Leading Literacy

Leading Literacy welcomes Jessica Hamman, founder and CEO of Glean Education. Jessica has worked in education for close to two decades. She started Glean Education to empower educators with best practices to support struggling students. Jessica has much to share during our conversation, including her deep knowledge and experiences with dyslexia. You won't want to miss it!

Leslie and Mara welcome Dr. Maryanne Wolf on Leading Literacy. Dr. Wolf is the director for the Center for Dyslexia, Diverse Learners, and Social Justice at the UCLA Graduate School of Education and Information Studies. She is an author and advocate for children and literacy around the world. Dr. Wolf shares her knowledge and passion on how to help build "the reading brain" for all of our students...

Leading Literacy is over-the-moon excited and honored to welcome THE Dr. Louise Moats.  Dr. Moats has dedicated her entire career to literacy education as a teacher, researcher, psychologist, graduate school faculty member, and author.  Dr. Moats was kind enough to drop in and have a chat with us about the importance of the science of reading.  You won't want to miss what she has to share!

Leslie and Mara are delighted to welcome UCLA professor, Dr. Jeff Share, co-author of  The Critical Media Literacy Guide: Engaging Media and Transforming Education.   In a world full of "fake" news and information over-load, Jeff shares his passion and insights into the field of critical media literacy and how educators can help students analyze memes, verify sources, and investigate biases.

Join Leslie, Mara, and Elizabeth Jimenez Salinas as they discuss the "superpowers" of being bilingual and practical strategies to implement in the classroom to help all English learners. Elizabeth brings her knowledge and experience from her days as a bilingual educator, advocate and consultant. Elizabeth is amazing! Click on the following links to access the resources mentioned in this podcast: C...

Leading Literacy is so excited to have Emily Hanford! Emily is a senior education correspondent at American Public Media Reports and a total science of reading rockstar! She's been working in public media for over 2 decades as a reporter, producer, news editor, and program host. She's won all kind of awards and is one of our reading heroes. Be prepared to have your mind blown! Click on the followi...

Natalie Wexler shares her insights and thoughts with Leslie and Mara about her two books:  The Knowledge Gap  and  The Writing Revolution . Join the conversation as Natalie discusses the importance of immersing all students of varied socioeconomic backgrounds, with content knowledge about the world and then linking that knowledge to explicit writing instruction. Click on the following links to rea...

Leslie & Mara welcome Dr. Carolyn Strom - first grade teacher, turned reading specialist/literacy consultant, turned NYU Professor. Carolyn joins the podcast to discuss the pervasive gaps between research and practice and the importance of connecting the two for our earliest learners - whose brains are developing the most! You won't want to miss this lively conversation! Click  here  to download a...

Leslie & Mara are thrilled to chat with their dear friend and spell master extraordinaire, Donna Van Allen! If you've ever wondered what it's like to host a county-wide spelling bee, look no further. In this short episode, Donna shares tips for future spelling bee contestants and her experiences from over a decade as the  spell master for the Los Angeles County Spelling Bee. Is it possible to stum...

Welcome to Leading Literacy , a new podcast from Los Angeles County Office of Education's Reading Language Arts Unit. In this first episode, we get to know Leslie and Mara and find out why they decided to give podcasting a shot.