What was the saying, “The only guarantee in life is death and taxes.” In 2020, we can now add “change” to that statement. Things we took for granted now have to change. Maybe temporarily or maybe permanently I don’t know, BUT what I do know is that we can count on things changing. One of those things is how we help students with behavior issues to calm. Gone are the […]
Read moreIf you are like me, I did a lot of “zooming” over the 20 weeks we were out of school! I even tried to use Facetime to work with a student I was tutoring. It was a disaster! While a Zoom call allows you to see others, chat and show your screen, that’s about it. It offers nothing to the therapist who needs tools, materials, options, resources. As a former […]
Read moreOn January 6, 2020, our school district started offering our staff and community a way to help our students and families who are struggling! It’s anonymous, it’s free, and it’s a win/win! How many times do you know about a student who is sleeping on the floor and you wish you could help? How many times do you know that a student could use a new bookbag, snacks on the […]
Read moreI don’t know why students with behaviors always seem to take over our classrooms, our caseloads and our focus, but they do. We are often challenged to find solutions to help our students not only make it through the day, but to help our students learn all they need to be successful. The students struggle and so does the staff. I wanted to share a couple of ideas today to […]
Read moreAbout five years ago I worked with a middle school student with Down Syndrome on reading decoding. She had the worst time trying to sound out simple CVC words when I realized she just couldn’t hear the word she was decoding. I tried something to get my student to help her figure out what she was sounding out, not knowing that it was already “out there” as a strategy in […]
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11
Dec
2019
Do You Know How To Do a Word Chain for Fluency?
Helping students to become more fluent in their reading probably isn’t the most fun to work on but it is essential to building good reading skills! For me, if a strategy is effective, I love using it. I am tutoring a first grade student this year and I’ve tried word chains with him. It’s such a joy for me when he says things like, ” I can do this!” or […]
Read moreI love getting the most out of what I teach students. I’m all about working smarter, not harder! When I learned a strategy on how to teach suffixes in a more strategic way, I actually got so excited! Does this make me a nerd? 🙂 Check out today’s video on how you can improve decoding, comprehension and spelling by teaching suffixes! Take a look! I can’t wait to hear how […]
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20
Oct
2019
14 Reasons Why You Should Teach Cursive!
I have a question for you. Is cursive writing gone? What are your thoughts on this? For me, there’s nothing more delightful than gorgeous penmanship. You’ve been hearing about the amazing training I went through this past summer when I learned how to implement the Orton-Gillingham approach to reading. Something else I learned from Janet George was the 12 reasons why we should be teaching cursive writing. It all made […]
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