Reading Realities
Changing how we teach reading isn’t simple. It’s complex, ongoing, and often overwhelming—and no one should have to figure it out alone.
Reading Realities is a podcast about what it really takes to change how we teach reading. Host Rose Else-Mitchell of the Science of Reading Center at SUNY New Paltz talks honestly with educators about the instructional shifts they're making, what they've learned about how humans learn to read, and what it takes to teach it. Guests discuss what they've tried, what worked (and what didn’t), and what they are learning to do differently now — making change durable, practical, and compassionate for anyone on this journey teaching reading.
Episodes
8 episodes
I Can't Differentiate My Way Out of This feat. Faith Howard
Faith Howard, a grades 6–12 literacy specialist and former secondary English teacher based in Pinedale, Wyoming, joins host Rose Else-Mitchell to discuss her journey from teaching Shakespeare to teaching older students how to read.Faith ...
A Random Pamphlet Changed My Instruction feat. Anjanette McNeely
Anjanette McNeely, a kindergarten teacher and former literacy coach in Kaysville, Utah, joins host Rose Else-Mitchell to discuss her professional journey from a whole-language teacher preparation program to becoming an advocate for evidence-bas...
Everyone Sees Themselves as a Reader in My Class feat. Danielle Honsberger
Danielle Honsberger, a grade one teacher and former literacy coach based in Prince Edward Island, Canada, (our first international guest) joins host Rose Else-Mitchell to discuss her journey from classroom teacher to literacy coach and back to ...
Centering Text with Middle School Readers feat. Sara Quinn
Sara Quinn, a middle school reading interventionist in Atlanta, Georgia, joins host Rose Else-Mitchell to talk about her journey from teaching kindergarten to supporting adolescent readers. Along the way, Sara questioned familiar practices, wen...
More Structure, More Freedom: Rebuilding First Grade Literacy feat. Holly Price
What do you do when the way you’ve been teaching reading for years just isn’t working?In this episode of Reading Realities, host Rose Else-Mitchell speaks with Holly Price, a veteran first grade teacher with more than 2...
Messy Work for Meaningful Change feat. Cherie Kent
What happens when educators realize the way they were taught to teach reading may not have served their students well?In this episode of Reading Realities, Cherie Kent, a literacy coach and consultant based in Auburn, Massachuse...
Nobody Looks Silly in My Class: Teaching Literacy in Middle School feat. Kyair Butts
What happens when students are expected to “read to learn” — but haven’t yet fully learned to read?Kyair Butts, a middle school literacy teacher and instructional leader in Baltimore, Maryland, joins host Rose Else-Mitchell, to ...
Teaching is a Verb: Rethinking Kindergarten Reading Instruction feat. Caitlin Lucas
In this first episode of Reading Realities, host Rose Else-Mitchell talks with Caitlin Lucas, a kindergarten teacher and literacy specialist in Pittsburgh, PA, to unpack her journey from familiar routines to research-aligned reading in...