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Hey everyone!

My name is Krista Flanagan and I just graduated from Endicott in May with a degree in Liberal Studies Education and a concentration in Early Childhood Education, I am currently getting my Masters in Moderate Disabilities. This upcoming school year I will be doing a fellowship at Proctor Elementary School in Topsfield working with special education students in grades 4th-6th.

I do not remember a whole lot about the process of learning to read at school, but what I do remember was all of the reading I did at home with my parents and my sisters. Growing up I had those books “I Read to You, You Read to Me” and every night for a long time when I was little I would read one of them before going to bed with either my mom or my dad. Whenever I would struggle on a word my parents would remind me to do my best to sound it out and use the pictures on the pages to help me, and they also always encouraged me to try again when I did not get it right the first time. It was the time spent with encouragement and a judgement free zone that really helped me learn since I never felt as though I was doing something wrong and that I would be in any kind of trouble for messing up. This was reflected with my teachers at school and the constant freedom to choose books that interested me and the time to read freely.

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Hi Everyone!

My name is Connor Spilman and I am working on completing my Masters Degree in severe Special Education and ABA. I am from Franklin, MA and I completed my undergrad at Bridgewater State University in Psychology and Philosophy. I currently work as a Lead Instructor at the Center for Applied Behavioral Instruction in Worcester, MA. CABI is a special education school for students that struggle with behavioral and social challenges. The majority of the students we serve have an ASD diagnosis but we also serve students with severe behavioral challenges as well.

My earliest memory of reading was listening to my grandmother read, "The Very Hungry Caterpillar". Reading was never a strong skill of mine as a young kid. It took until late middle school years before I found reading enjoyable. I was diagnosed with ADHD in elementary school and reading always seemed to be an obstacle throughout grade school.  The words never seemed to stay in place on the page and I always found myself rereading pages to books that I was "forced" to read in school. However, I absolutely LOVE reading now and am grateful to have found methods to keep me engaged during reading sessions.

Look forward to completing the course and listening to all of your opinions throughout the summer!

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Hi everyone,

My name is Sarah Kifer and I am getting my masters in severe special education and Applied Behavior Analysis. My undergrad was in moderate special education at Eastern Nazarene College and I currently licensed in moderate, all grades. I am currently work at the May Center School in Wilmington, but in a few short weeks I will be starting at an elementary school in Dracut, MA. There I will be one of their teachers in an ASD classroom. I am sad to leave my current students, but am very excited to meet my new students!

My earliest memory of reading would actually be that I couldn't read. In second grade I remember telling my mom that I couldn't read like everyone else and that I was having a hard time. She quickly asked for me to be evaluated by the special education time and found nothing was wrong. Not long after, I remember picking up an A to Z Mysteries book and everything just suddenly "clicking." I could read! Going through that evaluation process helped me develop some understanding into what my students go through on a daily basis. Now, I absolutely love to read! Though all I have time for are audiobooks. I have been listening through the Outlander series. Anyone read anything good this summer?

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Hi everyone!

My name is Danielle St. John and I am getting my masters in moderate disabilities special education. I just graduated Endicott undergrad program for early childhood education and am doing my fellowship at the Lafayette School in Everett., This school has a special place in my heart because it is also where I did my student teaching. I am especially excited for this school year because I will finally get to enter Lafayette's doors instead of teaching through zoom! I am from Hull, Ma and am currently nannying two very sweet kids. Trying to balance everything these past few months has been a little difficult, but I am pushing through because I know the outcome will be worth it!

My earliest memory about reading is probably 1st grade. In 1st grade, everyday I would go with a reading specialist during our reading period. I struggled a lot with fluency and phonological processing. The problem was not that I could not read, it was because I could not see what I was reading. I was diagnosed with two astigmatisms in 1st grade which affected my eye sight. Once I got my glasses and everything got figured out I was a pro. Thinking back to this it is funny to me how my teachers thought I may have a reading disability, but it was just because no one knew I couldn't see.

