Hi, I’m Chanie Monoker, MS, MPh, CCC-A, TDHH, TEH, TSHH—a lifelong learner, problem solver, and passionate advocate for effective teaching.

I’m endlessly curious and love solving puzzles, whether it’s a challenging jigsaw, a gripping mystery novel, or the ultimate puzzle of them all: how people learn. For over 30 years, I’ve dedicated myself to understanding the learning process and answering these questions:

  • How do people learn?
  • Why do some struggle to succeed at it?
  • Why can someone excel in one skill or subject but falter in another?
  • How can a learner succeed one day and fail the next?
  • What is the best way to teach?
  • What is the most important thing to teach?

My Journey

I’ve approached these questions from multiple perspectives: as a classroom teacher, therapist, parent, and learner. Over the past three decades, I’ve taught students of all ages—from preschool to college—in diverse settings. My experiences include:

  • Teaching in classrooms at all grade levels.
  • Serving as an educational audiologist for hearing-impaired children in New York City.
  • Providing early intervention as a developmental interventionist.
  • Running a private practice specializing in developmental analytics and solutions for school-age children.
  • Delivering workshops for parents, teachers, and therapists.
  • And, perhaps most challenging of all, raising six amazing children of my own!

These varied roles have given me a unique perspective on education, blending practical experience with deep insights into the learning process.

I’ve Been in Your Shoes

I understand the struggles educators face—because I’ve been there. From dealing with desk-throwing fourth graders and antagonistic parents to juggling endless paperwork from supervisors who equate burnout with dedication, I know the challenges firsthand.

But I also know how to turn things around.

Through the guidance of mentors, I learned how to simplify, prioritize, and optimize my teaching approach. These changes transformed my teaching:

  • I empowered struggling students to succeed.
  • I expanded the horizons of high-achieving students, pushing them beyond rote memorization to authentic learning.
  • I reduced the need for excessive testing while achieving better performance and deeper understanding.

The results spoke for themselves. Parents told me I had “spoiled them” for other teachers and urged me to open my own school. While I chose not to take that path—because burnout isn’t part of my vision—I took what I learned and developed a model to share with fellow teachers, like you.

The Child First© Model

My frustration with the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) initiative led me to create the Child First© model—a pivot from traditional teaching to a learning facilitation model. If you’ve been teaching for a while, you know how much worse things have become in the past 20 years.

Child First© shifts the focus from rigid curriculum standards to prioritizing the needs of the student-teacher relationship. This model minimizes the need for discipline because students become genuinely eager to learn. It’s a method I’ve refined over years of investigation and practice, and it’s the cornerstone of what I share here at the AKTive Teacher Academy.

Let’s Rediscover Your Passion

I’m here to help you rediscover why you became a teacher in the first place. Together, we can:

  • Reignite your enthusiasm for education.
  • Achieve the same remarkable results I’ve seen with my students.
  • Inspire you to go to work with joy and leave behind the grind of burnout.

Let me introduce you to your AKTive self and your student MEPhE.

Join me at the AKTive Teacher Academy, where I’ll guide you to become a facilitator of lifelong learning—for your students and yourself.

Yours in learning,

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