How Phonological Awareness Can Transform Struggling Learners Into Successful Readers With Dr. C. Melanie Schuele (The Exceptional Educator, Ep. 5)

Teach Phonological Awareness Like The Experts With Dr. C. Melanie Schuele (BayTreeBlog. com)

Are you looking for teaching methods that will transform struggling learners into successful readers and spellers?

Dr. C. Melanie Schuele
Dr. C. Melanie Schuele

I am delighted to feature Dr. C. Melanie Schuele on the Exceptional Educator podcast. She’s a speech-language pathologist, researcher, and associate professor at Vanderbilt University. Today, she shares with us how to supercharge student reading and spelling skills with explicit phonological awareness instruction.

Melanie shows you how to extract the most out of every moment of your phonological awareness instruction. She provides step-by-step directions on how to scaffold instruction. With the right modeling, prompting, and guiding, you can effectively meet the needs of children with different ability levels.

We also talk about the value of mistakes. They give us insights into how a child is processing phonological information. By thinking about why a child makes a mistake, we can respond in a way that guides the child towards greater accuracy, and more importantly, enduring mastery.

In one of my favorite parts of the interview, Melanie shares stories about how the Intensive Phonological Awareness Program was created. One of the reasons I wanted to feature Melanie on the podcast is that she recently co-authored the Intensive Phonological Awareness Program. I’ve been using this program since it came out last summer, and I can’t recommend it enough. Because it walks the reader through every step of providing phonological awareness intervention, it can be used by educators, parents, and even para-professionals.

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Ep. 5 - How Phonological Awareness Can Transform Struggling Learners Into Successful Readers With Dr. C. Melanie Schuele [ 1:19:26 ]

The Zen of Behavior Management with Dr. Alexis Filippini (The Exceptional Educator, Ep. 4)

The Zen of Behavior Management with Dr. Alexis Filippini (The Exceptional Educator, Ep. 4) BayTreeBlog.com

Imagine a teacher just a few days into the school year, when BAM! Trouble.

Kids blurt out constantly. They don’t stay in their seats. No one follows directions. This once enthusiastic educator walks into work feeling more discouraged and unsupported every day. Her students’ engagement and motivation take a nose dive.

Sound familiar?

Classroom management problems can be more than a headache. For tens of thousands of teachers, these everyday frustrations erode the desire to teach. Disruptive behavior from just a few students can negatively affect learning for an entire class.

Dr. Alexis Filippini

Today Dr. Alexis Filippini shares her expertise on how to turn around everyday classroom challenges. She shares research-based approaches that support effective teaching, boost student achievement, and create a positive school climate.

Dr. Filippini distills decades of research into easily actionable strategies. Her recommendations are effective in the classroom, small group, or one-on-one setting. She shares the art and science of how to create a calm, organized learning environment.

Listen to this episode, subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher, or stream the episode below:

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The Zen of Behavior Management with Dr. Alexis Filippini [ 53:04 ]

The Science of Spelling with Pete Bowers, PhD (The Exceptional Educator, Ep. 3)

The Science of Spelling with Pete Bowers, PhD (The Exceptional Educator, Ep. 3) (BayTreeBlog.com)

Have you ever heard a teacher say, “Just sound out the word,” to a struggling young speller?

Or maybe you’ve said those words to a student yourself?

This simple strategy frequently backfires, especially for kids with dyslexia. Why do students end up spelling words like “jumpt,” or “advenchur”?

In this episode, Dr. Pete Bowers reveals why “sounding it out” isn’t enough. He demonstrates how sound-symbol correspondence is a key principle in literacy instruction, but often we miss crucial components of our writing system: orthography and morphology. What’s more, research shows that this type of instruction is most powerful for struggling learners.

Using Pete’s methods, teachers can revolutionize spelling instruction into a dynamic opportunity to foster logical thinking, vocabulary development, and deepen literacy skills.

Pete Bowers
Dr. Pete Bowers

Pete Bowers is the founder of the WordWorks Literacy Center in Ontario, Canada. In his career, he’s worked as an elementary classroom teacher, researcher, writer, and worldwide presenter. He’s a sought-after speaker in North America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia.

This summer, I had the pleasure of attending a conference Pete presented here in California, and it transformed my understanding of spelling and inspired my teaching. I know you guys are gonna love this one!

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Ep. 3 - The Science of Spelling with Pete Bowers PhD [ 1:15:46 ]

How to Teach Students Who Are Too [Insert Emotion] to Learn, with Diana Kennedy (The Exceptional Educator, Ep. 2)

How To Teach Students Who Are Too [Insert Emotion] to Learn (BayTreeBlog.com)

For a moment, I considered titling this episode, “How To Be A Cool Cucumber When Your Students Are Angry Apples.”

Too much fruit.

I don’t know about you, but remaining calm when a student is in pain is one of the most challenging parts of being an effective educator. And forget about actually teaching when a student goes nuclear.

Diana Kennedy
Diana Kennedy

To help us manage these common difficulties, I’d like to introduce you to my friend and colleague, Diana Kennedy. Diana is a fellow educational therapist who runs a thriving private practice in Marin County, California. She’s compassionate and playful, and one of the best educational therapists I know.

Listen to this episode and subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher or stream the episode below:

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Ep. 2 - Diana Kennedy: How to Teach Students Who Are Too [Insert Emotion] to Learn [ 58:27 ]

The Exceptional Educator, Episode 1 – Unlocking Executive Function with Pamm Scribner

The Exceptional Educator, Episode 1 – Unlocking Executive Function with Pamm Scribner (BayTreeBlog.com)

Welcome to the first episode of The Exceptional Educator!

I’m excited to launch a new format for delivering actionable teaching strategies to learning specialists and parents – the podcast. The Exceptional Educator will feature master teachers, authors, thought-leaders, and researchers for in-depth discussions about the best ways to reach every student in the classroom, regardless of ability or learning difference.

If you have feedback on the show, please let me know by leaving a review in iTunes or tweeting @btlearning #exceptionaleducator.

I can’t think of anyone better than my good friend and mentor, Pamm Scribner, to kick off the inaugural episode of the show.

Pamm Scribner
ShowLogo

Pamm is a world-class teacher and specialist helping kids with ADHD find success in school and life. Pamm is a Board Certified Educational Therapist, and a certified PEERS Coach through the UCLA PEERS Clinic. She is also an instructor for the University of California Santa Cruz (UCSC) Extension: Educational Therapy Certificate Program and an educational consultant for schools throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. She has extensive experience supporting students with executive functioning disorders and assessing and treating learning disabilities. An all-around-good-person and volunteer in her community, Pamm has been an inspiration to me, and I know she’ll inspire you as well. Please enjoy!

Listen on iTunes or on Stitcher, right click here to download an mp3, or stream below:

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Ep. 1 - Unlocking Executive Function with Pamm Scribner [ 47:55 ]