The Teacher Behind Emerald Coast Reading Well
I'm so glad you're here!
Welcome, I'm Hannah!
Teaching with Compassion and Curiosity
I'm a wife, mom to three kiddos and life-long student. My passions for reading and teaching go way back to 1st grade when I would "teach" my younger siblings and stuffed animals the alphabet while wearing my mom's high heels (because everyone knows high heels are a staple in every teacher's wardrobe - haha!). Over the years I've found ways to live out my passions for reading and teaching in numerous roles (usually wearing tennis shoes or flip flops) but my favorite is teaching one-on-one.
I have so much compassion for the struggles students face when learning to read. It can be so hard, and the cycle of defeat creates more of the same. When I was in the classroom, most of the behavior issues I saw stemmed from learning struggles (many because of reading issues). I wanted to stop and spend time with each student to help them get curious and find what worked for them. In a classroom with 19 other students and a strict pace to keep up with, I did not have the freedom to give this to my students.
I also believe every child is born wired with curiosity and a desire to learn. When we experience failure and defeat these can affect us in ways that quiet our curiosity, or even shut it down completely. As time goes on, we learn to adapt to our teachers, parents, and friends in ways that protect us from further failure and disappointment. We end up being really "good students" of what others expect from us, learning to hide our true selves. As an educator I love to help each student find their authentic curiosity. When we get curious about how we learn and why we struggle learning "that" thing we can use that knowledge to find success and reframe failure so that it becomes part of the learning process instead of causing us to shut down or feel hopeless.
With compassion and curiosity we discover the joy of learning and reading well.
IMSE Certified Orton-Gillingham Teacher
I am certified in the Orton-Gillingham approach to teaching reading through the Institute for Multi-Sensory Education. Using this very structured approach is prescriptive, focusing on the needs of the individual student, and explicit, meaning nothing is left for the student to guess. Each concept is presented with the individual student in mind and multiple learning pathways are used simultaneously, which strengthens the connections and communication between different neural centers in the brain.
CERI Certified Structured Literacy Dyslexia Interventionist
Being certified through the Center for Effective Reading Instruction means that I've passed the KPEERI or Knowledge and Practice Examination for Effective Reading Instruction, which is a national certification exam. I've also completed 60 hours of training in the Orton Gillingham methodology as well as a detailed practicum in order to achieve this level of certification.