Sharing ebooks and media with DHHDB characters that support well-being for teachers and DHH students

Workshop description

In this presentation we share examples that graduate students and instructors from the UMN DHH teacher preparation program developed in collaboration with DHH community members to support well-being of DHH children and families (mindfulness, self-care, mental health, fostering identity development and awareness, language and literacy). We will share how to create interactive ebooks and media that integrate research-based strategies and collaborate with people from diverse DHHDB communities. We will also share how to use these resources in educational and home settings.

Presented by Brynn Kraning, Debbie Golos, Cookie Brand, Stevie Middlebrook, Rocco Lauricella, Megan Johnson, Kya Halstengaard and other We-Imagine UMN students.

Brynn Kraning

Brynn Kraning, PhD is a lecturer in the Deaf Education Teacher Preparation Program in the department of Educational Psychology at the University of Minnesota. She has been teaching Deaf Education for over 10 years. Prior to this position she was an early childhood teacher at the Utah Schools for the Deaf and the Blind in Salt Lake City, Utah. She has research, media, and children's book publications related to early childhood, technology, and educational media. She integrates anti-bias framework, mindfulness and community building throughout her instruction.

Debbie Golos

Debbie Golos. PhD is a Professor in Deaf Education and DHH teacher preparation program lead at the University of Minnesota. With 30+ years in the field, her research and teaching focus on fostering language, literacy, identities, well-being for teachers and children, and interactive educational media through a multilingual and multimodal lens.

Cookie Brand

Cookie J. Brand (she/her), a Black Deaf, queer woman, is a school counselor at the Metro Deaf School in Saint Paul, Minnesota and parent of a Hard of hearing and a Deaf child. Her first teaching experience led her to Kenya, East Africa as a Peace Corps volunteer, teaching Kenyan deaf and hard of hearing students. Cookie's interests include normalizing neurodiversity and destigmatizing mental health within the education sector. Currently, she is a doctoral candidate and adjunct instructor for the UMN DHH teacher preparation program at the University of Minnesota where she will incorporate trauma-informed and culturally inclusive methods.