the graduate elementary education program and supervises preservice teachers. Prior to his work on the collegiate level, he worked as an elementary school teacher, tutor, curriculum facilitator, and literacy coach.
His research crosses multiple areas of literacy, including preservice teachers in practicum experiences, developmental word study, reading motivation, non-proficient readers, and diverse perspectives in children’s and adolescent literature. Hiawatha is currently working on two book projects and a research study identifying best practices for preservice teacher preparation with the implementation of writing conferences.