Rebecca Chatham-Vazquez
Assistant Professor, Director of English Education
Faculty
English School of Education
- rebecca.chatham@ndsu.edu
- (701) 231-7143
-
Office: Minard Hall 318E46
Rebecca Chatham-Vazquez is the Director of English Education and an Assistant Professor in the English Department and the School of Education. She is in her 17th year of teaching, and she loves it just as much now as she did when she first started. She firmly believes in the democratic project that is public education and the important work teachers do at all levels and in all subjects. She originally comes from Montana and has taught in Montana, Arkansas, Arizona, and North Dakota, in rural, urban, and suburban areas with amazing and brilliant teachers and students. Her specialties include Methods of Teaching Reading and Young Adult Literature. Rebecca is the regional representative in North Dakota of the Smithsonian Rural Initiative, which seeks to partner with rural communities to support (in any way possible) projects important to those communities.
In addition to being a certified teacher of both English and History, Rebecca possesses her 200-hour Power Vinyasa Yoga teaching certificate and her Water Safety Instructor Certificate from the Red Cross. She is also a certified Reiki practitioner. Along with her husband, two children, and their cat, Dr. CV loves living in the Fargo-Moorhead area and couldn't be happier to serve the students and teachers of North Dakota through her dream job here at NDSU. She regularly writes for Dr. Bickmore's YA Wednesday blog, and, in her "spare time," she loves to garden.
Please reach out with any questions about courses, the English Education program, or opportunities with the Smithsonian. Rebecca would be happy to hear from you!
Coming soon: graduate courses in English Teaching!
Areas of Study & Research
Teacher Education
Methods of Teaching Reading
Methods of Teaching Young Adult Literature
Rural Teacher Support
Courses Taught
ENGL 360: Grammatical Structures
ENGL 435: Young Adult Literature
EDUC 481: Classroom Methods I (Methods of Teaching Reading)
EDUC 482: Classroom Methods II (Methods of Teaching Writing)
EDUC 487/488: Student Teaching/Applied Student Teaching
Previous Work
Graduate Teaching Associate, Arizona State University
Instructor and Graduate Teaching Associate, University of Arkansas
ESL English Teacher, grades 10 and 11, levels 2-4, Springdale, AR
English and History Teacher, grades 6-12, Great Falls and Denton, MT
Awards & Honors
English Department Vogel Teaching Award Winner, 2025
Nominee, Mary McCannel Gunkelman Recognition Award, 2025
Nominee, English Department Vogel Teaching Award, 2024
Nominee, Mary McCannel Gunkelman Recognition Award, 2024
Distinguished Service Award, Arizona English Teachers Association, 2022
Professional Associations
National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE)
Assembly on Literature for Adolescents of NCTE (ALAN)
Conference on English Leadership of NCTE (CEL)
English Language Arts Teacher Educators (ELATE) Methods Commission of NCTE
The Rural Assembly on English Literacy and Language Education of NCTE (TRAELLE)
Education
- Ph.D. English Education, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, 2023
- University of the Pacific, 2015-2016, three graduate credits in Teaching Methods for English Language Learners
- M.A. English Literature, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR, 2015, Cum Laude
- University of Montana, Missoula, MT, 2010-2013 and 2017-2018, 14 graduate credits in English Teaching Methods and Writing Instruction
- B.A. English and History, University of Montana, Missoula, MT, 2009, Cum Laude
Publications
Peer-Reviewed
Chatham-Vazquez, R. (Spring 2025). “It meant the world to me!” PSTs find inspiration through MCTE Annual Conference. Minnesota English Journal, 60. https://minnesotaenglishjournalonline.org/2025-issue/
Hope, K., Alford, K., and Chatham-Vazquez, R. (2022). Multimodal memoirs: Re-envisioning literacy narratives. English Journal, 111(6), pp. 45-51.
Chatham-Vazquez, R. (2022). Braving the new world: ASU’s El Día goes online! With a live Q&A with Newberry Medal Award-winning author Tae Keller! The ALAN Review, 49(2), pp. 12-17.
