My name is Ellen Donisi
and I'm currently a Reading Recovery and title I Reading teacher. I have a B.S. in Education from Wright State University, a Masters in Reading from WSU and Reading Recovery training from the Ohio State University. I started my teaching career as a reading teacher for grades 1-3, then taught first grade for 12 years and now I have returned to teach reading.
Teaching reading and language arts has always been my passion. I'm always searching for a better way to reach those kids who are struggling. Reading and writing should be fun! But for some kids it's an uphill battle everyday. When I became a reading teacher again I soon realized that most teachers who taught children with a broad range of abilities. Most children are going to learn from an enthusiastic and caring teacher using these types of lessons. But "my" kids are those in the bottom 20%. they need strategies and activities which are going to help them make sense of print quickly and surely.
Though I firmly believe in maintaining a balanced, integrated program. I also believe that at-risk learners need to engage with print on a daily basis. In 30 minutes I don't usually have time for some of the extras they do in the classroom. The strategies and activities in my lessons are designed to help children learn how words work and how to make sense of increasingly complex texts. When I send my students back to the classroom I want them to be able to say, "I can read that!" And that's where the fun starts!
Ellen Donisi