Sue’s Story
My love of reading began when I was 2 or 3. I would sit in my little rocker “reading” all of my books. My folks never knew if I was reciting or reading, as the pages and text always matched. For as long as I can remember, I have always wanted to be a teacher. Through the years my love for reading and children has never waned.
During my third year of teaching I decided to pursue a degree in reading. I wanted to know why some of my third graders were non-readers while others were reading at a secondary level……and I wanted to know what I could do to help all of my students. However, the solutions were not yet available…….I kept on trying without a solid research-based consensus.
The next step in my career bought me to the adult literacy community, where I taught basic reading skills at a community college and at several workplace sites. The issues were the same—and again the solutions were not easily attained.
At long last, in 1991 I took my first training in a multisensory structured language approach. FINALLY!!!! Fifteen years after I began graduate school I found the key to unlocking the decoding mystery. I was ecstatic and angry simultaneously. I was thrilled to finally have some answers, yet I was filled with guilt and remorse over the students I had tried unsuccessfully to help. Why hadn’t anyone shared this information with me before I began teaching?
This first class sent me on a whirlwind journey. I enrolled in many courses, soaking up this long awaited information. Several people have been known to call me a training junkie.
I returned once again to the children that needed my help. As my husband can attest--all of the kids I help learn to read are MY kids……..forever and ever!
Even though I know I can make a difference for a few students, my larger mission is to share this knowledge with teachers everywhere. For the past several years I have had the honor of studying with Dr. Louisa Moats and her national trainers of the LETRS program. (LETRS = Language Essentials of Teachers of Reading and Spelling) This vital resource is needed to support our teachers to give them the deep knowledge base about how children learn to read using the structure of the English language--information we did not receive in our educational preparation courses. Professional lifelong learning is the best investment we can make for the future of our children.
With this deep knowledge, together we can help ALL our kids and stop reading failure……PERIOD!
