Motivating Middle School Minds

I have two decades of experience educating students with disabilities at a state school for the Deaf. I taught middle school science and reading for the first thirteen years. This was followed by time in the Career & Technical Education program (working with juniors and seniors who were interested in becoming educators), and then implementing a reading intervention program for our K-12 school. I am currently a curriculum coach and support teachers across content areas.

I believe that our teaching should be relevant and intentional, recognizing the unique talents and difficulties of each student. By differentiating our instruction, we provide each student the chance to succeed and reach their goals.

Our neighbor (in his 50's) asked if I could teach him to read. This gentleman has auditory processing issues, so his brain doesn't hear the sounds correctly and he dropped out of school in ninth grade - when the counsellor suggested sending him back to middle school due to his academic struggles. As an adult, he purchased programs and hired tutors, but was never able to understand phonics or read above an early second grade level. After working together for 10 months, he had improved to a sixth grade reading level and passed the GED exam! Attending the GED ceremony was one of the proudest moments of my teaching career.

I have earned both a BS and MA Ed in Deaf Education at Eastern Kentucky University.

I married a Kentucky farm boy and we have two teenage daughters. When they were young, we read together each night before bed. This has now grown into very rich book conversations, adding to one another's lists of "books to read."