Parent Teacher Communication: Collaborating for Each Student
Effective communication in general is tricky, and communication between parents and educators takes this to a whole new level. There’s often so much emotion involved, both for the parents and the teacher and/or administrator. I have experienced this firsthand and often think of what I could have done differently (a lot of things I’m sure!) […]
Phonics and Syllable Rules: Do We Need Them?
Writing about whether phonics and syllable rules are necessary for student learning makes me feel somewhat anxious and quite vulnerable. I’m certain that teaching rules and syllable types is not necessary in order to learn to read well and quickly, but I am also acutely aware of the vitriol that can result from pushing up […]
R-Controlled Vowels: How to Teach in a Way that Makes Sense
R-Controlled vowels. Bossy r. Pirate r. R-influenced vowels. R in charge, rhotic and non-rhotic. What do these terms mean? These terms are referring to words that have one or two vowels with the letter ‘r’ after them in a word. The following words are r-controlled: far, for, war, earth, ear, bear, dollar, marry, word, and […]