Let's Talk, Teacher to Teacher With Dr. Gina Pepin
Welcome to the Let’s Talk, Teacher to Teacher podcast. My name is Dr. Gina Pepin - and I am so happy to meet you. I am a mom, teacher, professor, supervisor for teacher candidates, a reading specialist and a whole lot more! I am the 2023-2024 Region 1 Michigan Teacher of the Year and State Finalist - and also served in this role as part of the very first group of Regional Teachers/State Finalists of the Year in 2018-2019. But what I want you to know the most about me is… I have a great passion for early literacy and teacher preparation and the thing I am most proud of is of course our children… but my once in a lifetime chance to become a co-author, along with the extremely talented children’s author - Eric Litwin ! Together… we wrote: The Power of Joyful Reading: Help Your Young Readers Soar to Success. You can learn more about me - my experiences, how to hire me to speak at your workshops, schools, teacher programs etc… at www.ginapepin.com
I offer you practical make and takes - easy tips along with real life shared stories - so that you can easily create joyful shared reading experiences and other amazing strategies and approaches in your learning space/s right away.
I am here to help you make powerful changes - Let’s do this together.
Check out the Ride and Read program I designed along with 100s of FREE resources at www.ginapepin.com and https://www.instagram.com/drginapepin/
Let's Talk, Teacher to Teacher With Dr. Gina Pepin
Vision Series: When Reading Takes a Whole-Body Effort: Vision Issues, Speech, and Learning to Read
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
In this insightful episode of the Let’s Talk, Teacher to Teacher podcast, Dr. Gina Pepin—a passionate reading specialist, professor, and Region 1 Michigan Teacher of the Year—dives into a commonly overlooked factor in early literacy: how vision issues can impact learning to read, especially for students already identified with speech or language impairments. Dr. Pepin shares a powerful real-life story of a young learner whose reading difficulties were connected not just to language needs, but to hidden vision challenges unseen by even the most dedicated intervention team.
You’ll learn why vision screening matters, how to spot subtle signs of visual tracking problems, and what practical steps educators and families can take to support all readers—especially those facing multiple hurdles. Get ready for actionable “make and takes,” heartfelt reminders to look beyond the labels, and an invitation to advocate for the whole child.
Whether you’re a teacher, para, administrator, or anyone who works with young children, this episode offers easy-to-implement ideas and inspiration to help every student experience the joy and power of successful reading.
Subscribe for weekly practical strategies and stories, and let’s keep making joyful reading possible for every child!
Check out more at www.ginapepin.com