Michael Matera (@MrMatera) is a Milwaukee, Wisconsin-based sixth grade teacher and the author of eXPlore Like a Pirate: Gamification and Game-Inspired Course Design to Engage, Enrich and Elevate Your Learners. Michael is a 2015 ASCD Emerging Leader with over a decade of teaching experience using interactive play, passion and purpose-driven learning to transform the classroom in international, public and private schools. A nationally recognized speaker, consultant and presenter, Michael is the host of the long-running WellPlayED education podcast and the founder of the annual Hive Summit, a free virtual conference that welcomed thousands of teachers to a rich and dynamic lineup of presentations by teacher leaders in schools around the world.
John Meehan (@MeehanEDU) is the author of EDrenaline Rush: Game-Changing Student Engagement Inspired by Theme Parks, Mud Runs, and Escape Rooms. In July of 2020, Book Authority ranked EDrenaline Rush among the top 10 titles on their list of the “100 Best Teaching Books of All Time.” He has over a decade of classroom experience working as a high school English teacher and an instructional coach in both the public and private schools in the greater Washington, D.C. area. A 2017 ASCD Emerging Leader, an alumnus of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s 2016-2018 Teacher Advisory Council, and a 40 Under 40 award recipient from the Leadership Center for Excellence, John’s passion for education is matched only by his boundless creativity.