I immediately was like, what am I even doing?
What do I do?
How do I do this?
I was drowning 100%.
And I truly believe if it wasn't for my coworker, who was the other secondary literacy specialist in our middle school, if it wasn't for her, I would have failed.
Hi, and welcome to the smarter literacy podcast from a Send smarter intervention where our mission is to simplify effective literacy instruction to make teaching literacy easier and more accessible for everyone.
Today's episode is a really special one.
If you ever felt like you needed to be an expert for you could really help students, today's conversation is for you.
Join us back on the podcast today is Mikaela.
She is here to share a bit of her story about how she got started in intervention.
Hi, Mikaela.
Hello?
Alright, Mikaela.
What can you tell us about your story?
Yeah.
So when I was in school, my background was actually not in literacy.
I have a background in psychology, And while I was in school, I also had a focus on learning disabilities.
I had some internships working in preschool, elementary school with an SLP and an OT, but I was never really looking at literacy specifically.
And so in my last year of school, as I was looking ahead, I knew I wanted to work with kids.
I knew that I wanted to help them, but I didn't totally know what that was going to look like yet.
And that's when I found a job posting from a send.
And I immediately felt called to this job posting and felt like it was something that I could do and really make a difference in.
And so I reached out and said, here's how I think my background and experience would be of value.
But knowing that I don't have a literacy background, I am more than willing to jump in and learn and take whatever trainings you recommend and really do anything I can to be effective in this space.
And I was really fortunate that Corey decided to take a chance on me and hired me onto the team.
And so as I got started, I learned a lot from Corey who walked me through what a lesson should look like really gave me some background into what structured and systematic explicit instruction was.
And that she could kind of show me the framework of a lesson and how to deliver this kind of instruction.
As I jumped in, I really relied on the scope and sequence to help guide me in learning the actual rules I was going to be teaching my students.
I knew what the lesson needed to look like because Corey and I had met, and we had talked about that.
But I had no background in all of these phonics rules.
Right.
And they weren't things that I necessarily even remembered from growing up.
And so what I would do is I would look ahead in the scope and sequence and say, okay.
These are all of the skills I'm going to be teaching my students.
But then as they came in, I would try to stay a lesson or two ahead.
Mhmm.
So I would say next week, I am teaching this particular student that d g e says at the end of a word after a short vowel and no English word ends in j.
It was kind of cool because my mind was blown.
I didn't know that rule, but that allowed me to really deliver the instruction without feeling stuck, like I had to learn every single rule before I jumped in.
And of course, there was a part of me that wanted to because that's comfortable, but I was kind of in this space where we had students that needed to be seen, I was really eager and excited to work with them.
And I knew what the framework of a lesson needed to look like, but I was able to use that scope and sequence to learn alongside them and really learn the rules as they came up without taking a ton of time and keeping me stuck learning every possible rule before starting with my students.
That is awesome.
Something else that I think really was a benefit for me in kind of doing it that way.
Was that I learned really quickly that some things worked for one student and not for another.
And while we have these kind of research aligned lesson criteria, we wanna be targeting PA, we wanna be targeting phonics, vocabulary, fluency, comprehension, writing, the way that's going to look for one student and another is going to be very different.
Right.
And so I remember right after starting, I had two boys that were the same age, and they had very different personalities.
And it was easy to compare them because it was the same grade and same age.
But as I started working with them, it was a very quick realization of, oh, what works for this child does not work for this one because the way I error corrected for them needed to look different.
So way I kept them engaged in the session needed to look different.
And so I was really fortunate in having that immediate realization of while we have this research aligned framework, and there are things that need to be incorporated into a lesson, the way we can structure that looks very different.
Yeah.
And it was more about me building the rapport with them and staying open and flexible and being able to deliver that instruction in a way that got better results for them than being very rigid and stuck to something that wasn't landing.
Yeah.
And I I think that's a great lesson for any educator to learn, right, despite your background.
