Comprehension Connection

I am a reading specialist with 27 years of experience. Recently, I took early retirement to homeschool our daughter. My experience has been split between classroom experience in first, fourth, and fifth and reading intervention. Most recently, I worked as a literacy coach. I also worked for a year as a tech specialist until the position was eliminated.

Because my primary responsibility has been reading intervention with struggling readers, my instructional methods are based upon the individual needs of the students in my groups. My lessons are hands-on, active, and thoughtful. I encourage lots of oral discussion with high level questioning, and I include writing throughout the reading process. I LOVE interactive notebooks, anchor charts, mentor texts, and working with anything fun and active.

In the past,, I've received two educational grants totaling four thousand dollars to build a leveled library and lending room for literacy workstations. With these funds combined with Title 1 reading funding, we've been able to add nearly 3000 books to our tradebook library. I also present workshops often through my involvement with the Virginia State Reading Association and my local reading council where I've served as president this past year..

I have a bachelor's degree in Elementary Education from Iowa State University and a Master's degree in Reading Education from the University of Virginia.

I blog at Comprehension Connection, Classroom Tested Resources and Adventures in Literacy Land. I hope you'll drop by to read more about best practices in literacy instruction and share ideas of your own. To sign up for my monthly newsletter, CLICK HERE