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I had a really proud professional moment recently! I learned that a white paper that I wrote was cited in LETRS for administrators.

Oh the difference one letter makes. This school bus sign is prominently displayed on the way into a rural community. However, instead of saying multiple buses may be entering the road, it means multiple kisses are entering the road.

🎉 𝗜 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗲𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻! 🎉 As a consultant, I work with a lot of teachers and principals - as well as district and state leaders. The ones who are the most fun? Those who like to learn! It's the end of the school year as I write this. It's the time of year when students and teachers both have stereotypically kind of "checked out" in preparation for summer. However, I got a request from a principal and literac

I'm finishing up a great week. I've been traveling through New Mexico supporting early literacy instruction in two districts and four schools. I find it so rewarding that I was able to be part of their journey!

As literacy coaches, we often advise teachers and principals on the resources that they use for early literacy instruction. One of the most important types of materials we recommend is what is known as Sound Spelling Cards because they expedite student learning, especially when an entire school is coordinated around the same set of resources.

One of the most underutilized -- or sometimes completely unused -- components of some of the best literacy curricula on the market are things called Sound Spelling Cards. These cards organize all the most common graphemes (spelling patterns) around the phonemes (sounds) they represent. When used well, they create such great value for students!

For those of us who live in the Mountain West, open range territory is a common thing. One school uses a cattle guard and fencing to keep the cows out, only there's a very small defect in the cattle guard at this school entrance, so persistent cows can enter if they are determined!

Sometimes the easiest way to improve is with the simplest things that make a school feeling warm and inviting, such as an inviting facade and people who smile when you enter.

🎉 🎙️ I had the joy of connecting the Science of Reading to the concept of SEL with a friend, Krista Leh, Ed.D. , in her podcast series! 🎙️ 🎉 Anyone who knows me has heard me talk about the importance of using strong instructional routines to teach K-3 reading. Often, I only have enough time to discuss the "how and why" at an introductory level to help teachers successfully implement routines for phonics instruction as beginners. We don't necessarily have the opportunity

Teaching phonics with a Sounds to Letters, or Speech to Print, approach is the most effective way to teach children to read and spell in English. Read this blog to understand why.

Do you know how many vowels there are in English? The answer might surprise you! It's not 5-6. If you're thinking a, e, i, o, and u (and sometimes y), think again. That's a misconception that makes learning to read and spell harder than it needs to be.

EdTech is great, when it's designed well. But current EdTech is breaking a lot of the best evidence about the Science of Reading. How confident are you that your current curriculum is teaching students well?

It riles me up that some EdTech and Curriculum Publishers are sloppy with the Science of Reading. I've gotten the same questions countless times from teachers because some curricula cause teachers to doubt their knowledge. The publishers say they're based on the Science of Reading, but then you come across basic errors, and you realize that many curricula are just a hodge-podge of instructional practices. If you find errors like these, you should consider adopting a different

𝙋𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙚. I saw this beautiful bird while I was out mountain biking yesterday. I think it's a Swainson's Hawk. I had just...

As an educator, I’ve lately found myself a little uneasy about the rise of AI. Are you? Not because of cheating — though yes, students...

🥳 Congratulations to the class of 2025! 🎓 Here's a funny memory of my own graduation. My family always remembers this one with a laugh!...

What do this Canadian Goose and some schools have in common? They’re complacent in ways that lead to death. Ok, that sounds like an...

🙋‍♂️I Have A Question About Tier 1 Phonics Instruction—What’s Best? ⁉️ Back in 2018, I wrote a white paper asking, “What Is the Evidence...

I had a chance to visit a school with one of my former colleagues, and I just had to share this picture. On a cement bench in front of...

As a field, we know a lot about the science of reading. There is significant research that has converged and confirmed what does and...