EP.04: Rethinking Reading Instruction Using Brain Words

This PEP Talk episode features Jennifer LaGarde, co-author of Fact vs. Fiction: Teaching Critical Thinking Skills in the Age of Fake News. Tackling the issue of fake news has become a major concern for K–12 educators as they find themselves in a strategic position to help school age children navigate their way through a complex and rapidly evolving digital landscape. Students receive information from a variety of sources, but they are not equipped with the necessary skill sets to detect, decipher, and deal with the misinformation and disinformation that inundate their digital devices. Listen to LaGarde share practical strategies and skills designed to help students navigate the landscape of fake news and think critically about how they receive, evaluate, and share information. Jennifer LaGarde works with educators worldwide to develop innovative instructional practices. Her work around the world has been recognized by The New York Times, The American Association of School Librarians, and The Carnegie Foundation. LaGarde is also the author of the award-winning blog, The Adventures of Library Girl,  and she currently works with preservice librarians at Rutgers University.

This PEP Talk episode features Keri Shimomoto, who leads the Hawai‘i Department of Education’s (HIDOE) Teacher Induction Center. This statewide professional development model is designed to orient, acclimate, and nurture new teachers in Hawai‘i. The HIDOE continues to face challenges related to recruiting and retaining high-quality public school teachers. Listen to this show to find out how the HIDOE is leveraging the Hawai‘i Teacher Induction Center to address this issue. Also, Keri highlights some of the essential components of the Hawai‘i Teacher Induction Center. In addition, you’ll hear from several other Hawai‘i educators who share their perspectives on the importance of training, retaining, mentoring, and nurturing Hawai‘i’s most valuable resource—teachers.

This PEP Talk episode features Todd Johnson, aka, Estria, the Co-Founder and Executive Director of the Estria Foundation. Estria is a world renowned urban art living legend. Across three decades of style writing, or what media has referred to as graffiti art, Estria has collaborated with non-profits and high profile corporations to lead a movement that centers around creating art in public spaces as a means to raise awareness of human and environmental issues.  Estria was active in the San Francisco Bay Area during the “Golden Age Of Graffiti” and remained there to spearhead numerous initiatives combining his artistic and entrepreneurial talents to develop art programs targeting at-risk-youth.  Within the last ten years, Estria has invested much of his efforts on working with schools throughout the state of Hawaii. In 2016, filmmaker, Tadashi Nakamura, directed and edited a full length award winning documentary titled Mele Murals, which featured Estria and a team of artists who engaged Native Hawaiian youth in a transformational experience that combined public art and indigenous traditions.  Estria continues to engage students, teachers, and school leaders in the transformative power of visual-storytelling as evidenced by the increasing number of out-door Mele Mural art work adorning school walls and capturing student voices in a unique and powerful way. 

This PEP Talk episode features author and researcher, Dr. Gene Ouellette, who shares key points in his book, Brain Words: How the Science of Reading Informs Teaching. Dr. Ouellette is an internationally recognized researcher in reading, spelling, and the links between oral and written language. He is professor and head of the Psychology Department at Mount Allison University in New Brunswick, Canada.

This PEP Talk episode features Dr. Joanna Christodoulou, who shares her research findings on the brain basis of reading. Dr. Christodoulou is the Director of the Brain, Education, and Mind (BEAM) Lab of the MGH Institute of Health Professions, where she integrates roles as developmental cognitive neuroscientist, clinician, and Associate Professor. She talks about her program of research, conducted at MIT in the Gabrieli Lab and at MGH Institute of Health Professions, which focuses on brain and behavior correlates of development, difficulties, and intervention effects for reading. Some of the topics she covers include the neural routes of reading, differences in neural activity associated with varying language systems, and instructional strategies that have demonstrated increased activation in specific brain regions. Dr. Christodoulou's award-winning research has been supported by organizations including the Spencer Foundation; the Fulbright Foundation; the Mind, Brain, and Behavior Initiative at Harvard; and the National Institutes of Health.

Margaret Higa, Executive Director of the International Dyslexia Association's Hawai’i Branch, shares about her work with the Hawaii Dyslexia Association, her journey in this area of service, and resources for teachers and parents who have dyslexic learners.

Are you interested in cutting-edge yet practical education-focused tips and best practices that have direct application to your work with children or youth in school or even at home? Would you like to hear education practitioners and stakeholders share their critical perspectives on topics related children’s learning and development? If so, subscribe to the Pacific Education Pulse Podcast at pacificeducationpulse.com. Each show features brief, power-packed education-focused interviews with movers and shakers who are positively impacting the field of Pre-K to secondary education in Hawaii and beyond. The podcast highlights the work of local and national experts who work at the intersection of education, research, curriculum design, technology, and policy for the purpose of improving teaching and learning.