My name is Kristen Dembroski, and I am an Instructional Coach in southeast Wisconsin. I am National Board certified, a Reading Specialist, Orton Gillingham certified, and I hold a Master, Professional, and English Language Learner teaching certificates. I have a strong background in dyslexia education, universal design for learning, and professional learning communities. My passion and my goal is to develop innovative new ways to reach kids and get them reading, writing, and thinking.

I have 16 years of experience in education, which includes 9 years teaching middle school language arts, social studies, and reading interventions. I also have 7 years of experience in leadership roles including Reading Specialist, Literacy Coach, and Instructional Coach.

I completed my doctorate in 2015 in language and literacy with a focus on digital literacy. The title of my study is “Online Reading Comprehension: An Explanatory Sequential Study of Middle School Students.” I experimented with the ORCA (Online Reading Comprehension Assessment), which was developed by Dr. Leu and his amazing team at the University of Connecticut.

I am intrinsically drawn to the field of education because I enjoy finding and magnifying potential, as well as building relationships. I have an unwavering and passionate belief that all humans are learners. I always presume competence and positive intent. 

Besides being an educator and a mother, I also try to have a personal life now and again. I consider myself to be a fairly crafty person – I enjoy calligraphy, fiber arts, and painting. I love to workout, AND I love to cook and bake; you can see my beautifully staged creations on my Foodie Instagram account.

I am a very organized person, and I love finding new ways to streamline things in our house to be more efficient. I guess that’s just the teacher in me. If I were to have a backup career, my dream would be to work for The Home Edit.

My husband, Ryan, is an actor, producer, and pilot. Ryan and I are always up for a great adventure. We’ve traveled abroad, gone on a hot air balloon ride, done a 5K and half-marathon, kayaked in the ocean, sang in a choir, gone zip-lining, flown in a two-seater plane, been in several movies and commercials together, and generally are up for any fun adventure we can do together.

Follow me on Facebook, Pinterest, and Teachers Pay Teachers!