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Hi everyone, my name is Courtney Pulley! I am currently pursuing my Master’s degree in Special Education: Severe Disabilities. I received a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from UMass Lowell. For the past few years, I have worked as a Special Education Teaching Assistant. I work in a sub-separate autism program in an elementary school in North Andover. I absolutely love my job and know that I want to continue to work in special education, particularly with children with ASD.

As a child, I loved reading. I remember being a young child and being so excited to learn how to read. Throughout elementary school, I really enjoyed reading and was always so excited to find new books to read. One of the memories that stands out to me the most, was when I first read Ruby Holler, which was my favorite book. I ended up reading it again multiple times after that. I lost my enjoyment in reading throughout middle and high school. I believe that this was likely because of the requirements to read certain books, not ones that we could choose on our own. But, in the past few years, I have gotten back into reading and enjoy reading books that interest me.

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Hi everyone! My name is Julia, and like many of you I am in the M.Ed ABA and Special Education program. I have a B.A. in Psychology from Loyola University Maryland, following graduation I moved to Baltimore from New York and have been here since! I have been working in the field of ABA for years, the majority of this time in a non-public elementary school for children with ASD. I work closely with Special Educators, Speech Language Pathologists, and Occupational Therapists, my experience with them has led me to believe strongly in a multi-disciplinary, collaborative approach. I also believe in listening to, elevating and supporting autistic voices. I am thrilled to share this class with you all, and look forward to learning with and from you!

I have always been a reader. I credit my parents, they are both readers and raised my brother and I to be. I love to read books that I like, but hate reading books that I don’t… if that makes sense?

My earliest memory about reading is reading Black Beauty with my Mom. She would come to my room every night and read a chapter until we finished. I remember the two of us crying endlessly at the end. I also used to read The Night Before Christmas to my family every Christmas Eve since I was a very early reader.

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Hi! My name is Sarah Tobin and I am a Special Education Teacher at Melmark New England. I have my undergrad in English and General Special Education, and I am currently enrolled in the dual masers for ABA and Severe Special Education.
As long as I can remember I have always been one to pick up a book and read as often as I can. I remember one Christmas when I was really little, before I started school, hiding under a big cardboard box with a flashlight and stack of books. Once I started school, my favorite day was library day. I would take out as many books as they would let me and make my parents read them with me repeatedly. I looked forward to independent reading periods everyday just so that I could get lost in a book. However, in high school I struggled to read the books assigned to me. It wasn't because they were boring, but it was because of the work that I had to do with them. Reading has always been an outlet for me, so when having to pair it with assignments it was aversive. As a mom, my favorite thing every night is when my kids go to bed and we get to sit as a family and read stories together.

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Hello! My name is Elliot and I am an employment education teacher at the Boston Higashi School in Randolph. I am originally from Maine, but have lived in many locations on the East Coast since I graduated with a degree in Psychology from the University of Southern Maine over ten years ago. I originally pursued working with people with autism in a group home in North Carolina. I knew I wanted to teach after reading several Dr. Seuss books with some of the clients there. My earliest memories of enjoying reading was the Ranger Rick magazines which I took home from school. It sparked my interest to get outside, see animals and enjoy nature. I have always loved how reading can inspire to get people into action. It is exciting to learn more on how to teach and share reading with others, hopefully inspiring them to do great things. I am glad to share this journey with you all.

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Hi everyone, my name is Kevin Callahan. I am currently working as a paraprofessional at the Northshore Education Consortium in Beverly. I am newly enrolled in the Severe Disabilities M.Ed. Program and aiming to become a licensed special education teacher by next year. My younger brother (pictured on the right) was diagnosed with ASD at the age of 3. For every moment of sadness or discouragement, there have been 100 moments of happiness and hope throughout our family's journey after his diagnosis. My favorite early memory was reading stories to my brother when I was in elementary school. The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister is the book that stands out to me as it truly captured our attention at a young age. As I read to him, he would be so excited for me to turn the page and see what different color scales were in store for us next. As my vocabulary and reading skills expanded, so did his. While he was younger and less verbal when we began reading the story together, he slowly began to identify and say single words that caught his eye. He has come so far with his verbal communication skills and self advocacy since then and I am incredibly proud of him. 15 years later I came across a copy of The Rainbow Fish in my school's library and was smiling from ear to ear. I have been lucky enough to read it to some of the students at my current school and reminisce on how I first felt reading that book to my brother all those years ago.