Building a classroom library is the top thing I am looking forward too when having my own classroom. Reading has always been a huge part of my life and I am excited to also make a it a big part of all of my students lives too.

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Hi Everyone!

My name is Hayley Hill and I am getting my masters in severe special education. I recieved my bachelor's degree from Salem State University in Early Childhood Education and am currently a special education teacher.

Sadly, the only memory I really have about my earliest memory in regards to reading was when we did popcorn reading in elementary school and I always would make sure to read a paragraph over and over until I was called on so that I could practice sounding out words before it was my turn to read aloud so I wouldn't mess up. I would stress big time about it and therefore didn't really focus much on anything else which caused an issue with me learning. Today this is something I don't do in my classroom and probably won't ever do because I know first hand the stress it can cause a child!

I am really excited for this class as reading instruction has always been something I find really interesting!

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Hi everyone!

My name is Abby Sullivan and I am getting my masters in moderate to severe disabilities with an early education licensure. I am from Braintree, MA I graduated from Endicott in May with a bachelors degree in educational studies. I currently work as a nanny and am a Patriots Cheerleader, trying to balance everything while in grad school.

My oldest memory of reading was my mom reading stories to my siblings and I before bedtime and us trying to sound out words or taking turns reading pages out of the book. When learning to read I remember using my finger to guide myself. I also remember having a difficult time learning to read and it took a little bit repetition to master reading.

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Hi Everyone!!
My name is Sabrina Tosto and I am getting my masters in Moderate Disabilities! I graduated from Endicott in May with a degree in and now I am a middle school teacher at Swampscott for their summer learning program. I hope to soon be a middle or high school English teacher.

My earliest memory with reading is my older sister reading aloud to me as a kid. My mother was a single mother raising three girls, so spent reading to us was limited, but as my older sister loved to read, she spent a lot of time reading with me. The first book I ever remember reading with her was a Clifford the Big Red Dog book. Growing up (elementary and middle school) I did not love to read--I wanted to spend my time outside playing with my neighbors rather than reading a book, and once I was forced to read on my own for school, I lost my passion for reading that I once have. As an adult, however, I love to spend my free time reading a book, and often try to make it a competition with myself of how many books I can read in a given time!

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Hi everyone!

My name is Katie Wendt and I live in Haverhill, MA. I graduated last year with my bachelor's degree in Psych from Grand Canyon University (online). I have been all over the place with my education trying to find what I love. I did get my license in cosmetology and loved it but due to some nerve damage issues I had to stop, bringing me to my second love of teaching. I have experience in multiple settings, but most recently have been working in an intensive special needs preschool classroom as a paraprofessional.

On the topic of reading, I remember when I was in third grade I was not the best reader. My mom was a teacher across the hallway and it must have been planned that to help me read better, my teacher had me read to the class. It did help my reading and my stutter. I also remember my great grandmother reading to me when I was even younger and when she could no longer read, I would visit her and read her the same books she read to me. I used to hate reading, but now I love to read when I find a book I really enjoy!

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Hi everyone!

My name is Chantal Bourel and I live in West Newton, but am originally from Sag Harbor, NY (Long Island). I graduated from Boston College back in 2008 with a Bachelor's degree in Human Development and Health Sciences (originally did 3 years of nursing). I have been teaching middle school science the last 13 years all in private schools ranging from an all boys school for low-income families, to a co-ed day school in Marblehead and currently at an all boys boarding school where I'm also a dorm parent.

I just started the Master's program here and I'll be pursuing my degree in Moderate Disabilities Grades 5-12. Come the fall, I'll be teaching at the Lafayette School in Everett for the year. Which I am really excited and curious to get into the public sector.

My first memories around reading are from my parents reading to me at night before bed. I loved the book Goodnight Moon. A vivid memory always stands out to me about when I "actually learned to read" (so I thought at least). I think I was in Kindergarden and I was so proud of myself that I could read the story, The Gingerbread Man. I was so excited that I told my teacher and asked if I could read it to the nursery class.  When I got a little older, I think I realized that I wasn't really reading the book and did not really know how to read it, but instead, I had heard it so many times, that I was able to retell the story, but I guess I thought I was reading since I was looking at the pages.