That's that's that's the lesson to learn.
Mhmm.
And I think for me, it was something that I was fortunate that I did that so early because we wanna do right by our students.
And that's when we say let me lean on this instructor manual or let me lean on this very comprehensive program in this very scripted out Yes.
Component.
And so while I had a script that I was loosely working from, I didn't have this super rigid.
You must do it this way.
Otherwise, it's not going to work, which we know now is not super effective.
We need to be flexible and meeting kids where they're at.
And so I was learning, okay.
These are the rules I'm gonna teach today, but what that's going to look like is going to look very different.
Yeah.
And I I know there's there's lots of way that educators are trained out there that they're taught the rigid way.
Like, you have to do this.
There is no room for flexibility.
And some teachers think, okay, I really have to be rigid on this.
And then other teachers are like, no.
That that's not gonna work.
I need to be flexible.
Just a day to day basis as a as an educator in whatever setting you're in.
Is all about flexibility.
Absolutely.
And we know that kids keep you on your toes.
Yeah.
And so every day is going to look a little bit different, but having the, at least, structured framework, I think, allowed me to lean on that, but knowing It might not look perfect, but as we're looking at data and as I'm continuing to learn with these students, I'm seeing that what I'm doing is working.
Yeah.
And so as I'm able to stay flexible and just be open in that approach, I think I was really fortunate to have that experience that I got really great results for students that way and didn't feel stuck into one really tightly boxed up corner.
Right.
How did you kinda grow in that confidence, Mikaela?
Cause I think that's something that a lot of teachers show.
I know it's something I struggled with.
And I think part of it was me at the very beginning having Corey who was so trusting to say, like, we're gonna give you the background.
You're going to read the books.
You're going to go to these PD trainings.
So you're going to learn, but really the most important thing is that you're showing up for these kids and you're giving them the instruction in a way that feels authentic and that's going to relate to them.
And we had the data, so I could see what's working and what's not.
Mhmm.
And in those moments of Okay.
This doesn't feel like it's landing or I can see this data.
Like, it's just not working for this particular child.
I was really fortunate that I had this community of incredible educators on this team that I could lean on.
Right.
And so as the team grew, we had Corey and me and then other members of the team with backgrounds in special education, elementary education, secondary education, speech that could really come together and look at Why is it not working for this child?
We know that this has worked for others.
This is what we're supposed to do with air quotes or this is what has worked for so long, but why is it not working for this child?
Mhmm.
And having that team to collaborate with was really helpful in building up Okay.
Let's see what can move forward.
And that's how I got a lot of the skills I have now.
Yeah.
Was relying on their expertise too that we could all come and collaborate together.
I love that.
I I think that is so important.
And I know for me, I had a very similar situation where, uh, a team or at least one person that I really trusted to collaborate with made all the difference.
And and I I do think your story is a great one that shows you learn by doing.
Right?
You learn by experiences.
And we all have different backgrounds, but we can all be successful in this, this fear and, like, working with kids as long as we're willing to learn and grow.
And and to know I may be starting at a at this point, I'm going to I'm gonna grow and get better.
Right?
So I think that's just the important emphasis is you don't have to know everything before you start helping.
You just you just need that road map, right, and the willingness to keep learning.
And I know for me, so I obviously do have a background in education in New York state, you actually have to get a master's in order to be a teacher in the school system.
So my master's was in literacy.
But a lot of those courses, I felt like were just a lot of theory.
Right?
Not a lot of practical.
I don't even think any of my courses actually taught me the phonics rules, which is, you know, kinda strange when you think about it, I was going in to become a literacy teacher, but I was never actually taught.
This is the phonetic rule for at the end.
Yeah.
So it wasn't till I really and then my first three years as an educator, I actually got a job as an English teacher in seventh grade, and then I finally switched back to my literacy role.
And at that point, I had been three years not doing literacy at all, really.
And so I was I was definitely out of the groove of that.
And for me so I felt like I was starting over.