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Hello! My name is Caleb Wilfert. I am a special education teacher at Melmark New England and am in my final year of the Severe Special Ed. program here at Endicott. As a child, I struggled with reading and found it very disinteresting. I don’t remember any specifics about the process of learning to read, other than it being an incredibly complex challenge. I do remember when the Harry Potter books were published, I did find those stories much more captivating than anything else I had encountered. I also recall my parents reading with me, particularly the Chronicles of Narnia series. However, I don’t have any fond memories of reading until after college. Required reading for school was always a challenge to complete. It wasn’t until after I graduated college that I started to pick up books as a hobby, and during COVID, I really found the genres and styles of writing that I enjoyed as a reader. Now as an adult, I feel that reading is a relaxing escape, and I enjoy tracking my books read per year.

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My name is Gabriel Zebrower. I live and grew up in Colonia, New Jersey. I’m in the M.Ed ABA/Sp.Ed program here at Endicott. I work as an RBT with younger children(2-10) with Autism. I plan to take the BCBA exam after completing my masters and work as a BCBA with children who have ASD. What I’ve enjoyed about the special education classes in comparison to ABA is they give a look at a more practical application of how to teach and create a more palatable and interesting way of teaching information. Growing up I had very little interest in reading and writing, and focused much more on science and math, which i continued through most of my college career where i began as a premed student. I finished with a degree in religion as i realized premed was not what i wished to pursue and i began a MA in religion at Rutgers university. When reading what i actually had an interest in, i was given a different look. Also being an adult with undiagnosed ADHD at the time, I’ve grown to appreciate reading much more as I’ve gotten older. Most of my interests in reading were in sociological theory regarding religion during my time at school, and political theory afterwards. My goal with the dual program is to bring aspects of teaching practically from special ed to ABA, which i feel at times is very impractical and solely based in theory.

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Hi My name is Becca Knight.  I work at Hopeful Journeys Education Center as a Special Education Teacher and I am currently getting my masters in Severe Disabilities!

As a child my mom always encouraged us to read.  My mom was a kindergarten teacher and read chapter books to me and my siblings each night before bed.   But during the day, I was constantly “reading” books, where I was memorizing Dr. Seuss books and reading them to my mom.

When I entered 1st grade, I remember being in the “Robin” reading group, and was considered a struggling reader.  I clearly remember getting help from the teacher to sound out my letters correctly within each word.  Today, you would not know I struggled to read as a child.   By middle school, my mom was taking me to the library once a week and I was borrowing 6 books each time.  Today, I read as much as I can and I love to escape into new worlds with each story I read.

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Hi everyone! My name is Sarah Boudreau and I just graduated from Endicott with a bachelors in Elementary Education. I am doing my masters in Moderate Disability and will begin my Fellowship in 5th grade in Reading MA come the fall. My earliest memories of reading are when my mom would read to me and my brothers every day, often at night before bed. I always loved story time and when I learned to read my mom would let my brothers and I take turns reading with her at night. I always loved reading from a young age. I remember in third grade being so engrossed in a book I was reading that I did not notice that silent reading time had ended and the teacher had to call my name multiple times before I noticed. My favorite part of the school day was always silent reading time or when the teacher would read us chapter books out loud. In fifth grade I loved the read aloud book so much I made my mom buy the rest of the series and I read the rest of the books on my own.
I hope that as a teacher I can instill this love of reading into my own students. I want them to learn to love reading and the feeling of escaping into a book and getting lost in a new world within their favorite books. My hope is to work in upper elementary, which is the age where I fell in love with reading, and hope that my students develop that same love.

