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Helping Children Become Strategic Learners
What Makes Our Teaching Incredible?
- What we Integrate Makes Our Teaching Incredible.
- We are committed to the Science of Reading and Math so we integrate their evidenced interventions for the highest efficiency of instruction.
- We are devoted to learning ourselves so we keep up with reading and math science and we cross-training in multiple evidenced methods.
Extraordinary and Unique Founder Posie Boggs
Was the founding president of the Alaska Branch of the International Dyslexia Association. She uses every opportunity available to communicate that research, about dyslexia, provides a critical base of knowledge that contributes to all aspects of literacy acquisition and instruction. Collaboration beyond all boundaries led her to start the Alaska Reading Coalition, resulting in the passage of the HB64 Reading and Dyslexia Task Force. Read the task force report here.
Posie Boggs has a Masters in Educational Diagnostics and a Bachelor of Science in Nursing. Ms. Boggs hunts many research sources on reading and dyslexia, from the Institute of Education Science to the Annals of Dyslexia™ to The Reading League™ and The Society for the Scientific Study of Reading™, to keep her knowledge on the cutting-edge of literacy science. She has received training in, and utilizes the following scientifically evidenced methods for teaching literacy and reading:
The RAVE-O™ program, Lindamood-Bell™ programs, including On Cloud Nine Math©, LIPS©, Visualizing Verbalizing©, Seeing Stars©, LAC3 Test©, Slingerland™ - Level 1, & 2, Orton Gillingham International, and the Writing Institute™.
Extraordinary Tutors! Vicki Campbell
Extraordinary Tutors! Janet Tillman
Hello, my name is Janet Tillman. I have been a educator for over 25 years. I earned my B.S. in Elementary Education from the University of Idaho in 2000. I have taught preschool-8th grade in both private, charter, and public schools. I am Slingerland trained as well as Lindamood-Bell trained. I taught as a 1st grade MSI teacher at Baxter Elementary for 7 years. My passion is teaching students to read and gain confidence in all academic areas. I especially enjoy helping those students who struggle and my be dyslexic, or have other learning difficulties. Currently, I am working as a lead preschool teacher at Credit Union 1’s Early Learning Center. I joined Connections That Work as a part time tutor this year.
Lucas Boggs is our Center Director and lead tutor.
Lucas has worked in early child hood education for the past 16 years. Since 2009, he has worked in managerial positions in different early learning centers in Anchorage. He likes to bike, is fluent in Spanish and he enjoys spending time with his nephews. Lucas is involved in teaching and working with children with learning delays and making sure that as an administrator, he goes through the same training as the instructors to help the children in our care.
As a person with dyslexia and ADHD, Lucas has a keen understanding of what success and challenges mean for students and parents. He has the distinction of being the only 2nd grader who ran away from his summer dyslexia program making it all the way home. (One block away.)
“Stacy is reading aloud in class for the first time without tears! Now I can see her being college material. She is so bright but was so frustrated. Not anymore!”
~ Mary
“We wanted to thank you for making a difference in Nick’s life. Nick is a huge part of our life and when you help him, we all benefit. We really appreciate you taking the time to come to his IEP meeting. Thank you for your time, commitment, and kindness.”
~ Kristie
“Nate was able to go back to public school after CTW and we didn’t have to spend 3 hours a night helping him with his middle school homework again. What a relief!”
~ Sue
Advocacy
We are strong advocates for students, parents, educators, and policymakers on the necessity of improving literacy in our city, state, nation, and across the world. We emphasize providing comprehensive research-based literacy education early to all students and adults who struggle with literacy which is essential to increasing our city, state, nation, and world's educational outcomes.
Equally important is providing educators extensive, rigorous, and multidisciplinary training in the knowledge and practice of teaching the "3 R's."
After founding Alaskan organizations and working on legislation to assist in the vision, it is now time to provide the teachers with "feet on the ground" training and interventions to remediate underserved children. At this time we, are working on two projects we hope will be open in the next year.
Military Families
- We are very concerned that Military families in Alaska do not get the help they need for their children. When CTWLLC receives a military parent's request for information about reading or dyslexia support we direct them to our local chapter of Decoding Dyslexia Alaska. This is one way of supporting military families who relocate outside of Alaska. Decoding Dyslexia is connected across all 50 States and territories and in most English-speaking countries. Because of networking, Decoding Dyslexia Alaska will reach out to specific parent members of Decoding Dyslexia so that the Alaskan military family has knowledgeable contact in any State the family may move to.
