Norma Shapiro has been involved with language teaching since 1982. She has conducted many workshops on vocabulary development, communicative activities, and using visuals in the classroom.

She instructs teachers on how to draw language concepts for the ESL classroom. As a training facilitator for the ESL Teacher Institute in California, and a language trainer of teachers for the Peace Corps and Chalk Talk Workshops, she has travelled to many regions outside of the United States.

She is the co-author of The Oxford Picture Dictionary Interactive CD-ROM and The Oxford Picture Dictionary, and author of Dian and the Gorillas in the Oxford University Press Dominoes series.