Why Do We Do What We Do? An Inspiring TED Talk

Here is an inspiring TED talk that causes me to reflect on why I do what I do for my profession. As a little background on myself, I completed a Masters degree in  Teaching English to Speakers Other Languages (TESOL). I have taught English in the U.S. and in various countries around the world. In addition to teaching English with the intention of helping individuals improve the quality of their lives, I have discovered another passion in my current position as the Curriculum Director at Reading Horizons: Literacy. I have blogged about creating literacy curriculum in my blog post here.

A colleague introduced me to this TED talk by Simon Sinek entitled "How Great Leaders Inspire Action." It is worth 18 minutes of your time to watch and reflect on why you do what you do.

Online Vocabulary Game to Promote Literacy

I thought I would re-post information about a free online vocabulary game that students and interested individuals can play to practice vocabulary while simultaneously participating in a good cause. (A couple of years ago, I wrote a blog post about an event held to promote this cause here.) Lemons for Literacy can be accessed online at http://www.readinghorizons.com/lemonsforliteracy/lemons.html.

Free Webinar on the Essential Need for Orton Gillingham-Based Reading Instruction

Kathy Chapelle-Muncy, MS Ed. Reading and Literacy and teacher trainer, presented a great webinar on March 22, 2012, hosted by Reading Horizons on the essential need for  explicit and intensive phonics instruction for struggling readers, as well as the importance of delivering this type of instruction through an Orton Gillingham-based methodology. The Orton Gillingham approach refers to instruction that is multisensory, stepwise, cumulative, and language-based. A recording of this webinar is available here.

During the Q and A session at the end of the webinar, Kathy mentioned the Reading Horizons online pronunciation tool. A link to preview this tool is available here. For more questions and answers from the webinar, see the Reading Horizons blog post here.

The next webinar will be held April 19, 2012, by author Sarah Collinge. Her webinar is entitled, "Movitating Readers: Collaboration, Challenge, Competence, and Choice." You can register for the webinar here.

For other free webinars hosted by Reading Horizons, go here.