Education, Credentials and Experience

Education & Credentials

  • 1994 Bachelor of Arts, with distinction, U of T
  • 2015 Bachelor of Education,York University
  • 2015-2016 Trained in the Orton-Gillingham Method (including 100 hour practicum), The Claremont School
  • 2019 – Present Training in Word Inquiry (SWI)
    • Intro to Structured Word Inquiry (SWI) (Lisa Barnett)
    • Structured Word Inquiry (Peter Bowers)
    • 2-Day Workshop in SWI (Peter Bowers)
    • Nueva Conference 2020
    • Spellinars (Michel Mira-Reameau)
      • Latin & Greek for Othographers, Transcribing Greek, Understanding Lewis & Short, Understanding Real Script
    • SWI for Early Readers (Rebecca Loveless)
    • SWI Practicum (Rebecca Loveless)
    • Lessons, Activities and Games for SWI (Rebecca Loveless)
    • Teaching Real Script (Rebecca Loveless)
    • Activities and Games for Teaching English Orthography (Fiona Hamilton)
    • Word Inquiry in Action Conference 2022, 2023
    • Lexical and Prosodic Stress, Vowel Reduction and Consonant Lenition (Eric Mayer)
    • Linguistics Integrated Literacy (Kelly Young & Peg Holleback)
    • Connecting the DOTS (Jennifer Petrich & Brad Johnson)
    • Teaching Phonics Well (Fiona Hamilton)
    • Word Inquiry Planning & Resource Development (Fiona Hamilton)
    • OVBIDA Spring Conference 2022, 2023, 2024
    • OVBIDA Fall Conference 2023
  • 2019 – Present Ongoing Professional Development
    • The Anti-Boring Approach to Studying (Gretchen Wegner)
    • How Learning Happens (Nidhi Sachdeva & Jim Hewitt)
    • Punctuation: Signals of Structure (Rebecca Marsh)
    • Getting a Grip on Grammar (Mary-Beth Stevens)
    • Phonetics (Patti Bottino-Bravo)
    • Connected Speech Dialects and Accents (Patti Bottino-Bravo)
    • Strategies for Students with ADHD (Ned Halliwell)
    • Dyslexic for a Day – Simulation (DTI)
    • Annual International Conference on ADHD 2022
    • Dyslexia Training Institute Virtual Online Conference 2023
    • OG Spring Conference 2023, 2024
    • AIM Research Symposium 2024
    • ResearchEd Toronto 2024
    • Improving Reading Comprehension (Daniel Willingham)
    • Learning Disabilities 101 (Nadine Gaab)
    • The Science of Reading Fluency (Jan Hasbrouck)
    • California Dyslexia Initiative Conference 2024
    • Keys to Literacy
      • Instructional Suggestions to Support Sentence & Paragraph Writing
      • Writing to Learn, Writing from Sources
  • Member of Ontario College of Teachers since 2015
  • Most recent Vulnerable Sector Screening: Sept 2020

Experience

  • 2007-2008 Volunteer Tutor
    • Early Reading Intervention Program, Hawthorne II Alternative Public School (TDSB)
  • 2008-2012 Coordinator (volunteer)
    • Early Reading Intervention Program, Hawthorne II Alternative Public School (TDSB)
  • 2012 – Present Volunteer Tutor & Trainer
    • On Your Mark Mentoring/Tutoring Program, Working Women Centre (TCDSB)
  • 2011-Present Private Literacy Tutor
  • 2020 – Present Literacy Specialist
    • Presentations for parents & caregivers on how to support children’s literacy at home
      • On Your Mark Mentoring/Tutoring Program, Working Women Centre (TCDSB)
      • EarlyON Child and Family Centre, J.R. Wilcox Community School (TDSB)
  • 2021-Present Coordinator & Host, Putting Inquiry Into Practice
    • bi-monthly meetings of teachers & tutors discussing ways to use Word Inquiry to teach spelling, reading and writing