With over 33 years of teaching experience working with English language learners, bilingual educator, Joy Wenke believes everyone is an academic language learners. She is on a mission to maximize Tier 1 instruction in classrooms for the purpose of nurturing independent and critical readers and writers. For the last 7 years, she has worked as a consultant and professional learning community coach to help teachers improve their Tier 1 instructional practices through providing professional development in close reading of complex text, writing, English language development, best practices for student engagement, and model lessons in classrooms. Woven throughout her work is the fundamental flow of the development of literacy skills from listening and speaking to reading and writing. By using systemic protocols to support accountable talk in classrooms, students demonstrate that the ability to speak well is the fundamental precursor to coherent and vivid writing. Joy has trained teachers across the United States in the best practices that support well-balanced literacy programs. Passionate about equity for all students, she has the skills and ability to help teachers become facilitators of engaging and purposeful learning environments.