One day when Joanna was asked what her job was, she replied, “I’m an academic enhancer with internal motivation.” Throughout her 37 years of teaching, she has challenged learners to think. She enjoys watching the sparkle in the eyes of her students as they understand new information.

Joanna is an author, educator, poet, and consultant. She has encouraged children and teachers to write. Now, she is taking more time to do her own writing.

Joanna grew up in Redfield, South Dakota. The Carnegie Library just a half mile from her home was a wonderful place to explore the children’s collection. The love of reading was enhanced when at bedtime, her mother read books aloud to her brother and her. Today, she walks her dog in the morning, wishes on stars at night, and reads whenever she can.

In college, Joanna studied to be a teacher and a librarian. Her family life and career took her across Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona before she returned to the Black Hills of South Dakota. At Arizona State University, Joanna completed her doctorate that documented the value of the teacher-librarian partnership in the educational setting. She has presented on a variety of literacy topics at state, regional, and national conferences. Internationally, Joanna has presented in Portugal, Scotland, New Zealand, and China.

Teaching children’s literature, young adult literature, reading methods, and language arts methods at college, allowed Joanna to share authors and illustrators in multiple reading and writing settings.  She has also taught in elementary school and middle school as well as teaching in a gifted program. Joanna served on the South Dakota Prairie Pasque, Prairie Bud committee that reviews about 200 books per year to select the yearly state recommended list of books for children.

Joanna Jones loves to read and talk about books.

You can find out more about Joanna here.

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