I don't think that reading really became an issue for me until I was in high school and I seemed to be taking double the amount of time to read and complete assessments compared to everyone else. This was because I was just reading the words on the pages, but wasn't able to internalize and process the information and I'd have to reread a few times. Long story short, I didn't get diagnosed with a reading comprehension disability until the end of my junior year of college.

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Hi Everyone!
My name is Leah LoVoi, I just graduated from Endicott this past May with a Bachelors in Early Childhood Education! I am now working towards my Masters in Moderate Disabilities.

My earliest memory with reading is when my parents would read to my siblings and I before we went to bed. I have always been one to love reading (and still do!). I still have my first library card I got when I was in Kindergarten.

More recently, I have enjoyed finding books that are relevant, interesting, and fun to use in my classroom. Currently I am a co-teacher in my town's ESY program. I am very big on teaching through stories and using books to help students make connections to their own lives.

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Hello everyone!
My name is Lexi Cole, I graduated from Endicott this year with a Bachelors in Liberal Education concentration Educational Studies. I am working towards my Master's degree in Moderate Disabilities, pre-k-8. I have worked at an after school program and summer camp since 2014, which has led to a love of children and me pursuing a degree in education. This coming school year I will be working as an intensive needs paraprofessional in the SAILS classroom with students in grades 4, 5 and 6 in the Belchertown Public School District.

My first memory of learning to read is my parents reading to me in bed as a little girl. I remember in the early grades in school, I really disliked reading because it was very hard for me. I remember it was  pretty easy for me to actually read the words, but I would struggle to comprehend what I read and would often have to re-read a sentence in order to understand what it was saying. I also remember having to use the reading highlight strips to help me narrow in on one line when reading so I wouldn't jump from line to line. Despite struggling to read when I was younger, by 7th or 8th grade I really enjoyed reading and would ask to go to Barnes and Nobles all the time. To this day I still love to read before bed and especially during the summertime.

I am very excited to dive deeper into teaching reading and working with you all throughout this course.

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Good day everyone,

My name is Christina Herzog. I was born and raised in Bermuda. I have lived in Bermuda for the majority of my life, spending four years in Canada completing a Bachelor's degree (in Commerce).

I have a tribe of three. I am a single mother to a 12-year-old daughter, Taylor. I love being a mother - I am in awe of my child, every single day. My other two rascals are a cat (Mildred) and a pug (aptly named Pugsley).

For most of my adult life, I have been fascinated by human development and behavior. This passion was initially satisfied through a career in human resources which spanned about 12 years. After having my daughter, this interest narrowed into childhood development. After discovering the Montessori approach to education, I knew that not only did my daughter need to go to a Montessori school, but a career change for me was necessary. My daughter has been Montessori educated since she was 3 years old. As for myself, I am going into my 7th year of teaching now at a Montessori school. Best decision ever.

Unfortunately, I don’t recall any memories of learning how to read. That said, I do remember ‘boasting’ (in jest) to others as a young adult that I had to repeat Kindergarten as I still didn’t know how to read or write. The reality, however, is that I moved schools and am a December baby, so it made sense to my mother to start afresh from the start.

When I reflect on myself as a reader, with what I’ve learned about reading development, I can confidently say that I was not taught phonics nor had focused development on phonemic awareness. A lot of my vocabulary was learned through silent reading, figuring out word meanings through context instead of oral discussion. Before becoming a teacher, my approach when coming across new words was to focus on word meaning. I never really cared about proper pronunciation, as it was only me ‘hearing’ the words as a read in my head. This resulted in a disparity between my written and spoken vocabulary given the lack of connections. Still to this day, I find myself skimming past names without taking the time to ‘hear’ what the word should sound like.

I consider myself to be a lifelong learner. I always enjoy learning new things, particularly when it can help me become a better parent and educator. I am taking this Master’s degree to become better equipped to support my students - those with exceptionalities and also those without.

