Suzanne Graybush LTED 667 Blog 1

Hello everyone, my name is Suzanne Graybush and I am currently enrolled at NJCU in the Reading Specialist Graduate Program.

I first earned my bachelor's degree at The College of New Jersey back in 2001. Since then I have been a teacher at Wall Township Intermediate School in Wall, NJ which is basically the JERSEY SHORE! I was raised in this area and have not ventured far off in pursuit of my career. Even though I always envisioned myself as an elementary school teacher, I double majored in English and Elementary Ed., and used my degree to first teach 6th grade ELA. From there I have taught 6, 7th, and 8th grade ELA, along with teaching as a "push in" co-teacher, have instructed Basic Skills, study skills, and now I am back at it, currently an 8th grade ELA teacher. 

My passion developed as I started teaching as a "push in" teacher, working with students who needed extra help to guide them to the PASSING status for the state mandated test. From here I developed and researched strategies to engage and aid students in reading to the level of the state standards in ELA. Through trial and error, I learned what worked and what did NOT work best for these struggling readers and writers in middle school. Another aspect of teaching I learned was that with the new common core standards, students struggled to meet the goals, and remediation became a necessity among many students. 

As a reading specialist I hope to offer strategies to teach reading to Language Arts as well as content area teachers, and aid in the growth of student reading. I feel I can offer instruction that takes the frustration out of teaching reading and can inspire students to WANT to read. I want them to see reading beyond the classroom in order to make reading and learning a lifetime hobby. I want to be remembered as the teacher who NEVER gave up on students, who pushed my middle schoolers to get the job done. With all of the breakthroughs and extra practice in teaching reading, I am confident that, “where there is a will there's a way” and all students can reach their full potential as readers. 

According to the research and webinar recorded by Jill Alllor, a Professor at Southern Methodist University, titled “Effective Reading Instruction for Students with Intellectual Disabilities” she makes a point stating “We’re at a point now where everybody can learn to read. Even students with intellectual disabilities.” She goes on to explain that even these students learn the memorization of sight words, phonemic awareness, and even more blending them to actually make the words and read. Later Dr. Allor explains that, although these students learn to read, it does take an intensive program including “practice and repetition,” but the programs can be effective for struggling learners. She suggested the approach, “I do, we do, you do,” in order to push students to the next level (Allor, 2019). As a reading specialist I hope to carry this message to others. 

Upon taking this course, I hope to learn more about the responsibilities as a leader and instructor of reading and writing skills to ELA and content area teachers. I feel that professional development is key in order to ease teachers’ anxieties about struggling readers and their opposition to reading. This is especially true for content area teachers learning how to best infuse reading practices into lessons to maximize comprehension of the content information. Some other points I am looking forward to learning are: How to collect and interpret student learning data? How to identify struggling readers? How to group students?  I feel that professional development is key in order to ease teachers’ anxieties about struggling readers and their opposition to reading. This is especially true for content area teachers learning how to best infuse reading practices into lessons to maximize comprehension of the content information. I am excited to get my blog off the ground and execute the tasks set upon us in the syllabus.

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Allor, J. (2019, February 15). Effective Reading Instruction for Students with Intellectual Disabilities.” Center for Dyslexia MTSU. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePdeV6v5FHg.