John Parent

A reading revolution: Schools turn to science-based approach LIMA — John Parent sat in the kindergarten classroom in wonderment as he saw the “science of reading” paying off in October 2023.

I was interviewed for a local piece on Ohio’s Third Grade Reading Guarantee.

A starter pack of educators getting in good trouble💙

go.bsky.app/126JfoD

The road to the Handmaid’s Tale world is lined with smiling people telling you to stop overreacting.

Purposeful Text Selection for Meaningful Learning As scrutiny increases on teachers, clarity of content is more important than ever

Hello, BlueSky! I’m so excited to get to a place that values civic discourse about important topics, and I’m looking forward to connecting with each of you. I’ll also share some thoughts via posts at Substack, like the one linked below. #EduSky #iteachenglish

open.substack.com/pub/johnpare...

Teach Them to Not 'Just Skip It' Early foundational skills work prevents later struggles

When I was teaching high schoolers, the majority of my students were struggling readers. When they encountered a word they couldn’t pronounce or didn’t immediately recognize, they would simply skip over the word. It’s no wonder they hated to read. open.substack.com/pub/johnpare...

#edusky

Artist: @LiberalJane (Insta)

"Don't let the bastards grind you down."

-- Margaret Atwood, born #OTD 1939

I think about this meme a lot

Advice from a Literature teacher and resister: read your history, but don’t forget your literature.

Resistance is woven through the words of abolitionism and feminism and anti-fascism. Read the history and the literature.

Purposeful Text Selection for Meaningful Learning As scrutiny increases on teachers, clarity of content is more important than ever

Hello, BlueSky! I’m so excited to get to a place that values civic discourse about important topics, and I’m looking forward to connecting with each of you. I’ll also share some thoughts via posts at Substack, like the one linked below. #EduSky #iteachenglish

open.substack.com/pub/johnpare...

A Novel Burden One former English teacher's view on the problem with reading novels in school

Research shows that reading books in school helps students become better readers + gain important background knowledge, too. So why aren't students reading more books? A former ELA teacher explains the many challenges books face in today's classrooms. hollykorbey.substack.com/p/a-novel-bu...

My journey back to education : open.substack.com/pub/johnpare...

#EduSky

That sounds amazing. I love it.

Absolutely agree. When we use a text, we should be doing this based on far more than what “comprehension skills” can be practiced. Choose texts that matter to students and to society. open.substack.com/pub/johnpare...

The Fierce Urgency of Now When it comes to equity, literacy instruction is the great divider

The shifts to emphasize phonics instruction are important, but if that’s all we change we will not see the sustained improvement in our reading scores. There is more to do and no time to waste. open.substack.com/pub/johnpare...

#EduSky

Teach Them to Not 'Just Skip It' Early foundational skills work prevents later struggles

When I was teaching high schoolers, the majority of my students were struggling readers. When they encountered a word they couldn’t pronounce or didn’t immediately recognize, they would simply skip over the word. It’s no wonder they hated to read. open.substack.com/pub/johnpare...

#edusky

curmudgucation.blogspot.com/2024/11/icym...

5 Reasons My Class Begins with Retrieval Practice (Almost) Daily - The Effortful Educator For the past six or seven years I have started my class (almost) every day the same way…with retrieval practice. This is usually a quick review of information covered from the last class meeting or of...

5 Reasons My Class Begins with Retrieval Practice (Almost) Daily

theeffortfuleducator.com/2024/10/16/5...

#edusky #cogscisci

Teach Them to Not 'Just Skip It' Early foundational skills work prevents later struggles

When I was teaching high schoolers, the majority of my students were struggling readers. When they encountered a word they couldn’t pronounce or didn’t immediately recognize, they would simply skip over the word. It’s no wonder they hated to read. open.substack.com/pub/johnpare...

#edusky

I have spent the last four years trying to get iReady out of our classrooms in the district where I work. Let’s not lose instructional time to a program that cannot foster the inquiry and discussion vital to student success.

Same here but elementary teachers are not the same kind of content area specialists that we, as degree-holders in our content areas, are. And I trust professional knowledge of all teachers and encourage them to adapt & modify their curriculum based upon their knowledge of pedagogy & their students.

Right. There is a much larger issue being the loss of qualified teachers. That makes the vetting of prepackaged curriculum even more vital. No district should purchase without a thorough understanding of the content they will be putting in front of their students.

I think of it more as a scaffold. There are many great teachers who can thrive without prepackaged materials but there are also many who can’t. And with fewer teachers everywhere, districts are often “stuck” with teachers who are less motivated and/or skilled. Good materials help patch the holes.

I had the same problems. It wasn’t until I learned to stop assuming the students already knew how to handle things that I was able to get things moving the right direction.