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Hi everyone! My name is Julia and I just graduated from Boston College with a dual degree in Elementary Education and Applied Psychology! I am so excited to start my fellowship here at Endicott in Severe Special Education while working at the Doyon School in Ipswich! I absolutely love working with kids and I am so eager to start this next chapter!
I am fortunate to have lots of great memories with books as a child. My mom has been a first grade teacher for 25 years and constantly exposed my sisters and I to a variety of texts as kids. My most vivid memory was reading the "Froggy" series with my mom before bed and laughing at her animated expressions while she read to us. I had a very rich experience with what The Center for Public Education described as "parent talk" as well as modeling what it meant to read for understanding. Listening to my mom read in such an expressive way really allowed books to come to life for me, which I truly believed enriched my future educational career more than I previously realized. As a bonus, this memory really came full circle when I read a Froggy book to my first grade students this spring and tried to make the book come to life as much as it had for me. I firmly believe in the power of diverse literature, and I hope to instill this love in my future students as well!

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My earliest memory of reading is “The Kissing Hand” by Audrey Penn. I was a super anxious kiddo so my mom would read me The Kissing Hand before school. I liked it because he was nervous about leaving his mom for school too! My mom would put a “kiss” in my hand just like Chester Raccoon’s mom and I would “carry” it with me all day long :). It was the first story I read on my own at home and I remember so well how excited I was about it! This book is now on Storyline Online so it’s fun to see some of my students reading and listening to it.

I work in Andover Public Schools in a substantially separate special education program. I am working towards my special ed Severe Disabilities licensure as well as my BCBA. I am currently a behavior technician in the program so my role includes things like staff training, behavior plan trialing, running assessments and (a lot of) de escalation. I’m looking forward to student teaching to get back into the classroom and work one on one with students again. One of my favorite ways to introduce topics and new ideas to my students is through books and literature so I am really looking forward to learning about how to make reading more accessible to my students!

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Hi! My name is Molly Pierce. I grew up in Beverly and moved to Southern Maine from my undergrad. I just graduated from the University of Southern Maine where I majored in elementary education and minored in Deaf studies. While in my completing my undergrad program I was a long term sub for 6 months. I taught 4th grade and loved it! I will be completing my fellowship in Beverly while completing the moderate disability masters program. This is my second summer working at the Children's Center for Communication/ Beverly for the Deaf.

My earliest memory of reading is choral reading big books in kindergarten. We would all sit on our assigned letter on the carpet and read each story together. I remember it being really fun because it was something we all did together, and it was something that I could read. My favorite was "Jake the Snake" because my little brother's name is Jake! As I moved through elementary school, I remember feeling frustrated learning to read because it took me longer than my friends. I would compare myself to them and feel bad that I wasn't reading as fluently. Over time, I was reading on grade level and fell in love with reading. To this day, I love reading. My parents always said they couldn't keep giving me books as fast as I would read them, so they bought me a kindle in 5th grade. Any spare time that I have, I fill with reading.
I am looking forward to working with you all!

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Hello everyone! My name is Dianne Brady and I'm in the Masters program at Endicott for my license in Severe Special Education. I currently work at Amego inc. as a Special Education teacher on a waiver. I have been with Amego since 2014 and I love it.

My earliest memories of learning to read was with my parents. I remember loving going to the bookstore, getting new books and a special snack. I was so excited when my mom took me to the local library, and I signed up for my very own library card! I loved finding a special spot in the library to snuggle up in and read my picture books to my favorite as I got older the Jenny B Jones books!

It all changed when I got into grade school. I'm sure we are all aware of the good old " popcorn reading" I HATED it, I still do as a 33-year-old! I could never retain anything because I was always too busy reading the paragraphs after what they were reading to make sure I could read it well enough and fast enough. I also wasn't a fan of reading in a circle. When we had to read in a circle, I would always count the number of students in front of me and the number of paragraphs to find what one I would have to read.

Once I was out of middle school, I started not to worry as much with reading, and it became relaxing again. Now, I don't mind snuggling up with a good book and relaxing!

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Hi all, my name is Shelbee MacCracken and I am a Special Education teacher at RC Mahar Regional School in Orange, Massachusetts. I am exactly halfway done with my Masters in Special Education!

The earliest reading experience I can recall is reading Mr. Willowby's Christmas Tree to my mother, who was so impressed she had me read it to her every day for a week! I ended up inheriting many Stephen King books from my mother.

I have always had a passion for reading. I remember having to read aloud in high school. The other students would all complain and I would volunteer to read all the time! I guess I should have known then that I was destined to become a teacher.  I look forward to this class!!

