001So what's the first thing you do when you're looking at a multi-syllable word? Look for the vowels Reading specialists are very important to the schools because we play a vital role in intervention and professional development and we really are a bridge between [music] central office information and getting that information down to the teachers. This was my first year teaching so I wasn't like accustomed to any of the curriculum so having Miss Mosley in here to like model it and show me how we should be running was really helpful. Reading specialists are so important because they just help the children break through those barriers when it comes to reading. I think she's helped me a lot. I've learned so much from her and how to support the children in their reading development and all their growth
002that they're making. As a classroom teachers, they are required to be experts in all content areas. They're not just teaching reading, they're teaching spelling, they're teaching writing, they're teaching math, science and social studies. So they have a lot going on in terms of preparation and so as a reading specialist, I can zoom in and adjust the content for reading, spelling and writing and help them synthesize all the information that they have to implement the best practices. Especially with new teachers, I'll partner with them at the beginning of the year and I come in, I'll model lessons for them and then we do a gradual release where I'll model the entire lesson and then I might end up handing them a piece and then the next week I hand them another piece and then eventually it
003turns all the way around where they're the person that's teaching that tier one curriculum and I'm there to either assist or pull small groups or support in other ways. Especially as a first year teacher, it's really helped me out with just learning how to teach phonics and CKLA correctly. Sometimes if there's a hiccup, I can you know, look to her and say, "Am I doing this okay?" and really it's [music] a big help. There are some meetings towards the beginning and middle of the year where we analyze student data as a grade level and then within individual classrooms so [music] teachers can use that data to inform their instruction. We also use that time to prepare for upcoming lessons especially if there's a new teacher on the team to improve their practices. Teachers are able
004to come together as a team and meet and collaborate with our reading specialist, get an understanding of what's coming up next for our units in both phonics, reading, writing. They share tools with us that help us master our craft when teaching our students. And so at the CLT, we'll have discussions [music] around those curriculum and we'll align them to the state standards so that that way we can implement what's best needed for students. It helps us with all of our preparation. Like you never want to go into a week unprepared so having that time to like talk to the other teachers and talk to Miss Mosley helps us like know exactly [music] how the lesson should run. We've definitely seen an improvement in the kids. Their confidence has been just growing exponentially and it's showing
005in their scores as well. It helps me learn sentences. I feel like calm body. I don't just like get mad and I don't like get frustrated. There's different [music] activities and some of them are books and we read them and then there's papers that come with the books. We have to write about it. With Miss T reading, you kind of read with her. With Miss Mosley, [music] you kind of read by yourself and learn how to read those big [music] words. If you don't know a word and you don't know how to say it or spell it, you have to know the vowel and you have to first underline the It was so good. Another key component about being a reading specialist is collaborating with parents and [music] families and keep them knowledgeable about their
006students' progress and one of the biggest things that families can do is always to continue to read at home every night, take your children [music] to the library. It's so rewarding seeing it all come together and click for [music] students especially students who require more explicit instruction or if they have some academic gaps for us to be able to provide students what they need to become better readers and so it's really empowering to see that impact and seeing the students' confidence grow and eventually seeing their test scores grow as well. You truly feel such a sense of success and pride when you can see the [music] growth that a child can make. There really is a joy that you experience when you get to watch [music] that develop and then to know that you impacted
007that is even more powerful.