Dixrek Beavers
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Hello! Welcome to my website!
I go by Dix (sounds like Dex) for everyday wear and Dixrek (sounds like Dexrik) for formal occasions.
ABOUT
I study how teacher preparation, teacher-student interaction, and teachers' subject-matter knowledge shape children's learning outcomes over time.
My professional life overall has been to help all learners to love school and achieve success, however that would look for them. This means helping them to understand that they all do belong, can grow, and will achieve. This also includes helping educators to develop their instructional skills that support all learners. This building of educator self-efficacy helps them to build all learners' self-efficacy that they can reach their full potential and become as functionally independent as possible; thus, they can thrive within all environmental spaces where they live and learn. There isn't a mold that is a one-size-fits-all, especially when considering how learning works, learners' cognitive and development needs, and the cognition, agency, and competence needed to account for educator effectiveness.
Daily Inspiration
When I was an elementary student, a peer in a wheelchair with cerebral palsy and multiple disabilities (as I now hypothesize) was assigned to sit next to me on her first day. I remember being curious about her because I had yet to meet anyone like her. She needed help at times, and eventually, I was guided on how to help her without overly helping her (empowered but not enabled).
I have since learned I was a peer model and support due to my caring and being a "quiet" student (i.e., a learner with a speech disability and Asperger's Syndrome). She was my friend until she moved away a few years later. Yet this was the beginning spark of my passion for working with individuals with disabilities and for me seeing their value as wholly unique people.
A Beautiful Whole (seeing individuals with disabilities as the wholly unique and valuable people they are)
At the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center, there is a wall that is constructed using broken and different shapes of bricks: ”A beautiful whole can come from broken or incomplete components… It was intended to convey very clearly that there are in life imperfections everywhere, and the fact that there are imperfections does not mean that we should overlook that, which we think is an imperfection. We should pay attention to it and appreciate and support all that it’s capable of being.”
This wall and the story behind it also was an inspiration to me everyday I walked by it. It still inspires me as I think of it today. See the video here.
Professional Summary
I am a licensed practitioner in three states and have professional experience in teaching, learning, and curriculum in the areas of elementary and special education. This includes experience in supporting educators, designing and implementing effective academic interventions, and using data to improve instruction and outcomes for diverse learners. I am skilled in instructional coaching, mentoring, multicomponent instruction, reflective teaching, and data-driven decision-making.
My pre-doctoral intellectualized driving interests in teaching and learning...
From my presentation entitled Cognitive Load Theory (2026).
From my presentation entitled Cognitive Load Theory (2026).
From my presentation entitled Teaching to mastery: Balancing skill mastery while meeting state standards’ requirements (2026).
From my presentation entitled Explicit instruction or efficient, effective instruction (2024).
From my presentation entitled Applied literacy: Teaching essential skills across the disciplines (2026).
From my presentation entitled Phonics / Sounds (2024).
(Pictured was my scaffolded study sheet since I had to make any phoneme(s) correctly when a grapheme(s) was presented by a panel of faculty, in which they were going to ask for all sounds in any order. Passing meant 100% accuracy.)
As a reflective teacher, I revisited my teaching often to accelerate learning.
I have vast interest in behavior analysis, especially Contextual Behavior Science or CBS (e.g., relational frame theory, complex verbal behavior, behavioral explanations of cognition, etc.). I do still provide teacher training as demonstrated by the creation of this resource.
There are four components to classroom management, not just behavior management.
My ultimate life / career goal...
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