About Me

I’m Shawnta (Shawn-tay) S. Barnes, and I’m also known as Educator Barnes.  I am a married mother of identical twin boys.

I believe being an educator is my calling. I have worked in the K-12 setting for 20 years and the college setting since 2013. Below, I have included information about my background.

Education Consulting

~ Blazing Brilliance

I spent the first 15 years of my career working in various schools. During the last few years, I was asked by other educators, schools, and organizations to support them. As the requests increased, I knew my calling was bigger than only serving in one school, so I opened my education consulting business, Blazing Brilliance, and I consult full-time.

K-12 Educator & College Professor ~ https://blazingbrilliance.com/resources/

I have been an educator since 2006.  Previously, I have served as a 5-8 middle school academic dean, an elementary library/media specialist, an elementary and high school literacy coach, an elementary English language learner teacher, and a middle and high school English Teacher.  In addition to teaching at the K-12 level, I have taught undergraduate and graduate teacher education courses and supervised student teachers at IUPUI (now known as IU Indianapolis) and Marian University.  Currently, I teach ESOL courses at Ivy Tech Community College for adult English learners.

Education

• Ed.D in Literacy, Culture, and Language – Indiana University (2023)
  • Minor – Learning and Developmental Sciences
• M.S. in Language Education – IUPUI (2012)
• B.A. in English Education – Purdue University (2006)

Licenses (I have held a job in every area where I am licensed!)

• Language Arts 5-12
• Reading P-12
• English as a New Language P-12
• Library/Media P-12
• School Administration P-12

Writer, Editor & Book Publisher

~ https://educatorbarnes.com/publications/

~ https://bravebrothersbooks.com/

I previously edited work for Indy K12, One Public Education, D.C. K12., Secondline Blog, Memphis K12, EdLanta, and The Educator’s Room. Also, I have had work published in various publications, including The 74, Huffington Post, Education Post, Citizen Education, & TWINS Magazine.

On March 31, 2019, my husband and I founded Brave Brothers Books LLC, a book publishing company that publishes diverse books for all readers.

Podcast Host ~ Brazen Education Podcast

In December 2018, I began hosting the podcast Brazen Education, an education podcast with a focus on speaking your truth, being transparent to help others, and having no shame about it!

Urban Gardener Educator ~ https://www.gardenershicole.com/

The first website I created online was Gardener Shicole.  Shicole (Sha-cole) is my middle name and my nickname.  Because I established the Gardener Shicole website before I conceived Educator Barnes, I refer to myself as Gardener Shicole for all topics garden-related.  I grew up growing food with my parents, and now I teach my children and other people I know how to grow their own food and make harvest meals.  You can follow my urban gardening journey on Instagram @GardenerShicole and YouTube.

Genealogist ~ https://richardsonfamilylegacy.com/

A couple of years after I graduated from Purdue University, I wanted to learn more about my paternal grandmother and her family.  My dad and I, along with other family members, began researching our family history.  This led to the creation of a 224-page Richardson family history book.  Then I began learning more about being a genealogist and researching other branches of my family.  Currently, I am converting the Richardson family history book to digital form so it can be a living legacy.  I hope to do the same for other branches of my family.