Christy McConnell, PhD, taught high school English and was department coordinator in Colorado for seven years. Her master’s work focused on teacher preparation and urban education, and her doctoral work explored the practices of ecologically minded teachers. Dr. McConnell's publications have largely explored aesthetic and ecological perspectives of teaching and learning (she formerly published under the name Moroye). She is now a professor of Curriculum Studies and Educational Foundations at the University of Northern Colorado and loves sharing these ideas with her undergraduate and graduate students. Christy spends time in the desert with her son and dogs and enjoys writing poetry, hiking, and making art. She is the co-author of Lesson Planning with Purpose: Five Approaches to Curriculum Design (Teachers College Press, 2020).