Right?
I felt like I was starting new and fresh.
And when I became this literacy specialist in the school system, I had already been working in.
I was given a classroom.
I was given a whole bunch of materials and resources, but I was not given a roadmap.
Yeah.
And I immediately was like, What am I even doing?
What do I do?
How do I do this?
I was drowning 100%.
And I truly believe if it wasn't for my coworker, who was the other secondary literacy specialist in our middle school, if it wasn't for her, I would have failed.
I'm here.
I mean, I would have tried my best, but I think I would have been so overwhelmed in, like, not having a clear direction.
I would have just been floundering the whole year.
So when I when I actually was able to sit down with her, which was quite a bit.
She made that time for me so that collaboration piece was so was so important.
She she one, she helped me kinda calm down.
Like, you got this.
You got it.
Like, you're just freaking out.
And she she gave me a little bit of a road map.
Right?
She introduced me to a scope and sequence that I can at least use for them.
And we made time on our off periods or after school or even, like, summers and weekends to, like, meet and talk about.
We became a team of our own, and we, of course, were part of a a smaller department too.
So that was nice as well, but it was just so great to be able to work with her the way you work with Corey and to also continue my learning.
So I was getting the professional development.
Right?
I was going to some trainings.
I was doing more of the research myself.
And bringing that back to my coworker and we talk about it and we'd be like, okay.
What do we need?
What do we want in our classrooms?
And how can we achieve that?
What's been working?
What hasn't been working?
Because we really were trying to work in the same system, same model because we were seeing the same demographic of kids.
We were like the tier three in our school.
So our kids, a lot of our kids had IEPs, you know, different learning disabilities.
And that really helped take the guesswork out.
Anytime you try to go in and just guessing, like, oh, I'll just randomly throw this and this activity I found offline.
And but I don't see how it connects to anything else.
Then you're just guessing and it nothing feels like it flows for you or for the kid.
Right?
And but the student is just like, well, I'm I trust my teacher, but you kinda have to be like, no.
I need to make sure this is working for my student.
So Once we kinda really talked about the systems we wanted in place, I I too felt like my confidence grew.
Mhmm.
And I felt like I was learning more.
And by year three, I was like, oh, I got this.
I've definitely got more of this.
Right?
And I was able to be more confident and to be more of a partner versus, okay, tell me what you know.
And that that changed things for me.
So it really was true through the collaboration, the growth in my confidence, as a learning specialist, and having those systems for me and my students that made my intervention truly successful.
Yeah.
And I think that's such an important note of we want so badly to do right by these kids.
Mhmm.
We want so desperately for them to achieve everything we know that they are capable of.
Yeah.
And so a lot of times I think that passion can also keep us paralyzed in the fear of not doing it right.
But like you said, it took you a couple of years of collaborating with your other colleague to have that system to really feel comfortable.
Yeah.
But I think in those three years, you are also getting students really great results.
Yeah.
And so I think knowing that we can go to all of the conferences, we can read all of the books.
I mean, as a team, We've read so many research articles.
I've been to so many conferences, but really jumping in and doing it scared is how I got the most out of that learning journey.
Yes.
And that doesn't mean that we gave lesser than instruction, right, to the students in that time, but we're going to learn so much more and feel so much more capable.
Yes.
Doing it and having somebody to bounce ideas off of, but doing it in real time.
Than waiting until we feel like we know everything.
Yeah.
Because I don't know if we ever get to a point where we feel like we know everything.
Hopefully not.
Right.
Right.
And how many kids are missing out on that instruction during that time?
Yeah.
Absolutely.
I think like what you said there too, wanting to do everything so right and like kind of that that it creates that fear.
I mean, I definitely I'm a perfectionist just in general.
And I know starting out.
Well, I have this degree.
I need to be perfect.
Like, there is no room for error.
It wasn't so much error that I it was, you know, it's not that.
It's just you learn by doing you learn by being with the kids, and you learn from each student you have.
