Beware of simplistic answers for complex problems. They are alluring but alluringly ineffective. One of these simplistic, alluringly ineffective answers to a complex problem is the idea that we can fix all problems in education by holding somebody “accountable.”

This is an interview with Marvin Melvinhaus from the Moms for Liberty. In this podcast we discuss freedom, schools, and LGBT rights.

In the 1980s, basals were the main tool used to teach reading (they still are). A basal is a teaching manual for reading. It includes an anthology of stories for students to read, a teacher’s manual with directions for how to teach reading, and consumable workbooks to use to teach reading subskills. This podcast describes the beginning of my journal from basal instruction to reading workshop.

Corrine Hess published an article titled, Teacher Prep Programs Not on the Same Page as Wisconsin’s New Reading Law on the Wisconsin Public Radio website. I'm analyzing this article because the severe un-understandings of the reading, reading science, and reading instruction displayed here is illustrative of what we see on the national level.

I used to think the world existed to make me happy. I looked for happiness and wondered why I couldn't find it. Eventually, I learned that I exist to make others happy. I discovered that happiness had been there all the time, waiting for me. This is something I wish my literacy professor had told me 40 years ago.

Dysresearchlia is an unwillingness to read or an inability to understand reading research. It impacts 3% to 5% of the population. Contrary to popular belief, it is not a brain disorder. That is, even though brain imaging research has shown there to be anomalies in the brains of dysresearchiliacs; … with a basic educational research course, these anomalies largely disappear. Also, scientists have proven that listening to Dr. Johnson’s podcasts helps mitigate the effects of dysresearchlia in 75.3% of cases. Further, researchers have shown that reading his books cures dysresearchlia in 98.7% of cases. And these are real researchers and scientists … the one’s who wear white lab coats and do commercials about toothpaste and bent carrots on TV. Not those fake ones who publish in academic journals.

You may think you’re teaching reading. This may be so on the surface level, but on the deep level, you’re really teaching your students life. Reading good books, talking about good books, writing our stories, and listening to the stories of others is life. Helping students to use literacy to find out who they are and what they may become is helping them come alive. Teaching students to develop their full literacy potential is bringing them fully to life. Teaching students to be and become literate is life-giving.

We’re not here to just teach children to sound out words. That would not be life-giving. We’re here to help them to be and become literate. To be and become literate is to use reading and writing for authentic purposes. Don’t let the phonics penguins, the number monkeys, and the educational overlords distract you from this.

I had an undergraduate class that didn't go as I would have liked. We've all had these. You do a lot of planning, you plan some activities, and it's clear that students are just not that into it. In this podcast, I use cognitive modeling as I go through a simple 5-step problem-solving process. This process can be used to problem-solve in a classroom or any place else. I then demonstrate how to use a Total Literacy Experience (TLE) activity to solve the problem. With modification, you can use TLE's and the 5-step problem-solving process in any classroom.