“I teach to dispel the dark and remind the universe that we are not inconsequential. I teach because it’s infinitely compelling to watch dynamic souls punch through their not so elastic cocoons of childhood, daring the community to accept their forward motion. Brushing complacency’s dust from everyday ideas and objects by viewing them through children’s eyes opens our own, and it connects us to that golden, 'What if…?' superhero in our earlier selves. I teach because setting a constructive example for my students generates a greater ethic in me than I can achieve without their example or provocation. I teach because I am deeply, unrepentantly grateful for life, and the most potent way I know to express that gratitude is to build a world worthy of the next generation, then give them the tools to make it their own.”  -- Rick Wormeli

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One of the first Nationally Board Certified teachers in America, Rick brings innovation, energy, validity and high standards to both his presentations and his instructional practice, which include 44 years teaching math, science, English, physical education, health, and history, as well as coaching teachers, principals, superintendents, and other leadership. Rick's work has been reported in numerous media, including ABC's Good Morning America, Hardball with Chris Matthews, National Geographic and Good Housekeeping magazines, What Matters Most: Teaching for the 21st Century, national association journals, and The Washington Post. He is a frequent contributor to AMLE Magazine and ASCD's Education Leadership magazine. He is the author of the award-winning book Meet Me in the Middle as well as the best-selling books Day One and Beyond, Fair Isn't Always Equal: Assessment and Grading in the Differentiated Classroom (Second Edition), Differentiation: From Planning to Practice and Metaphors & Analogies: Power Tools for Teaching any Subject as well as the ASCD book, Summarization in any Subject: 60 Innovative and Tech-Infused Strategies for Deeper Student Learning. His book, The Collected Writings (So Far) of Rick Wormeli: Crazy Good Stuff I Learned about Teaching Along the Way, is collection of his published articles, guest blogs and more through 2013, and the 2nd edition of this is going to be published later this year. His classroom practice is a showcase for ASCD's best-selling series, At Work in the Differentiated Classroom.

 

With his substantive presentations, sense of humor and unconventional approaches, he has presented to teachers and administrators in all 50 states, Canada, China, Europe, Thailand, Japan, Vietnam, Korea, Australia the Middle East, and at the White House. He is a seasoned veteran of thousands of virtual, national and international seminars, and he is Disney's American Teacher Awards 1996 Outstanding English Teacher of the Nation. He won the 2008 James P. Garvin award from the New England League of Middle Schools for Teaching Excellence, Service and Leadership, and he has been a consultant for National Public Radio, USA Today, Court TV and the Smithsonian Institution's Natural Partners Program and their search for the giant squid.

Rick lives in Herndon, Virginia, with his wife, Kelly, where they have successfully launched their kids into adulthood. While marveling at the love and wonder of being new grandparents, they are also happily spending their children’s inheritance on assorted adventures.