Teaching reading is my specialty. I struggled with reading as a young student and vividly remember the confusion and frustrations that were never fully addressed. Studying pedagogy and methodology in college allowed me to better understand how the brain processes new concepts and how to teach skills to accommodate different learning styles. Starting my teaching career in special education in the Midwest provided me with multiple experiences and training in the Science of Reading. This invaluable knowledge made me realize that I could have become a fluent reader much sooner if certain approaches and practices had been implemented.
Moving to California over fifteen years ago, I quickly realized that many districts were not familiar with the Science of Reading, such as the Orton-Gillingham method, which teaches students how to sound out and spell words. I was disappointed, especially knowing that I had to use the district curriculum to teach foundational reading skills. Thankfully, all the districts I worked for believed in small reading groups, giving me the opportunity to deliver explicit, systematic, and targeted reading instruction. Time and time again, administrators approached me, asking how I was able to help my students progress so much. I even purchased a supplemental curriculum, The Logic of English, and started using it with my older students. Both administrators and parents were in awe of how much growth the students made in a short amount of time. I continue to give them the same answer: Orton-Gillingham works.
When my current district asked who would like to pilot the new reading curriculum, Open Court, I jumped at the chance. Although the curriculum has many Science of Reading components, which is amazing, I was dedicated to studying the curriculum from start to finish to ensure students were given ample opportunities to use research-based, research-validated activities, exercises, and strategies to support reading development. This dedication led me to my action research topic. After completing my Master’s degree, I plan to continue implementing the activities, exercises, and strategies in my day-to-day teaching to see if student achievement and progress continue to grow. I have already been approached by my district to design a Science of Reading ‘bootcamp’ presentation for all district elementary principals in early September. Part of my action research paper and data will definitely be included. I also plan to share my website and other projects I’ve created and presented in the Master’s program with my Ed. Services department, hoping to receive permission to share them with elementary teachers across the district. Additionally, I am partnering with Ed. Services to begin some ‘light’ training in the fall, presenting simple activities and strategies teachers can start implementing within the curriculum. My goal is to show teachers that although these multisensory activities and strategies are supplemental, they are quick, easy, and produce great results.