Lisa Hawkins

Lisa Hawkins is a doctoral student in the Curriculum, Instruction, and Teacher Education Program.  Her years as a first grade teacher have sparked her interest in early reading and writing acquisition, the reciprocal nature of reading and writing, emergent literacy, and effective teacher practices and teacher mentoring in these areas. Her professional studies and experiences at Michigan State University have provided, in particular, extensive knowledge in the field of writing development and instruction. She has embraced the opportunity to explore various areas within this field including: cognitive, sociocultural and social constructivist aspects of writing development; various pedagogical techniques utilized in writing instruction; genre theory and genre study; writing conference implementation; an exploration into ten essential pieces in the field of writing development and instruction; the notion of teachers as writers; and historical perspectives on writing development and instruction. Furthermore, alongside her advisor and mentor Dr. Janine Certo, she has pursued work involving peotry and preservice teachers, poetry writing with elementary-aged students, and the creation of a research-based professional development video on elementary writing best practices for in-service teachers.

• Hawkins, L., & Razali, A. (2011, under review). A tale of 3 P’s–penmanship, product, and process: 100 years of writing instruction in the elementary classroom. Language Arts.
• Certo, J., Apol, L, Wibbens, E., & Hawkins, L. (2010, under review). Spilling water into water: Preservice teachers’ poetry genre knowledge and experiences. English Education.
• Certo, J., Apol, L, Wibbens, E., & Hawkins, L. (2009, April). The case for poetry in teacher education: Preservice teachers’ genre knowledge and development in a university-based course. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Education Research Association, San Francisco.

Certo, J. (2008). Genre Knowledge and Development: Urban Preadolescents Writing and Performing Contemporary, Hip Hop & Slam Poetry. (Spencer Foundation Grant).

Troia, G., Olinghouse, N., Certo, J. & Hawkins, L. (2007) Growing Writers: Teaching Genre to Elementary Students of All Abilities. (MSU LARC).

Certo, J. (2007). Using an Aesthetic Reading/Writing Workshop to Prepare Teacher Poet Fellows. (MSU Lilly Fellowship Award).