SMARTER Literacy

In this bonus episode, we sit down with Mikayla Storey-Link, a familiar face to the SMARTER community, to hear about her journey from psychology grad with almost no literacy background to nearly a decade of structured literacy instruction; and now, founder of her own practice, COVA Learning Center.

Mikayla talks about what it felt like to learn alongside her students in the beginning, how she thinks about prioritizing skills for older learners who are running out of time, and why having a structured framework actually gives her more flexibility, not less. She also talks about how she opened her own practice this year, and how she's making it work as a new mom.

If you're learning as you go, thinking about private practice, or figuring out what secondary intervention really needs to look like, this one is for you.

Connect with Mikayla:
🌐 covalearningcenter.com
📘 Facebook: @covalearningcenter
📷 Instagram: @covalearningcenter

In today's literacy chat, we're flipping the script.

You've spent the last several episodes hearing Lindsey interview educators from across the world, and now it's her turn to be in the hot seat. In this literacy chat, Corey sits down with Lindsey to talk about her own journey: from seventh-grade English teacher to reading specialist navigating COVID, to her time at Ascend, to launching Next Chapter Literacy Solutions.

Lindsey talks about what it felt like to piece together instruction without a real curriculum, how she found DSI in the middle of a school year and finally felt like things clicked, and what it looks like to take a leap into the unknown...and actually love it.

🌐 Contact Lindsey: https://www.nextchapterliteracysolutions.net/

⭐ Learn more about SMARTER Intervention: https://smarterintervention.com/dsi

What does it actually look like to lead a district through one of the biggest instructional shifts in recent education history without losing your teachers in the process?

In this literacy chat, we sit down with Sarah, Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum Innovation and Pupil Services at Orchard Park Central School District in New York. Sarah shares what it was like to step into her role just as the national conversation around balanced literacy reached a boiling point, how her district built a shared vision instead of just swapping one program for another, and why "go slow to go fast" became their guiding philosophy through it all.

She also discusses the challenges that haven't gone away - writing instruction, tier one support, screen time, and what it really takes to build a culture where data feels like a tool instead of a verdict.

If you're an administrator, literacy coach, or classroom teacher trying to navigate change without burning everything down, this one is worth your time.

Learn how Ascend SMARTER Intervention can help with programming and implementation in your setting: https://smarterintervention.com/school-services

Heather Diebel knew she wanted to be a teacher at six years old. What she didn't know was how long it would take to find an approach to literacy instruction that actually felt right, or that the path would lead her away from the classroom entirely.

In this literacy chat, we sit down with Heather, owner of Next Level Literacy, to talk about her winding journey from a third grade classroom with no reading curriculum, through a master's degree, through years of piecing programs together, to finally building a private practice she loves. Heather talks honestly about advocating for students and parents through the IEP process, why she spent months searching for a curriculum before finding one that had everything, and what it means to do things messy - and do them anyway.

If you're feeling the pull toward private practice but waiting until everything feels ready, this one is for you.

Connect with Heather:
✉️ [email protected]

Learn more about starting your own literacy business:
🌐 https://smarterintervention.com/start-your-literacy-practice

What does literacy intervention look like when your students are spread across microschools, homeschool co-ops, and even another continent?

In this literacy chat, we sit down with Rosemary, a licensed educator and educational therapist who has built a flexible, thriving practice that serves learners in person, online, and everywhere in between. Rosemary talks about the challenge of finding a program rooted in structured literacy that could actually flex across settings, how she thinks about placement and pacing for students on the fence, and what it looks like when kids who used to dread reading start asking why class is already over.

If you're working in a non-traditional setting, thinking about private practice, or just looking for a reminder that structured literacy works, this one is worth the listen.

Connect with Rosemary:
🌐https://www.unlockthepotential.net

Learn more about Delivering SMARTER Intervention:
🌐 https://smarterintervention.com/educator-services

Learn more about 5CCL Learning Lab:

🌐 https://smarterintervention.com/5ccl-learning-lab

What happens when a speech-language pathologist with hundreds of hours of literacy training still can't find a curriculum that pulls it all together?

In this literacy chat, we sit down with Vicki, an SLP whose career has taken her from Alaska to Virginia, and from the schools to a private practice she's built entirely on her own terms. Vicki talks honestly about the gap between having the training and having the tools, what it looks like to start small and stay focused, and why finding a community matters just as much as finding a program.

She also shares some of the most meaningful moments from her work, including an adult learner who didn't know there were rules for reading, and a fourth grader who went from a really dark place to reading chapter books on her own.

If you're an SLP thinking about incorporating literacy into your practice, or an educator wondering whether private practice might be the right next step, this conversation is worth your time.

Connect with Vicki:
✉️ [email protected]

Learn more about starting your own literacy practice:
🌐 https://smarterintervention.com/start-your-literacy-practice

What does literacy intervention look like when you start from scratch, in a studio with mini trampolines, and a background in law?

In this first literacy chat, Lindsey sits down with Natalie, co-founder of Hidden Key Literacy Specialists on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, Australia. Natalie's path to literacy work was anything but traditional, and that's exactly what makes her perspective so worth hearing.

In this conversation, they dig into what it really looks like to build a private practice around connection and confidence, not just curriculum. Natalie talks honestly about the challenges of bringing science-of-reading aligned instruction into a system that wasn't quite ready for it, the power of giving students choice and movement in their learning environment, and why she believes a diagnosis can be one of the most empowering things a struggling learner can receive.

Whether you're thinking about stepping into private practice, working with students who have additional needs, or just looking for a reminder that this work matters - this one is for you.

Connect with Natalie:

Facebook: Hidden Key Literacy Specialists

Instagram: @hidden_key_ls

✉️ Email: [email protected]

🛍️ Products: www.hiddenkeycreations.com

Something a little different is coming to the Smarter Literacy Podcast this summer.

Over the next several weeks, we're stepping back from our regular format to share something we think you really enjoy right now: real conversations from real educators who are doing this work every single day.

These literacy chats feature interventionists, SLPs, classroom teachers, and school leaders from our SMARTER community, and they're a reminder that evidence-based literacy instruction isn't just about programs and research. It's about the thoughtful, intentional decisions educators make for the students in front of them.

You are not doing this work alone. These conversations are proof of that.

Fluency is often reduced to words-per-minute scores, but strong readers do much more than read quickly. In this episode, we discuss what fluency actually means and why speed alone doesn’t lead to comprehension.

We share simple strategies that help students read in phrases, attend to punctuation, and sound more like natural speakers. The focus shifts from racing through text to reading with meaning, expression, and understanding. 

💡 Explore strategies for all components of literacy with our free SMARTER Routines Guide

Fluency isn’t about going faster; it’s about reading in a way that helps students understand what they read.

Editing often gets treated like the quick final step in writing, but in reality, it’s where the real work begins. In this episode, we unpack why students rush through editing, what they actually need to become stronger writers, and how teachers can make editing meaningful instead of overwhelming.

We share practical strategies that help students slow down, build stamina, and learn how to truly refine their writing. From shifting students’ mindsets about the writing process to using simple color-coding systems and sentence-level editing routines, this conversation focuses on making editing visible, manageable, and even enjoyable.

💡 Learn more about writing routines in the Spotlight PD: Long Form Writing Routines
https://smarterintervention.com/ondemand-pd/longformwriting

Then, subscribe so you don’t miss next week’s episode, where the conversation shifts to fluency and why it’s about much more than reading faster.