Mrs. Tina's Tots

 The Science of Reading is popping up all over teacher social media, and in professional development alike. It sounds like the newest buzz word, but I've realized that we are going back to the way I was taught to read a long time ago! Somehow, and sometime along the way schools stopped teaching phonics. I have to admit that this was news to me, because I was very lucky to land in a school my second year of teaching that used an Orton-Gillingham based phonics program. I was ahead of my time. Ha! I taught kindergarten for 4 years at that school, then 4th and 5th grade for 4 years, and I just didn't realize that other schools weren't teaching kids how to read using phonics. Honestly, I said "Who isn't teaching phonics and morphology?? How are their kids learning to read?"  WELL, they weren't.  When Arkansas began the R.I.S.E. initiative to teach their teachers about the science of reading my principal at the time said, "Guys, we will do the training, but

 Here we are again. The last few years have been....whew. I don't even have words to describe them. I stopped doing a lot, as did everyone, the last couple of years to only concentrate on my work, and my family. I had so many personal and professional changes happen I completely lost myself in the noise.  Not anymore.  Now. I write. I start using this space again, because I realized in the last 2+ years I gave up all the creative outlets I once had. I let fear and anxiety creep in and I slowly got less and less happy. Then I remembered and realized as I have so many times before. You choose to be happy. It's a choice. Even when things are hard, you can choose to be happy. Please don't get me wrong it is easier at some times than others, but since it doesn't look like things in education as a whole are going to get any easier for a while, it's time to get to work. It's time to be creative, and live life to the fullest.  And write.  It's time to pick this crea