Human Chapters

It was an honour to engage in a conversation with Brendan from Learning with Mr. Lee about his Chapter, Finding Purpose. Brendan openly shared about the different phases of his life and what led him to find his purpose. Some of the points discussed in this conversation included:

- Brendan's initial goal of becoming a Rugby League Player and how this changed.

- Different businesses Brendan set up (e.g. Personal Training, a child-friendly cafe owner), other work positions (teacher and assistant principal), and what each position taught Brendan about finding his purpose.

A few points that deeply resonated with me were: building relationships is important, and being kind and compassionate should be practiced.

A huge thanks to Brendan for sharing this important Chapter. An enormous thanks to everyone else for watching/listening to this conversation. Please share it with anyone that may resonate with it. It will be available on Facebook, Podcast, and YouTube. 😀

It was an incredible honour to engage in a hearty conversation with Nora Maginity Chahbazi about her Chapter, Teaching the World to Read Against all Odds. I stepped away from the conversation with an expanded view of numerous points and a deep appreciation for humans working in the Education space. This conversation brought about a number of emotions and important points. We discussed:

- Nora's change in the professional journey from being a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Nurse to being the Founder of EBLI   Evidence-Based Literacy Instruction.

- Her daughter's struggle with reading.

- Nora's journey in how her fight for change turned into a calling, a passion, and a labour of love.

- The work of https://eblireads.com/ is to provide training for teachers, educate parents, provide tutoring services, and much more. Check out their website for more details.

- A brief snippet of the trauma of a parent that has a child with reading struggles.

- Some of the books that have influenced Nora's Chapter:

Why Our Children Can't Read and What We Can Do About It (by Diane McGuinness) - This Book Study discussion is currently being facilitated and the video recordings are housed on https://www.youtube.com/c/DonnaHejtmanekSoR/videos

Reading Reflex

Limitless (by James Kwik)

An enormous thanks to Nora for the time, energy, and effort spent on this conversation. A huge thanks to everyone that will listen to/watch it on Facebook, Podcast, and/or YouTube. Please share it with others that may connect with it. 😀

It was an incredible honour to engage in conversation with Halo Scot about her Chapter, Life on the Spectrum. This broad conversation explored numerous parts of Halo's Chapter and some of these included:

- How a writing group, Queer Indie was founded - https://queerindie.com/

- Halo's preference for writing Dark Fiction - some of her book titles include - Edge of the Breach; Echoes of Blood..

- Writing as a therapy outlet

- Mental Health

- Being Queer

- Her daughter's Autism diagnosis journey and what that meant

An enormous thanks to Halo Scot for taking the time to generously share one of her Life Chapters. A massive thanks in advance to everyone else that will listen to or watch this conversation on Facebook, Podcast, and/or YouTube. Please share it with anyone that may connect. 😀

It was an absolute honour to engage in conversation with Jackson Owour about his Chapter, Transformers Mathare. Jack generously shares about the following:

- His childhood and the drive to pursue a career in becoming a priest.

- His passion for reducing the stigma against people living with HIV

- His Foundation, Transformers Mathare - the journey, his vision, current programs, their model, and future aspirations.

It was wonderful to have learned about the work https://www.transformermathare.org/ is aiming to achieve and the programs that have already been put in place. A huge thanks to Jack for putting the time, energy, and effort into sharing his Chapter. A huge thanks to everyone that will listen to or watch this conversation on Facebook, YouTube, or Podcast. Please share it with anyone that may connect. 😀

It was an incredible honour to engage in a wonderful discussion with Faith Borkowsky at High Five Literacy and Academic Coaching about her Chapter, Cutting Illiteracy.

Faith briefly explains what led her to become an Educator; however, the majority of our conversation highlights the following points:

- She was approached by a Guidance Counsellor, Tre (@MrLitEdu) whose son presented with reading difficulties and Faith worked with his son.

- The road map of what was involved in the first few sessions when Faith started working with another student from that community.

