This just in from a slightly panicked vendor of teaching resources: Hi everyone! I’ve been asked to coin a derogatory term for my detractors to help shift attention off the weaknesses in my resources and put it back where it should be: on the Reading Wars. To that end, I’m going to go with phonics-centric. …
“Hey Smartass!” No one gets to mess with my market share! Read More »
A report on Dr. Steven Dykstra’s talk at The Reading League Third Annual Conference in Syracuse on October 19th 2019. In his biographical notes on the International Foundation for Effective Reading Instruction website, Steve states: As a psychologist with over 25 years of experience, working in an urban setting with the most challenging and difficult mental …
“Hey Dumbass!” The marketing problem in the Reading Wars Read More »
That was the cry of the 900+ educators from all over the world who converged in Syracuse, New York this week for The Reading League’s Third Annual Conference. The theme, as we sailed off into two days of incredibly high quality professional development, was about sharing knowledge in the best possible way so that everyone …
A Rising Tide Lifts All Boats: Part One of The Reading League 2019 conference debrief Read More »
Emily Hanford sure is a hard act to follow (see part one). Luckily, those who did follow were outstanding. Conferences are always a joy, but coupled with it is the terrible fear of missing out (FOMO). Delegates have to regretfully choose between concurrent presentations. Presenters have to present at the same time as big names. …
A Rising Tide Lifts All Boats: Part Two of The Reading League 2019 conference debrief Read More »
I once met a woman at a conference who seemed very nice. It was a big conference and comprised many of the leading lights in literacy and education. She told me she provided dyslexia tutoring and also that she was an Irlen practitioner. I expressed surprise that she would be present at an event that …
Being an independent specialist practitioner affords me a unique view. We’re all working in a coal mine, but I’m the one who looks after the canaries. When something isn’t being done right, it’s the population I deal with that suffers first and hardest. Over the years, I’ve seen the casualties of low quality instruction in …
Canaries in the Coalmine: Insights from private tuition Read More »
Over the past seven years or so, I’ve been honing my dog-sneaking skills. I have tried, somewhat successfully, to include my dog Finnigan in all aspects of my professional life. He sits at my feet while I work with my students. He comes to the schools I consult to whenever they’ll let him. He regularly …
My first ever teacher was called Mrs Green. Or as I secretly called her, “Grisses Mean”, and by that I meant that I viewed her as a perambulating vinegar cruet*, a shameless child-hater and a nasty bigot; I just didn’t have the words for it when I was five. I cried on my first days …
First in the series of parent/practitioner perspectives, Walking the Line is a useful guide to approaching schools to advocate for your children. Amanda is a specialist dyslexia tutor here at Lifelong Literacy. She has three dyslexic children, all at primary school, and has successfully navigated a path through the dyslexia minefield for all of them. …
Walking the Line: A Parent/Practitioner Perspective by Amanda Bugiera Read More »
The word ‘demand’ can certainly raise some emotions in people. I have been using it liberally lately in my writing and presentations and I’m finding that there is a little bit of knee-jerk, if not deliberate, misinterpretation of the term. Let’s start with my quote, recently uploaded to Dyslexia Support Australia and Dyslexia Victoria Support …