Rate My Professor Jackie Sydnor

Jackie Sydnor serves as Department Chair of the Department of Elementary Education and Associate Professor of Elementary Education at Ball State University. She received her Ph.D. in Literacy, Culture, and Language Education from Indiana University in 2013, with a minor in Teacher Education; her M.S. in Language Education from Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis in 2009; and her B.S. in Elementary Education from Indiana University in 2002. Her career at Ball State University began as Assistant Professor of Elementary Education in 2013, advancing to Associate Professor in 2020 and Assistant Chair that same year, later becoming Department Chair. Previously, she held positions as Associate Instructor at Indiana University Bloomington and Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, Research Assistant at Indiana University, Educational Interventionist, and First Grade Teacher at Southeast Neighborhood School of Excellence in Indianapolis from 2006 to 2010.

Dr. Sydnor's scholarly work centers on novice teacher induction and mentoring, as well as supporting aspiring teachers' professional identity development and reflective practice using digital storytelling and video annotation. Notable publications include "Video reflection cycles: Providing the tools needed to support teacher candidates toward understanding, appreciating, and enacting critical reflection" co-authored with S. Daley and T. Davis (Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education, 2020); "Purposeful Tensions: Lessons learned from metaphors in teacher candidates’ digital stories" with T. Davis, S. Daley, and L. Coggin (Teacher Educator, 2017); "Using video to enhance reflective practice: Student teachers’ dialogic examination of their own teaching" (New Educator, 2016); and "“I didn’t realize how hard it would be!”: Tensions and transformations in becoming a teacher" (Action in Teacher Education, 2017). She has been recognized with the Teachers College Outstanding Service Award (2019-2020) and the Department of Elementary Education Outstanding Teaching Award (2015-2016) at Ball State University, the Doctoral Fellowship Award from Indiana University School of Education (2009-2013), and the Beechler Award for Outstanding Dissertation Proposal (2011-2012). Dr. Sydnor has contributed to the field through editorial roles, including Co-Editor of the Indiana Reading Journal (2014-2017), and extensive committee service at university, college, and departmental levels, as well as leadership in the American Educational Research Association’s Lives of Teachers Special Interest Group, serving as Program Chair (2019-2021).