Category: Big Ideas in Education

  • Learning Disabilities: Supporting an inclusive classroom for student well-being, resiliency, mental health.

    Learning Disabilities: Supporting an inclusive classroom for student well-being, resiliency, mental health.

    In today’s world, it is more important than ever to support students with learning disabilities early, in order to support their well-being, resilience, and mental health. According to the Ontario Human Rights Commission’s “Right to Read” Inquiry Report, students with learning disabilities are more likely to experience negative outcomes, such as lower academic achievement, increased…

  • Ways to Read Words as seen through Ehri’s Developmental Phases

    Reading is very complex. Depending on the theoretical lens you use (and we all have a theoretical lens whether we are aware of it or not), will determine what you look at as the most important aspects of how students learn to read. Linnea Ehri is one of my favourites. I am a big fan…

  • Solutions to the Key Issues in Reading

    Inspired by a previous comment by @AvivaLoca & Created via my ideas put into ChatGPT: As someone who researches and works in education, I fully agree that phonics is just one piece of the puzzle when it comes to teaching reading. There are many other factors to consider, and a comprehensive literacy program that takes…

  • Help Older Students Learn to Read

    Originally posted on doug — off the record: Like so many, I’ve always been interested in Artificial Intelligence and what it can do. ChatGPT has certainly been everywhere in the news lately. With my computer science background, I have asked it to write a number of programs for me. I’m just curious as to whether…

  • How to help older students learn how to read

    There are a number of evidence-based strategies that can be used to teach students in high school how to read. These include: The National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance (NCEE) has published a practice guide on teaching reading in grades 4-8. The guide is based on a review of the research literature on…

  • Key Considerations for Reading Instruction

    Reading is an essential skill that lays the foundation for success in school and beyond. As such, it’s no surprise that the research and evidence that inform our understanding of how reading skills develop and how best to teach reading – is a hot topic in the field of education. There are a number of…

  • A comparison of assessment approaches for reading

    A comparison of assessment approaches for reading

    The following is a comparison of approaches to reading assessment that I believe are part of the crux of the ‘reading wars’. I think it is important to recognize that teachers do it all each day. If you’re a teacher working with students in kindergarten through third grade, you know that assessment is essential to…

  • What is the purpose of Decodable Texts?

    Decodables versus levelled readers