- Once the progress of both students was evident, the knowledge was delivered to the community through focussed book club discussions about Language, Literacy, and Dyslexia based on Faith's book, If Only I would Have Known. These discussions are available on https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCV3VuSZOQmdxaHgUhgmUV0A

- Faith's book, If Only I Would Have Known - is a book for anybody that wants to understand Language, Literacy, and Dyslexia. https://ifonlybooks.com/; https://www.amazon.com.au/Only-Would-Have-Known-Pediatrician/dp/1734068833

- The Cutting Illiteracy initiative stemmed from the book club discussions and one that deeply involves the community - https://www.phonicbooks.com/2022/03/15/cutting-illiteracy-decodable-books-at-the-barbershop/#

- Why acquisition of literacy skills is vital and its future implications

- Faith's key takeaways - 95-98% of children can learn to read

An enormous thanks to Faith Borkowsky for taking the time to unpack this Chapter. A huge thanks in advance to everyone that will watch/listen to this conversation on Facebook, YouTube, or Podcast. Please share this conversation with anyone that's likely to connect with it. 😀

TW - suicide

It was an absolute honour to have engaged in a conversation with @Julie Scali about her Chapter, The Interconnected Thread and Journey between Learning Difficulties and Mental Health.

Julie openly shares about:

- her journey as an Educator,

- the student that provided her with an opportunity to learn how to teach reading, and find a true purpose

- the different roles and hats she has experienced as an educator

- the difference between Whole Language and the Science of Reading

- her deeply personal experience with her mum's depression and increased ability to empathise with people

- her current role as a Consultant at Literacy Impact Educational Services (https://www.literacyimpact.com.au/ )

A huge thanks to @Julie Scali for taking the time to share this Chapter and to everyone else that will be listening to/watching this conversation on Human Chapters Facebook/Podcast/YouTube. 😀

It was an absolute honour to engage in a conversation with Greg Clement about his Chapter, School. Greg openly shares his journey from being a classroom teacher to being a Principal, and now, the Director of Instructional Improvement at Decodable Readers Australia. During this conversation, Greg explains his comfort zone, how this was stretched, his passion for ensuring students' success in literacy skills, and his personal connection to this success, which included his children.

Greg has also documented his literacy journey on his informative and practical blog, https://principals-of-reading.com/.

A huge thanks to Greg for taking the time to have this important conversation and to everyone else for listening to/watching this conversation on Facebook, YouTube, and/or Podcast. Please share it with anyone that may connect. 😀

It was an absolute honour to engage in a conversation with Libby about her Chapter, My Creative Stroke Chapter. Libby's humour, description of her journey, and moments of insight are worth listening to.

During this conversation, we talked about Libby's stroke, the days following the stroke, her rehabilitation (offered by the hospital and one she curated personally) journeys, and the importance of art and poetry. Libby has also authored a book, Connecting Pathways - a triumphant journey through stroke. This can be ordered by contacting Libby via email - [email protected]

A couple of points (out of many) that strongly resonated with me were - "Be authentic in what you're saying" and "Be grateful"!

An enormous thanks to Libby for sharing this Chapter with us and to everyone else that will watch and/or listen to it. Be sure to share this conversation with anyone that may connect with it. It will also be available on YouTube and Podcast. 😀

It was an absolute pleasure to have a conversation with Jobelle Erika about her Chapter, Unapologetically Me - Sorry Not Sorry.

During this conversation, Jobelle discusses several thought-provoking and important points about her names. Jobelle migrated to Shepparton from the Philippines at the age of 16. She has 2 first names, Jobelle Erika; however, she decided to go with Erika while her heart preference was Jobelle. Jobelle is a name she holds dear to her heart as it has a deep story and one that is briefly discussed in this conversation. Jobelle and her father participated in The Amazing Race and that's when she decided to reconnect with her heart preference name. Listen to this conversation to find out why Jobelle made this decision and the impact it has and continues to have on different aspects of her life.

A huge thanks to Jobelle for taking the time to have this important discussion and to all the listeners and viewers for engaging as well. Feel free to share this conversation (available on Facebook, Podcast, and Youtube) with anyone that is likely to connect with it. 😀

It was a true honour to engage in a beautiful conversation with Nathaniel Swain about his Chapter, The Back Story of Nathaniel. Nathaniel's work as a Speech and Language Pathologist in Youth Justice, his current role as a classroom teacher, and the founder of a thriving community of Educators, Thinking Forward Educators are a few of the points discussed in our conversation. Nathaniel generously talks about the following:

- his initial pull towards his research in the Youth Justice

- his research and key findings - https://www.nathanielswain.com/phd-research

- his initial role (Speech and Language Pathology) in education

- his current roles in education - https://www.nathanielswain.com/cognitorium

https://thinkforwardeducators.org/

- the importance of understanding the Science of Reading and the Science of Learning, and much more.

One of the points that deeply resonated with me was "Education should be the great equaliser".

An enormous thanks to Nathaniel for taking the time and spending the energy on this wonderful conversation. This vote of gratitude is also extended to everyone that listens to and/or watches this conversation on Facebook, YouTube, or Podcast. Feel free to share it with anyone that may connect. 😀