Instructors

Watching Barb facilitate a class is like hearing a perfectly tuned high performance engine. Everything is in harmony!

Instructors and participants in Barb’s classes walk away with one of the best educational experiences that they could have. Her personal examples are an inspiration to “give it a go.” Barb has the ability to take complicated concepts and turn them into understandable terms. Many of the activities in PLS courses came from Barb’s mind.

After a class is over, Barb keeps a constant line of communication open with past participants. She sends out post cards with a hello and future course information. Recently, after a Meaningful Activities to Generate Interesting Classrooms® class Barb put together a packet of note cards with useable classroom activities based on the class’ examples and her own and mailed them to the class members. This is the kind of person Barb actually is!

Barb continues to train in new courses and then offers them in the Galesburg, Illinois area. Although it is a smaller market area, Barb has built a huge following and brought on another PLS instructor in the area. Laurie Aten has benefited from Barb’s expertise and mentoring.

On the comment section of Barb’s evaluations, the participants always mention how she relates to all learning styles, her genuine enthusiasm, her ability to model the course content, and her ability to find the positive in all situations.

Barb’s dedication to improving education was shown in her high school business classes, her vocational counseling, and her training of PLS instructors in Illinois, California, Florida, Georgia, Minnesota and Nevada plus her work with new teachers in the district. Barb was named the Galesburg Area Chamber of Commerce Teacher of the Year. Even after retiring from the classroom, Barb continues to volunteer in reading programs in local schools and provides all kinds of volunteer help in her church. At times getting a hold of Barb is harder now than ever. She is not the kind of person who sits still. She has also began teaching online PLS courses. In talking to her about Teaching Through Learning Channels® Online, Barb commented that she thought it really was top quality.

One of the greatest moments for Barb has been when former students introduce her to their own children as “My Best Teacher” or “The Teacher Who Taught Me To…”. For everyone who has ever experienced Barb Devena’s classroom environment, you would know exactly what those people mean.

Barb’s family and grandchildren are another huge part of her life. In reality, once you have met Barb, you are a part of her family and will experience from her the concern, the warmth, and the compassion she has for everyone around her.