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Hi everyone! My name is Liv Strasser and I am a Special Education Teacher at Melmark New England. I have my undergraduate degree in Psychology with a concentration in Mental Health. I am currently enrolled in the dual masters program for ABA and Severe Special Education. I have worked in this field for 3 years as an RBT and currently as a special education teacher.
My favorite early memory about reading was when my mom would read to me at night before I was going to bed. I was always so excited for that time and would always go to bed looking forward to what book was going to be read the next night. When it was time for me to start learning, I struggled and took more time than others did. In elementary school I would get pulled out of class for extra reading groups to practice my fluency. But by the third grade I caught up to the rest of my classmates and was very fluent in reading. I always loved when it was time to read over any other subject, especially math. But one thing I did not like doing is reading in front of the class because that is when I would get stage fright and stumble over my words. As I got older I definitely turned away from reading, as nothing interested me like it did when I was a kid. Recently, I have started to read more especially Colleen Hoover books!! Reading can be a bit of a challenge for me but I am slowly getting myself back into it.
I look forward to taking this course with you all and learning about reading instruction together!

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Hi everyone! My name is MaryAlyssa O'Connor but most call me Maddi. I graduates from Salem State University with a bachelors in psychology. I am currently in the severe Special Ed Licensure program at Endicott. I am a full time special education teacher at Hopeful Journeys Education Center in Beverly. Working primarily with children ages 7-15 with autism and related diagnoses.
My earliest memories of beginning to read were when I was at about kindergarten age at home with my mom and dad when we would read short stories together and they would have me associate new words with the pictures in the story. My attention to pictures versus words was very clear so my parents really capitalized on that to help spark my interest in reading. Because of this my word association got really clear, but my ability to clearly blend and string words together to create a sentence was incredibly challenging.
Because of this I have always dreaded reading aloud, I still do to this day. It has developed even more into a fear of public speaking when I have to stay on track with something that is written.
Recently my interest in reading has ramped up again, so I am that much more excited to see how this course will help develop my skills as a teacher when choosing reading curriculum with my kiddos.

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Hi, My name is Denise Santoro.  I work for Reading Public Schools and support Student Services as well as the RISE Preschool Director.  I have taught private preschool for eight years and MS Office Application classes in a Training Development capacity for over 13 years.   I am more than half way to completing my graduate degree in Education - Moderate Special Needs PK-8.  I am excited for this next chapter and hope to teach preschool.

One of my first memories of reading was the book "Go, Dog, Go!"  I loved the rhyming as well as the illustrations.  I still laugh when I see the dogs having a party on top of the tree!  That usually makes the child I'm reading to, laugh as well!  Reading came easy for me, math did not!  When raising my family, my sons didn't share my passion or ease with reading, which motivated me to read to them even more.  It has also provided me with an understanding of our learners that are struggling.  I'm hoping to be an encouraging presence for our youngest readers.

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Hi everyone! My name is Katelyn Aylwin and I just recently graduated from Endicott College with my bachelors in elementary education and an additional license with a math specialty. I am beginning my fellowship at Ayers this fall while completing the moderate disabilities masters program.

My earliest memories of beginning to read would be when my parents would sit down with me almost every night and we would read small books together. I used to love to do this with them because it was so exciting and I also wanted to be able to read to my younger siblings. I loved reading groups in first grade as well. One specific memory I remember is when I read the word “breakfast” for the first time and got it correct. I was very proud of myself because my teacher was happily surprised I could read it as well! My fondness for reading went away as I got older but I have recently found my love for it again and cant wait to learn from everyone throughout this course!

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Hi everyone! My name is Lauren Arena. I just graduated from Westfield State University with a Bachelors Degree in Elementary Education. I am beginning my masters fellowship in Special Education Moderate Disabilities. I am currently a building substitute at an elementary school in Marblehead working with students pre-k through third grade and love it.

