Michele Jean Sims is an associate professor in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction and is an affiliate of the Center for Urban Education at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. For 20 years, she taught in a variety of public school positions and at varied education levels. She began her career as an elementary teacher and Title I/Chapter I reading teacher in the New York City board of education. In Philadelphia, she was a reading specialist at a group home for adjudicated adolescent boys and a Title I/Chapter I reading teacher at the middle and junior high school level in the Philadelphia School District. Three pivotal professional experiences continue to influence her practice—being a member of the STAR team, which is an interdisciplinary team for middle school students at-risk, her involvement as a teacher consultant in the Philadelphia Writing Project, and her graduate program at the Penn Graduate School of Education.