“The thing that surprised me most about my teacher preparation program was that we never talked about how kids learn. Instead, we were taught how to structure a lesson and given tips on classroom management… I assumed that I would eventually learn how the brain worked...
In part 2 of this series, I talked about the common challenges educators are facing in the classroom, and the culture and technology shifts individuals can make to support struggling fourth grade readers. But no educator operates in a vacuum. What are some systemic...
By Dr. Carolyn Brown, Chief Academic Officer In part 1 of this series, I talked about the urgent reading challenge faced by fourth graders who experienced school closures during their early learning. In this blog, I’ll share what I’ve been hearing from teachers trying...
By Dr. Carolyn Brown, Chief Academic Officer Elija held back tears as he tried to continue sounding out words. He was too frustrated to go on. As a fourth grader, he knew something was wrong and he felt like it was his fault that reading wasn’t getting easier. His...
By Jennifer Flieder As a middle school language arts teacher, I know that for students who do not have decoding or automatic word recognition skills, there is no room in the regular curriculum to reteach them the skills they should have learned in elementary...
Over the past several years, our work has focused on students in middle school who struggle to read because they lack basic reading skills. Unfortunately, at least half the students who can’t read at grade level fall into this category. I’d like to reflect on the...