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Hello everyone!,

My name is Jackson Petroccione. I just graduated from Salem State University with a degree in Mathematics and a minor in Secondary Education. I am now working towards getting my masters degree in Moderate Disabilities.

As far as teaching experience, I have been tutoring math for a few years and I worked at an after-school program for a year.

One of my early memories of reading is in the first grade when we first started learning how to read. I remember I was so excited to start reading. The summer prior, I remember looking at street signs and signs on buildings wanting to be able to read them. Because of this, I remember being very excited and motivated to start learning how to read.

My favorite memory about reading is when I started reading the Percy Jackson books in middle school. We read the first book of this series in class, and I liked it so much that I decided to read the rest of the series on my own. This was the first series of books I had liked and read in its entirety

I am excited to meet and work with everyone throughout this course!

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Hello all!

My name is Matt West and I'm a Special Education teacher at New Bedford High School in Massachusetts. Prior to that, I worked for 7 years at a non-profit called "Living Independently Forever" where I helped support individuals with learning differences.

Currently, I am pursuing my graduate degree in Moderate Disabilities Grades 5-12.

One of my early memories of reading includes perusing through an old bookstore in my hometown of Plymouth, MA, and picking up a copy of the first Harry Potter book. After reading it in the span of a few days, I became enthralled with books and haven't stopped reading since.

I'm excited to work with all of you and continue to build skills to best help the students I work with.

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Hi Everyone!

My name is Jessica Mauceri and I live in Saugus with my husband, our 2 dogs, and have a baby on the way! I am going into my 10th year of teaching this upcoming school year (time flies.....some years more than others!) I am taking this class as I had an amazing student teacher this past year from Endicott, and need to use my voucher before the baby comes! Not to mention, I love learning all that I can about best practices in reading instruction.

I am going into my 5th year as an elementary school Reading Interventionist for Everett Public Schools (I primarily teach K-5) tier 2 and tier 3 students. I have my Masters as a Specialist Teacher of Reading from Lesley University.

Prior to that, I taught for 5 years as a 6th and 7th grade ELA teacher for Chelsea Public Schools.

One of my early memories of reading include working on sight words with my parents at the kitchen table after dinner. I always did well in reading which is why I think I found myself a career in it! Math on the other hand.....

Looking forward to beginning this course with all of you!

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Hi, everyone!
My name is Tim Frechette. I just graduated from Endicott this year with a Mathematics major concentrated in Secondary Education. For the Master's program, I'll be pursuing my degree in Moderate Disabilities Grades 5-12. Looking back on my reading experience, I remember that I had a very hard time with comprehension. It made reading in school really challenging for me considering that I would have to read something 3 times as much as the typical student in order to get the main idea. Despite this though, there were some favorite moments that I had. In my 4th grade classroom, the teacher would read the Santa Paws books aloud and model the reading process as we went. It made me actually connect with what was going on, which made it a much more fun learning process. I am looking forward to working with all of you over the next 6 weeks!

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Hi Everyone!
My name is Olivia Bird. I am going into my third year of teaching this upcoming year in the Malden Public School District. I work as a severe special education PreK teacher in their Intensive Learning Program. I have my teaching license in Moderate Special Ed Pre k-8 and currently I am attending Endicott to receive a Masters in Severe Special Ed all ages. When I think back to when I was first learning to read, I vaguely remember being pulled out of the classroom grades 1-4th (I think) for reading support. I remember disliking reading and the pressure I felt to keep up with my sister who read a book a night. Although I disliked reading for "fun" and felt frustrated around it in school, my favorite early memory about reading is when my mom would read to my sister and I. I am looking forward to working with you all throughout this course!

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Hello! My name is Julianna Stabile, and  I am from North Andover, MA. I just graduated from Elon University in NC with a degree in elementary education. I am now completing the teaching fellowship for Moderate Disabilities. When I think back, I remember how bad my relationship with reading used to be. When I was a child, I used to hate reading. I was always overwhelmed and frustrated when reading. I was always categorized as a "slow reader" which led me to needed extra help from either a reading specialist. My favorite early memory about reading is when my parents would read to me before bed each night. I am excited to work and learn with you all during this class!

