Episode 34: Shining Lights on Linking Classroom Literacy and Student Data

In this episode, Dr. Archibald speaks with Karla Gutierrez, a speech-language pathologist at the Louis Riel School Division in Winnipeg, MB. Karla speaks on her eight-year journey in supporting teachers to teach literacy in the classroom through a foundation of relationships and co-teaching. She talks about the importance of teaching across skills (phonemic awareness, vocabulary, reading, writing) and her work on a district-wide literacy team.

Vibhuti Jethava – adjunct lecturer at the University of Toronto and speech-language pathologist – teams up with Jocelyn Kadish – who has lecturing experience at McMaster University, the University of Toronto, and the University of Cape Town – to speak with Dr Lisa Archibald on the speech-language pathology work setting of providing assessment and consultation for children with mental health needs. They discuss topics on identifying language needs, providing mental health therapy through language mediation, the impact of language on social functioning, the use of language on self-regulation of emotion and behaviour, and more through the lens of speech-language pathologists.

In this episode, Dr. Archibald speaks with Tara Ross and Kristen Smith, S-LPs from the Upper Grand District School Board. They discuss the unique way of combining deep learning with declarative language strategies, working students at a Tier One level around building social, emotional, and social communication and co-regulation.

In this episode, Dr. Archibald speaks with Michelle Cowan and Kiran Bagri, two speech-language pathologists from the Peel District School Board. They discuss their Classroom Literacy Resource, activities to practice letter sounds with kids, taking handwriting tips from books, and more.

Olivia Colosimo and Leah Schwartzentruber, guests from Episode 27, return in this special episode to continue the discussion on their work with the Thames Valley District School Board. They describe their resource on Literacy-Based Language Intervention, a multi-tiered system of support to provide services and connect communication-based goals to classroom-based expectations.

In this episode, Dr. Archibald speaks with two speech-language pathologists from Saskatchewan, Sherry Bockus and Cheryl Turner. They likened intervention for kids with speech-language disorders to insulin for those with diabetes, arguing that therapeutic intervention is necessary. This philosophy leads them in their work as they encounter mixed results trying to advocate for the need for speech-language services in schools and the subsequent challenges and successes.

In this episode, Dr. Lisa Archibald speaks with Ashley Champ, S-LP at the Upper Grand District School Board. Champ talks about her current role on a special education literacy team and then discusses the tools and methods she and her team use to identify children's literacy needs and provide intervention in the classroom.

Dr. Lisa Archibald talks with Olivia Colosimo and Leah Schwartzentruber, S-LPs from the Thames Valley District School Board, about their work in early literacy and vocabulary instruction in primary schools. They share expertise on oral language development and evidence-informed instructional practices useful for S-LPs in schools.

Join us for episode 26 of the Shining Lights podcast! In this episode, Dr. Lisa Archibald speaks with Lisa Kohel and Lyndsay Bordeau, collaborating S-LPs out of St. Alberta, AB. Our guests explore their work in schools, supporting kids with trouble with speech intelligibility and speech sound disorders. They talk about major challenges they've seen regarding speech-language services for these children and how that affects every aspect of their lives at school.

Ahead of Truth & Reconciliation Day, Dr. Lisa Archibald sits down with Dr. Jessica Ball, MPH, PhD for the latest episode of SAC’s Shining Lights podcast. Dr. Ball, whose work on speech-language issues in Canada was in the context of First Nations in land-based communities, describes the speech-language challenges she witnessed these Indigenous communities faced. She also dives into the cultural context of speech-language assessments, working with First Nations’ English dialects, applying cultural safety concepts, and more in this episode.