This quote is a fairly common one in education circles. I’ve heard it before, but it hit me like a ton of bricks this week. I’ve been working with Zach, an amazing high school special education teacher, around a goal of improving reading outcomes for his students with reading goals. I have run diagnostic assessments … [Read more…]
Full disclosure: Today I am writing from a position of arguably limited authority. I have been a classroom teacher (23 years) and an instructional coach (7 years) and have held varied leadership positions in the past. I am talking to and about school district leadership, though I have never held one of the positions that … [Read more…]
There is a great deal of pride in reflecting on the work being done in our 7th – 12th grade building around literacy interventions and support for our special education staff and students. Our teachers, coaches, and administrators are working incredibly hard to rectify an unfortunate reality: 34% of our students are not proficient … [Read more…]
The Reading League Iowa’s entire group of board members gathered in the windy city this week for The Reading League’s 9th Annual Conference. A flurry of text messages between our group reveals that our heads are still spinning from three days of intense and immense learning! We can’t wait to recap the conference on Tuesday, … [Read more…]
I’ve discovered another Trifecta. I hold a great deal of admiration for Stacy Hurst, Lindsay Kemeny, and Donell Pons, hosts of Reading Horizons Literacy Talks podcast. That admiration led me to title them, “The Trifecta.” As I continue to learn about the science of learning, I’m recognizing another Trifecta: the science of reading, the science … [Read more…]
My sister, Katie, sent a new podcast recommendation the other day. My siblings and I were instantly intrigued. The title, alone, was enough to spark intrigue. In addition, Question Everything, by Brian Reed, is a “spin-off” of his award-winning, and perhaps controversial, podcast, S-Town. I knew within the first few minutes of listening on Friday … [Read more…]
As I mentioned last week, I have a “Pet Peeves” post waiting in the wings. I’m still itching to release it, especially since my pet peeves seem heightened right now. BUT, I know that they remain a problem-dump, rather than a solution-dump. So, in the wings the post remains. In the meantime, I have a … [Read more…]
Last week, I wrote about my trepidations with launching a reading intervention with some 7th and 8th grade students. As is so true with many things in education, the past week did not go anything like I planned. It was already a four-day week because of Monday’s Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday. Bitter cold temperatures … [Read more…]
This coming week, I get the opportunity to launch a reading intervention with four seventh and eighth grade students. The opportunity came about as a result of working with Amy Thacher, our amazing Literacy Coach from Great Prairie AEA. I have had the privilege of working with Amy for many, many years and always walk … [Read more…]
100% This post was 100% inspired by the three literacy leaders I affectionately call “The Trifecta,” Stacy Hurst, Lindsay Kemeny, and Donell Pons, hosts of Reading Horizons’ Literacy Talks podcast. In Episode 6 of Season 3, Reading: The Numbers Help Tell the Stories, The Trifecta focuses on the irony of how many numbers are involved … [Read more…]