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Hello! My name is Julianna Stabile, and  I am from North Andover, MA. I just graduated from Elon University in NC with a degree in elementary education. I am now completing the teaching fellowship for Moderate Disabilities. When I think back, I remember how bad my relationship with reading used to be. When I was a child, I used to hate reading. I was always overwhelmed and frustrated when reading. I was always categorized as a "slow reader" which led me to needed extra help from either a reading specialist. My favorite early memory about reading is when my parents would read to me before bed each night. I am excited to work and learn with you all during this class!

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Hi Everyone,
I am Maggie Berger and I did my undergrad at Endicott college and studied Early Childhood Education. I also played 4 years of lacrosse at Endicott and was a team captain. Now, I am working for my Masters degree in moderate disabilities and hope to be a special education teacher one day. When I think back on my many years of schooling I think about all the reading that I dreaded doing. I never liked reading as a kid and I never really knew why but I did know I could never remember what I had read. I worked extra hard on reading my whole life and I even found out I had dyslexia which made reading a lot harder for me. I cannot wait to be a teacher and help struggling readers learn to love reading just like I did. I am looking forward to working with you all

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Hi! My name is Alessia Manzi. I recently graduated from Endicott this May and am pursuing my Masters in Moderate Disabilities. When I think back on learning to read, I remember my parents reading to me before bed. Slowly I began to take over. My favorite was Dr. Seuss. We had big books that were collections of his stories. We would pick a story and read it over a few nights. This was my favorite part of the night when I was young. When my little brother was born, I would read to him too. I always loved reading. My sister and I would spend many summer days on our porch reading books and filling in our summer reading lists to bring to school in the fall. I would get so excited when she would pass a book down to me when she decided I was ready to read it.

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Hi! My name is Emily Bell and I am from Newtown, Connecticut. I just graduated from UMass Amherst this May with a double major of Early Childhood Education and Psychology. I am now working towards my Masters in Moderate Disabilities. When I think back to learning to read, I remember it being a frustrating, emotional experience. I had to see the reading specialist during school, which I found very embarrassing, and this made reading a dreadful task for me. On the other hand, I also remember loving bed time with my parents because they would always read me such fun stories that I looked forward to each day. I am hoping to develop knowledge/strategies  to help a struggling reader, like I was, to make reading more enjoyable for them!

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Hello, my name is Amanda Scully. I have just started graduate school at Endicott College this summer. I am working towards my masters in special education in moderate disabilities. I previously graduated from Bridgewater State University in 2010 with my bachelors of Arts. During the past decade I became a mother to three children ages 4,7 and 10. I have been working as an instructional assistant in special education in East Bridgewater for the past 9 years. I remember as a child loving to listen to my dad read to me at night. I learned at a young age through books I could explore the world and things I was interested in. I have always made reading part of my own children's daily routine to help foster their own literacy. I am very excited to begin this journey as we take this class. I look forward to meeting and working with you all.

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Hello! My name is Julie O'Connell. I graduated from Endicott College this past spring with my degree in Elementary Education. Over the summer I am working towards earning my license in ESL as well. This year I will work towards my Master's (Moderate Disabilities) in the Beverly School District. My earliest memories about learning to read was playing alphabet bingo with my oldest brother. I enjoyed playing the game and it helped me with letter recognition! This is something I have now used with my ESL population for newcomers! I am so excited to see how this class helps me to improve my teaching and getting to meet / work with all of you :)

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Hi Everyone,
My name is Jessica Siconolfi. I graduated from Endicott College in May with my degree in Early Childhood Education. I'm working towards my Master's in Special Education, moderate disabilities. I remember the beginning stages of learning how to read, and have vivid memories of my Kindergarten teacher working with the class on print awareness.  This past year I was a TItle I Reading Tutor, and I had the opportunity to teach reading to students in Kindergarten-third grade. I'm really excited for this class, and am looking forward to meeting and working with you all.