And Again, I I don't think they ever stopped learning.
Like, at the the conference I went to recently.
There was a presenter I was with, and he was, uh, retired, but she was, you know, in her seventies.
Mhmm.
And She was still presenting.
And she was talking about a student she had been working with who, you know, they were able to diagnose his dyslexia and his his certain type of dyslexia, but she even had to ask herself, okay.
What do I need to do do differently with a student?
I'm like, some of the things she was doing wasn't working, some of the strategies she had used with other students.
And so she switched up her technology needed to be forward thing because there was online learning a lot.
And she was like, okay.
So what do I need to differently?
So that's what I mean.
Hopefully, we're lifelong learners because being in your seventies and still trying to figure it out after thirty some years of being professional in the in the career, is I think that says something.
Absolutely.
And the other thing that I think is so powerful is that when we look at our backgrounds and we want to know everything first, it's because we want, again, to do right by these students, and we don't wanna make mistakes.
Right.
But how beautiful are those moments when you recognize, like, oh, this student asked me something I don't know or, oh, I said something incorrectly.
And then I'm like, wait a minute.
Let me show you how to handle mistakes.
Yes.
I just had a student the other day where I was like, oh, this is an adjective.
And then I was like, wait a minute.
Actually, now that I'm thinking about it, it's not an adjective.
And so I'm able to model for them what that looks like Yes.
And make it not like, oh, this Mikaela was wrong, but it's like, oh, she's human and she makes mistakes.
So it's okay if I do, But here's how we can either problem solve together if I don't know an answer to a question they ask.
Mhmm.
Or how we can just see what that process looks like.
And that also gives them such benefit too.
Yeah.
And reduces the anxiety for us on our side of having to be perfect and have all of the answers.
Yeah.
Because we all know a student's gonna ask you a question out of left field that you don't have the answer to.
Yep.
And you're gonna be like, wait.
Um, hang on.
I need to ask Google right here.
Like, I need to Google this sometimes because you just or I need a minute.
Think about it.
So yeah.
Which are the exact strategies we want them to learn.
So it's such an incredible and beautiful modeling opportunity too that they would miss out on.
If we were only doing things, we knew we could deliver perfectly with every answer and just no chance for error there.
Yeah.
And I think what you said too, going back to the mistakes, that's where real learning comes from.
Absolutely.
Right?
Humans have learned how to do things by trial and error being like, well, that didn't work.
Great.
So I gotta do something else or, oh, I made a mistake there.
I don't wanna do it again.
That's where real learning comes from.
And like you said, we're we're human and our kids need to know we're human and they're human.
And just from being human.
You're gonna make mistakes.
It's okay.
Absolutely.
Yeah.
Awesome.
So what we wanna tell you guys, we wanna give some encouragement to you is that you are enough right now.
You can start messy.
It does not need to be perfect.
Take a deep breath, like my co coworker told me.
You will grow, and you deserve tools that help, not tools that make you feel behind.
Right?
That's that's gonna be key for you.
I think to hit on that same note is that if I had waited until I knew every single phonics role or knew every pattern, I would still be learning now almost ten years later.
Mhmm.
And the ten years' worth of students that I've worked with that have graduated from the program and read on grade level and have gone on to do incredible things wouldn't have been served.
At least not by me and could have been waited longer.
Mhmm.
And so if you are feeling right now, like, you are stuck in this constant need for more information, I would encourage you to jump in and get started using tools that give you that guidance like a scope and sequence.
That's was my biggest ally.
Me too.
Was my scope and sequence as I jumped in.
And, of course, continue learning as you go knowledge is important and we can always continue learning, but don't let that fear of not knowing everything keep you from jumping in and serving these kids who so desperately need your help.
Absolutely.
So what we should expect for next episodes, and next time we are gonna break down the exact kind of roadmap that Mikaela used when she started, and that we are still using today to make intervention feel lighter and more doable.
We hope to see you again next time.
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