- We are working towards becoming a training center for a classroom-teacher-level course from Ron Yoshimoto Orton Gillingham.
Our outreach programs are under development. In the meantime, we have compiled a resource page to help parents and teachers learn cutting-edge reading science now.
As founding president of the Alaska Branch of the International Dyslexia Association, Decoding Dyslexia Alaska, and The Alaska Reading Coalition, Posie uses every opportunity available to communicate that research about dyslexia and reading development that provides a critical base of knowledge to teachers in all aspects of literacy acquisition and instruction. Collaboration beyond all boundaries is the theme in our advocacy.
Resources
Plain Talk About Literacy conferences are where so many global leaders in the field present cutting edge reading research and strategies for those who teach all ages and grades.
Because of the hard work of Alaska reading advocates our Alaska Department of Early Education has offered two Alaska Science of Reading Symposiums for free to all.
International Dyslexia Association
Extensive and well-researched fact sheets and other resources from the International Dyslexia Association
The Reading League
The Reading league's YouTube Channel
This video is especially important for teachers, administrators, and policymakers to watch.
Yale Center for Dyslexia and Creativity
A leading source for research and information to better the lives of people with dyslexia
Ohio State Literacy Academy 2021
A series of videos that are awesome and show that entrenched systems of education can change
Understood.org
A resource site dedicated to learning and attention issues, including specific resources dedicated to dyslexia
Colorado's Professional Development is based on the Colorado Reads Act
Colorado's approved reading curriculum and interventions. Notice what isn't listed.
Dyslexia Help (University of Michigan)
Tips, ideas, activities, materials, website links, and other resources related to dyslexia
Stanislas Dehaene about his new book How We Learn: Why Brains Learn Better Than Any Machine...for Now
How the Brain Learns to Read - Prof. Stanislas Dehaene
IDA Alaska
The Alaska Branch of the International Dyslexia Association provides information about dyslexia in Alaska.
Dr. Marilyn Jager Adams on Learning To Read: What's hard developmentally was also hard historically
Download Alaska's HB64 Task Force Report on Reading and Dyslexia was a collaborative legislative effort to improve reading outcomes for all Alaskan students.
Alaska Science of Reading - What I Should Have Learned in College Facebook Group
National Center for Learning Disabilities
A comprehensive guide to understanding learning and attention issues
Decoding Dyslexia Alaska
A network of parent-led grassroots movements across the country is concerned with the limited access to educational interventions for dyslexia within the public education system. Keep up with the latest news here through each state’s Facebook page.
The Reading Well
Provides resources for dyslexia, including a list of schools serving students with language-learning differences.
Edutopia
Repository for cutting-edge educational practice and learning. Use the search tool for information specifically about dyslexia and learning differences.
Purple Star Award Schools Schools that show a major commitment to students and families connected to our nation’s military
Book Recommendations
Basic Facts on Dyslexia & Other Reading Problems by Louisa Cook Moats
Overcoming Dyslexia by Sally Shaywitz, Second Edition
Proust and the Squid: the Story & Science of the Reading Brain by Maryanne Wolf
Dyslexia is My Superpower (Most of the Time) by Margaret Rooke
My Dyslexia (a memoir) by Philip Schultz
To make our instruction bold, we integrate the following based on data to meet your student where they are and take them to where they need to be.
- Yoshimoto Orton-Gillingham
- Slingerland
- Phonological Processing Such as Lindamood-Bell Programs, Equipped for Reading Success , and Haggerty, Phonemic Awareness Curriculum.
- RAVE-O
- Institute for Excellence in Writing
- Structured Word Inquiry
- Seeing My Time Sklar Enterprises LLC.
- Mightier App
- And other materials
Testimonials
“Stacy is reading aloud in class for the first time without tears! Now I can see her being college material. She is so bright but was so frustrated. Not anymore!”
~ Mary
“We wanted to thank you for making a difference in Nick’s life. Nick is a huge part of our life and when you help him, we all benefit. We really appreciate you taking the time to come to his IEP meeting. Thank you for your time, commitment, and kindness.”
~ Kristie
“Nate was able to go back to public school after CTW and we didn’t have to spend 3 hours a night helping him with his middle school homework again. What a relief!”