Jackie Epler is a collaborative educator with experience in PreK-6 classrooms in urban and suburban communities in New Jersey. As a certified reading specialist and Google Educator, she carefully balances her love of literacy with technology. She works both as a team-leader and professional development presenter in her district, facilitating professional development on a variety of content areas. She firmly believes in differentiating to meet the needs of all learners (students and teachers alike) in order to achieve the best results. For her, it is paramount that she teach for understanding. Thus, she develops innovative learning opportunities for her students that uniquely meet their needs while also changing them from receivers of knowledge to producers of knowledge. In her current fourth grade classroom, her ever-growing classroom library invites students to learn and grow. As a reader, she regularly reads a minimum of 60 books a year and encourages her students to do the same.