Hi! I'm Ellen Kolonoski, a.k.a. Wonder Teacher Ellen. An educator for the past 32 years, I'm passionate about learning, gifted education and, most of all, creating conditions for wonder in the classroom.
I earned my Bachelor’s degree from Alfred University (1994), a Master’s degree in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Scranton (2009) and completed a graduate certificate in gifted education at Rutgers University (2014).
I have shared my work as a conference presenter at the local, state and national levels and as a professional learning facilitator. I am looking forward to presenting at NAGC26. My most recent adventure was presenting "Wonder: The Ultimate Learning Superpower" at the NJ Association for Gifted Children state conference. Previously, I shared "The Wonder Workout" as part of the NAGC Teachers Summit virtual event. I was thrilled to present "Astonish, Amaze and Aspire: Connecting Wonder and Creativity in Gifted Learning" at NAGC25, and been invited by Silverquicken to share their game Water Falcon and be part of the closing keynote Won't You Be My Neighbor? I have previously presented Servin' Around the World: Empowering Gifted Learners at NAGC23. I am also one of the co-leaders of the NAGC PK-12 Teacher Leader Special Interest Group.
I authored a leadership curriculum to coordinate with Adam Braun's book The Promise of a Pencil. National Geographic Society utilized her “Move the Great Pyramid” lesson as part of their supplemental materials for the IMAX movie, Mysteries of Egypt. I was awarded an NJAGC Instructional Mini-Grant for "Sew Inventive." I served as the New Jersey Coordinator of the National Geographic Bee for five years. I was the Kittatinny Regional High School Teacher of the Year in 2006-2007, went on to be named as Sussex County Teacher of the Year and was a finalist for New Jersey State Teacher of the Year.
