Title I Reading Teacher: Adventures At Jack Benny Middle School

Title 1 Reading Educator – Jack Benny Middle School, Waukegan, IL 2007-2008

A regulatory program compliance & implementation: “No Child Left Behind Act" hired Title I Reading Teachers at every school in the district. I developed comprehensive content and delivered grade level customized “whole class” lesson plans, based on academic standards and reading strategies. The curriculum was designed to target at risk students in low performing school environments, but all of Tier I benefited from the instruction. I held targeted intervention groups, implemented school-wide assessments, led the “Reading Intervention” team, conducted professional staff development and community awareness training, all proving valuable to staff and student performance.

During my first year teacher training, we had a session on vocabulary reinforcement in the classroom. Due to the nature of my position, I co-taught and modeled lessons in teachers' classrooms, which did not make strategies such as "word walls" feasible. So, I designed an instructional strategy for vocabulary that would be conducive to the traveling nature of my position...Word Of The Day Shirts!!! Chosen from grade level appropriate academic vocabulary, I incorporated an image and a definition to help students learn key vocabulary. I ended up wearing these shirts for three years, even when I took a position as the Read 180 Teacher at Waukegan High School.

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Below is a presentation I provided for community members on how they can be proactive and involved in their students' learning.

#Education #TitleI