• Defining myself as a teacher educator, I draw from my practical experiences as a public education teacher with students who span a vibrant spectrum of learning. An alumnus of Trinity’s MAT program, I continually grow as an educator and feel so fortunate to work in an institution that focuses heavily on the student. As an educational researcher, I intertwine my research with my practice of teaching and, consequently, my teaching with my research. My teaching is guided by theory, centered on student learning, and steeped in reflection. Through the infusion of differentiation as a practical way to promote purposeful learning, I strive to provide opportunities for students to experience authenticity, autonomy, ownership in my classes. I embrace the foundation of differentiation as the umbrella of my scholarship and the cornerstone of my teaching.

    • Ed.D., University of Houston
    • MAT, Trinity University 
    • B.A., Trinity Univerity 
    • Moseley, C., Desjean-Perrotta, B., & Crim, C. L. (2010). Exploring Preservice Teachers’ Mental Models of the Environment. In Bodzin, A., Klein, B. & Weaver, S. (Eds.) The Inclusion of Environmental Education in Science Teacher Education. Edited Monograph for Association for Science Teacher Education.
    • Hawkins, J., Crim, C.L., Thornton, J. S., & Warren, A. (2010). Professional Development in Training Programs. In Newman, S. B. (Ed.) Professional Development for Early Childhood Educators: Principles and Strategies for Improving Practice. Baltimore, MD: Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co.
    • Desjean-Perrotta, B., Moseley, C., & Crim, C. L. (2010). Raising a generation of environmentally literate children: Assessing the impact of teacher knowledge. In Hoot, J. & Szente, J. (Eds.) The Earth is our home: children caring for the environment. (pp. 37-50). Olney, MD: Association for Childhood Education International.
    • Thornton, J. S., Crim, C. L., & Hawkins, J. (2009). The impact of an ongoing professional development program on prekindergarten teachers’ mathematics practices. Journal of Early Childhood Teacher Education. 30(2), 150-161.
    • Cuero, K. K., & Crim, C. L. (2008). “You wish it could speak for itself”: Examining the use of aesthetic representations in an elementary teacher preparation program. Issues In Teacher Education. 17(2), 117-140.

    Through my teaching and the practice of using differentiated instruction, I meet educators at the root of change. Research is the arena where I can continue to explore the role, impact, and outcome of differentiation on multiple levels and reach/teach others through dissemination of my work. Drawing on a mix of qualitative and quantitative research methodologies, my research threads are unified under the familiar umbrella of differentiated instruction. From this point, it follows two paths: Teacher education (which specifically intersects the practice of differentiated instruction for both inservice and preservice teachers) and environmental education (which extends the idea of differentiation past content, process, and product into that of environment also allowing me to tap into Gardner’s Naturalistic Intelligence and proactively address upcoming federal legislation regarding outdoor education). From these two angles, the paths unite again through impacting transformative leadership in the field of education.

    • Growing Up in America
    • Diverse Learners 
    • Clinical Practice
    • Advanced Clinical Practice

    I am fortunate that many of my community and professional interactions are so closely linked with my teaching and research. A few examples of recent local, state, and international involvement include:

    • Adviser/Grant Coordinator for Get Ready to Embrace Earth’s Needs (GREEN Club) at Tejeda Middle School, NEISD
    • Member of the Medical Scientific Advisory Committee for Winston School San Antonio
    • Member of the State of Texas Environmental Literacy Plan Development Team State Facilitator for Project WILD, Project WILD Early Childhood - Growing Up WILD, Project Learning Tree, and Project Learning Tree Early Childhood
    • Co-Chair for the Preservice Teacher Advisory Board for the North American Association of Environmental Education (NAAEE)
    • Founding Co-Chair for the Environmental Education Special Interest Forum for the Association for Childhood Education International (ACEI)

    Since beginning at Trinity in 2010, I continue to be involved in a growing number of interesting activities. A few of these opportunities include the German Fulbright Delegation planning committee, Co-facilitating Saturday Morning Experience (SME), participating in the Council on Teacher Education, Co-facilitating the Teacher Education Study Group, and participating in the Gifted and Talented Lecture Series Development Team.