Motivation Monday

As a kid, I would dream about what I wanted to be when I grew up. Not in a million years did I ever think about writing children’s books or graphic novels. Reading never came easy to me. I avoided it at all costs. Now, 30 years later, and together with my wife, Inshirah, we created a diverse superhero brand that is giving kids HOPE!

The entrepreneurial, self-publishing journey is filled with ups and downs, teachable moments, and times when we have had to pivot. It has taught me how to be patient and appreciate every milestone along the way. 

The Doctor Dyslexia Dude character was once just a vision, but now is a reality. He will have eight new 🦸🏽‍♂️  friends and they will all go on this literacy adventure together! Stay tuned.

 The video shows one of those teachable moments in life.

(Plotnick, 2012)

If you have a dream go catch it, but first believe in yourself and be persistent. 

Reference: 

Plotnick, R. E. (2012). "In Search of Watty Piper: The History of the 'Little Engine' Story". New Review of Children's Literature and Librarianship. 18 (1): 11–26.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Unpacking Systematic Barriers for Black Boys with a Learning Disability in Special Education

Image
Special Education classrooms are a melting pot of students who are creative, innovative, and waiting for an opportunity to shine. These are the generalized qualities the students come with as their hard-wired gifts. Students all still need to learn how to read through direct, explicit and systematic instruction, and that will only happen through effective  literacy instruction that is culturally responsive  and teacher training. Literacy should be the great equalizer for students to become academically independent. Not every student will get exposed to quality literacy instruction which pushes them to reach their full potential or positions them to achieve their freedom. However, it should be at the top of the list for educators, policymakers and administrators to train teachers to excel in literacy instruction.  Although the demographics of classrooms are changing to reflect increasingly diverse students, what remains unknown in Special Education is why there is a persi...
Read more

Word Analysis Activities Prek-12 grade: Divergent

Image
For the lower-level processors (i.e., orthographic & phonological), Moats (2020) asserts that “one can use phonic or dictionary symbols to transcribe the phonetic properties of words, but the disadvantage of such a phonic representation system is that many speech sounds must then be presented with letter combinations…” (pg. 32).     We will be analyzing the word  divergent   in the Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary 11th edition pg. 365. www.stockvault.net The phonetic transcription   \ də-ˈvər-jənt ,   dī- \ .  Note: these variants are based on geographical location and dialects, and for the purposes of this word, I will use the second transcription  dī.      1st  sound  2nd sound  3rd sound  4th sound  5th sound  6th sound  7th sound  8th  sound  Phonemes /ī/     /j/ /ə/     Graphemes D i v er g e n t These points address what we hear and see when ...
Read more

Cracking the Code: Dictionary Skills as the Key to Enhanced Literacy

Image
     This blog honors the legacy of Dr. Robert T. Nash, a trailblazer in language and literacy, renowned for his expertise in dictionary skills and lexicography. September 24, 1926 — May 21, 2017 Reading Hall of Fame inductee      Within the contexts of education, literacy is the foundation upon which proficient readers are nurtured. Evidence-Based Reading Practices (EBRP) and the Five Pillars of Reading  guide educators across academic levels. Yet, often overlooked in this pursuit is the potent tool of the dictionary.  At the core of literacy development lies the often-underestimated dictionary. It's not merely a book of definitions; it's a decoder of language complexities, aiding pronunciation accuracy, contextual meaning extraction, and even empowering independent learning. My personal journey from a struggling reader to a scholar with a PhD in Language and Literacy has intersected with the transformative impact of dictionary skills. I've obse...
Read more