Wrapping Up a Great Year Supporting New Mexico Literacy Educators

I'm finishing up a great week. I've been traveling through New Mexico supporting early literacy instruction in two districts and four schools.

This is my last of five trips this school year, so I spent time facilitating reflective conversations with each school team.

McCoy Elementary

Rita Marquez Elementary

Santa Rosa Elementary

There's been a lot of great progress this year! Each of the educators had stories of how our work has transformed their practice. Here are a few highlights.

• In multiple schools the SPED and GenEd teachers developed amazing alignment with their literacy approaches.

• Each of the teachers I supported learned how to plan explicit phonics instruction using an evidence-based sequence and a series of effective instructional routines.

• A couple teachers caught my passion for phonics and word history, and one 2nd grade teacher passed that on to her students! It's been so cool to see her 2nd graders become curious about why English orthography is what it is!

And...saving the best for last:

• A student was spared from being identified for extended resource!

One of the 3rd graders that was on one of my SPED teachers case loads had been on a watch list because the school had been thinking that they may need to move the student into an extended resource setting (i.e., the environment for students with severe cognitive disabilities). After implementing some of the literacy methods we've been working on this year, the student grew from being able to read very little to reading 88 words per minute at the end of the year (close to third grade norms). While they still have farther to go, they are catching up to grade level! The SPED teacher no longer thinks of them as a candidate for extended resource and is so glad the changes we implemented impacted the student so positively.

I'm the most proud of this last story. I had the team think about that for a couple minutes to let it really sink in.

If this child had been put in extended resource, it would have altered the entire course of their life. They would have never caught up academically because that instructional pathway is for a different purpose. It would have closed so many learning opportunities for this child and likely would've even limited their adult career and earning potential by taking the traditional college pathway off the table.

But instead, the team improved instruction, and it turned things around for this young person. This child is now within reach of catching up to normal grade level expectations!

I'm proud of the teachers and principals that I worked with this year in NM. They've worked hard and seen some great progress with instruction and student learning.

I find it so rewarding that I was able to be part of their journey!

Image Note: Unfortunately, I forgot to get a picture of my fourth school in New Mexico. I enjoyed spending time with the team at Lydia Rippey Elementary in addition to those pictured above!