My earliest memories of learning to read was in first grade. My teacher had created so many opportunities to be surrounded by books from just looking at the pictures, listening to stories, reading independently, and reading to the teacher. I would say that my favorite earliest memory of reading was with my mom we would read many of my favorite stories together. I loved listening to the Nancy Drew series, my mom would read them to me and let me try to read some of the pages as well. I think something that she did that was really beneficial was talking about any of the books we were reading to form an understanding of what the stories were about. This early exposure to reading has helped shaped my love of reading today. I try to always have a book to read in my free time. I look forward to reading everyones and working with you during this class.

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Hi everyone! My name is Marisa LoCoco and I am a Behavior Technician for a multi-aged integrated preschool. I have my undergraduate degree in early childhood education and am currently getting my masters in the dual program of moderate disabilities and applied behavior analysis.
When I was younger, I loved to read and constantly had a book in my hand, no matter where I was going. I enjoyed going to the public library and picking out books or even the book fairs that were held at my elementary school. My absolute favorite though was during summer vacations when I would pick out multiple books in one trip to the library. Things unfortunately changed once I started middle school and teachers were forcing me to read books that did not interest me. At that time, I was no longer reading for enjoyment. My love for reading suddenly went downhill and it was rare that I would read, other than if it were for an assignment.
I have now recently started to pick up books and read them for enjoyment. I do catch myself starting a book and never finishing it or if it really interests me, I will finish it within a few days. I definitely do want to read more, but at times it is a challenge for me.
I look forward to taking this course and learning more about reading instruction with you all!

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Hi Everyone!  My name is Erin and I am in the Certificate Program for Special Education Moderate Disabilities.  After taking a few years off to stay at home with my 3 kids, I am back to work and school.  I am currently working as a paraprofessional in an elementary school in Massachusetts.  Additionally, I am licensed as a School Counselor, grades 5-12.   I have worked in education for 15 years in both regular education and special education settings in Massachusetts and North Carolina.

My first early memories of reading include cuddling up on the couch with my parents and siblings and reading books before bed.  I also fondly remember being in reading groups in school and sitting with my first grade teacher to read from our text. As I got older and more independent with my reading, I was encouraged to read every night in my room as part of my bed time routine.  Additionally, in the summer months, my siblings and I were required to read for one full hour before we were allowed to go outside and play.  As a child, I was annoyed by the summer reading rules, but as an adult I typically read a book a week and love visiting my local library. I find myself following in my parents footsteps and imposing similar reading rules for my kids with the hope that they will grow to love reading as much as I do.

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Hi! My name is Ally Edwards. I just graduated from Endicott College, and I am just starting to peruse a dual masters in ABA and severe special education. Growing up I really enjoyed reading, especially when my parents or brothers would read to me. I don't remember many specifics about learning to read in school, but I do remember listening to my teachers read some of my favorite stories. My favorite early memory about reading is definitely when I read a book by myself for the first time. I remember being in my room reading Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss out loud to myself, and I was so proud when I read the whole thing without any help. My love for reading went away for a little while, but it has recently come back. I really love to read now and I am always trying to find new books. I am looking forward to learning more about reading instruction in these next few weeks!

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My name is Gabrielle Morton and I am a first year 8th grade mathematics teacher in Massachusetts. I am currently getting my Master’s in Special Education which is how I found myself in a reading class. As someone with no prior knowledge or experience about learning to read, the article from The Center for Public Education was very interesting. One of my favorite quotes was from James Heckman who stated “inequality in early childhood experiences and learning produces inequality in ability, achievement, health, and adult success.” I’m sure we are all familiar with the importance of early intervention and access to pre-school, but it’s even more eye-opening to think about the repercussions that the lack of these services can have on children.

My earliest memory about learning how to read was getting some hand-me-down books from my neighbor. I believe they were the Biscuit books! I can remember feeling so cool and old, but then I opened the first page and had no idea what the book was saying. Recently, I began reading a lot more and have fallen back in love with it! I’m really looking forward to having a lot of time to read this summer, while learning about the intricacies of learning to read.

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It has been so long since I was an early reader that it seems like a blur.  I haven't always loved reading. That changed for me when I was in 6th grade and had a teacher who somehow made reading click in my brain. I went from reading being a chore to not putting books down. However, my absolute favorite memory reading was the first time I held my son as a newborn and read him the book Love You Forever by Robert Munsch.  My new reading journey is having a mini book club with my son where we read the same book and then talk about what we have read.