I have homeschooled, taught in the elementary, middle school, and high school settings during my 20+ years of teaching experience. Most of my experience consists in teaching Special Education. Currently, I am a reading and math interventionist. My day consists mostly of small reading and math groups.
The best thing I love about teaching is teaching reading! When my ‘little ones’ first come to my small group setting, I assess the current skills and discover the gaps in their foundation, which are there for various reasons. Usually, the likely reason for a student's learning gaps is that foundational skills are missing.
Then we begin the journey to fill in learning gaps. I give students many reading tools to put into their toolbox. With research-based strategies and hard work, a student learns to read. I tell students that reading is like riding a bike or learning to swim. With much practice students learn to read. And once they do, they are on their merry way!