Are we really “overteaching” phonics, or should there be a hard stopping point where it’s not taught past a certain grade? Are current stories trending on popular news outlets aligned with best practices for supporting dyslexic learners? Is the public becoming more educated on how we learn to read, write, and spell? I invited my…
Category: Building literacy skills
EP 259: AAC, Gestalts, and Literacy: Case Studies for Using the “Essential 5” (with Kimberly Jenkins)
In this conversation, I sat down with Kim Jenkins from Empowering Speech Services to talk about how she’s used the frameworks from Language Therapy Advance Foundations along with the gestalt language processing stages, for reluctant readers, and AAC users. We also talk about how important it is for clinicians to think flexibly with how they…
EP 247: Narrative Intervention: Beyond “Cute” Stories and Lesson Plans (with Jane Gebers)
When you’re teaching storytelling with students, do your lessons feel kind of…random? I used to feel like this a lot when I was a school SLP, so if you’ve ever had a “throw spaghetti at the wall” therapy session that felt all over the place, I get it. The truth is, repetition and drill is…
EP 246: What’s the point of teaching storytelling? (with Jane Gebers)
Why are we so obsessed with “storytelling”? In education, we talk about it when we’re working on language and reading comprehension. It’s also referred to in sales and copy writing as a tool for generating more leads and customers. And of course, people writing books or films think about it all the time. We all…
EP 239: A Case for Talking about the “Summer Slide” in the Fall (featuring David Schipper)
Every time I look into research on the summer slide, I get more confused. It’s no wonder professionals and families are scrambling every May as they think about how kids should be spending their time in the summer. I’ve intended to do a deep dive into the research and gain a better understanding of how…
EP 238: What “Biologically Secondary” Means for Literacy Instruction (featuring Dr. Pamela Snow)
The idea that exposing kids to enriching literacy and play-based experiences will effectively teach them to read and write sounds nice on paper. Unfortunately, it’s not in-line with the large and growing body of evidence that suggests that kids need direct, explicit instruction to learn to read, write, and spell. Sure, a select group of…
EP 237: The Relationship Between Language Skills and Discipline Referrals (featuring Dr. Shameka Stewart)
When schools respond to “behavior problems” in students, the focus is often on the symptom, not the cause. Failing to look beyond the surface behavior does a disservice to students, which is why in this episode I share commentary and a clip from my conversation with Dr. Shameka Stewart on the school-to-confinement pipeline. Dr. Shameka…
EP 191: High-impact tutoring and branding your academic coaching services (with David Schipper)
High-impact tutoring has a wide body of evidence to support its efficacy, but how do you know what is and isn’t “high-impact”? Is it better to brand yourself as an academic coach or an executive functioning coach? Should “executive functioning” be a class in school, or should it be embedded into all the classes? I…
EP 185: Is it a behavior issue or a language and literacy issue?
In this interview, I revisit conversations surrounding the school-to-confinement pipeline, giving students’ the language skills to understand their rights, the link between language, literacy and “behavior problems”, and how to get started with policy work. I share my commentary on the following: ✅ Why students who’ve received repeated detentions or suspensions should be screened or…
EP 183: Morphology hierarchies, etymology, and reframing the “joy” of reading.
How much do we need to know about morphology and etymology to effectively help students? Is etymology an essential component to spelling and reading instruction? Will phonics instruction bore students? Is exposure to interesting books enough to foster a love of reading for people who don’t have solid word decoding skills? I revisit my conversations…