Book Reviews
Chatham-Vazquez, R. (2025, Nov. 28). [Review of the book Number the Stars by L. Lowry]. Dr. Bickmore’s YA Wednesday Weekend Picks. https://www.drbickmoresyawednesday.com/picks-2025/weekend-picks-for-november-28th
Chatham-Vazquez, R. (2025, Nov. 7). [Review of the book Rez Ball by B. Graves]. Dr. Bickmore’s YA Wednesday Weekend Picks. https://www.drbickmoresyawednesday.com/picks-2025/weekend-picks-for-november-7th
Chatham-Vazquez, R. (Spring 2025). [Review of the book Mental Illness in Young Adult Literature: Exploring Real Struggles through Fictional Characters, by K.J. Richmond]. Minnesota English Journal, 60. https://minnesotaenglishjournalonline.org/2025-issue/
Chatham-Vazquez, R. (2024, Nov. 29). [Review of the book Destination Unknown, by B. Konigsberg]. Dr. Bickmore’s YA Wednesday Weekend Picks. http://www.drbickmoresyawednesday.com/weekend-picks-2024
Chatham-Vazquez, R. (2024, Nov. 8). [Review of the book Hearts Unbroken, by C. Leitich Smith]. Dr. Bickmore’s YA Wednesday Weekend Picks. http://www.drbickmoresyawednesday.com/weekend-picks-2024
Blog Posts
Chatham-Vazquez, R. (2025, Nov. 26). Historical fiction as inspiration. Dr. Bickmore’s YA Wednesday Weekly Posts. https://www.drbickmoresyawednesday.com/wed-posts/historical-fiction-as-inspiration
Chatham-Vazquez, R. (2025, Nov. 12). D[r]ive into Rez Ball: An interview with award-winning author Byron Graves. Dr. Bickmore’s YA Wednesday Weekly Posts. https://www.drbickmoresyawednesday.com/wed-posts/drive-into-rez-ball-an-interview-with-award-winning-author-byron-graves
Chatham-Vazquez, R. (2024, Nov. 20). Moving forward: Including and centering Indigenous voices year-round. Dr. Bickmore’s YA Wednesday Weekly Posts.http://www.drbickmoresyawednesday.com/weekly-posts/moving-forward-including-and-centering-indigenous-voices-year-round
Chatham-Vazquez, R. (2024, Nov. 13). I'm thankful for YAL: Hearts Unbroken and what Thanksgiving means to me. Dr. Bickmore’s YA Wednesday Weekly Posts. http://www.drbickmoresyawednesday.com/weekly-posts/november-13th-2024
Presentations
National
“Dream Boldly: How Collaborative Writing Assessments Build Professional Learning Communities,” National Council of Teachers of English, Denver, CO, 23. Nov. 2025.
“Field Experiences at a Distance: Connecting Preservice Teachers to Rural Spaces,” part of TRAELLE’s “Dream Boldly: Daring Greatly to (Re)Imagine Possibilities in Rural Spaces” Roundtable Session, National Council of Teachers of English, Denver, CO, 22 Nov. 2025. [Accepted but not presented]
“Lenses on the Local: Using Orphan Train to Enter the Archives and Understand our Past,” part of the ELATE Commission on the Study and Teaching of Adolescent Literature’s “Driven by Dreams: Bold Strategies for Teaching Young Adult Literature” Roundtable Session, National Council of Teachers of English, Denver, CO, 20 Nov. 2025
“The Power of Modeling,” part of the ELATE Methods Commission’s Roundtable Session, National Council of Teachers of English, Boston, MA, 23 Nov. 2024
“Laying the Groundwork for Rural Teacher Support,” part of TRAELLE’s “Groundwork: Heart, Hope, and Humanity in Rural Education” Roundtable Session, National Council of Teachers of English, Boston, MA, 21 Nov. 2024
“Looking to the Past to Imagine New Futures: Renia’s Diary,” part of the ELATE Commission on the Study and Teaching of Adolescent Literature’s “Teaching Young Adult Literature: Creating Space to Pursue Light and to Dream” Roundtable Session, National Council of Teachers of English, Anaheim, CA, 19 Nov. 2022
Regional and Local
“Indigenous Young Adult Literature in the Classroom,” North Dakota Council of Teachers of English, Mandan, ND, 24 Oct. 2025.
“Trigger Warnings: Friend or Foe,” North Dakota Council of Teachers of English, Mandan, ND, 24 Oct. 2025.
“Teaching Readers through Inquiry: Opening a Unit with Art, Music, and Background Knowledge,” Minnesota Council of Teachers of English, Alexandria, MN, 1 May 2025.
“Teaching Grammar in the Context of Reading, Writing, and Pop Culture,” North Dakota Council of Teachers of English, Mandan, ND, 25 Oct. 2024.
“Using Culturally Sustaining Pedagogies to Teach YA Literature,” Summit on the Research and Teaching of Young Adult Literature, University of Nevada Las Vegas, Las Vegas, NV, 12 June 2021.
“Reclaiming Apples & Unbreaking Hearts: Centering Indigenous Voices for Young Readers through Young Adult Literature,” Summit on the Research and Teaching of Young Adult Literature, University of Nevada Las Vegas, Las Vegas, NV, 11 June 2021.
“Giving Voice to Students: Young Adult Literature in Practice,” Montana Association of Teachers of English Language Arts, Great Falls, MT (moved online due to COVID-19), 15 Oct. 2020.
“Test Writing is ONE Genre - Let's Teach Some Others!” Montana Association of Teachers of English Language Arts, Great Falls, MT (accepted but not presented due to COVID-19), 15 Oct. 2020.