Staff Spotlight: Jenny

Let's spotlight another member of our staff. This is Jenny, who is Langsford's Scheduler. She is the one who has the amazing ability to solve the weekly puzzle of matching our available instructors to the students. It's quite the challenge but she's really, really a master at the task. (And if you read what she likes to do in her free time, you can see why she's perfect for her position.) Here's more about her:

Where were you born and how long have you lived in Louisville?
Methodist Hospital, in Louisville, all my life

My school/work background is...
...I went to Presentation Academy, then Bellarmine College. Prior to Langsford, my work background was all in the non-profit sector.

When I was a child and thought about what I wanted to be when I grew up, I…
...wanted to be a mom.

In my free time, I….
...like to read, work puzzles. I love sitting on my back porch, with or without a book in hand.

One of my favorite books of all time would be….
...Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neal Hurston

One of my hidden talents is…
…I have an incredible knack for killing plants.

I love and I hate…
...sitting on my back porch, listening to the ocean, the sound of rain, watching a thunderstorm, the smell of coffee, sunsets over water, dogs, I could keep going. I hate, and am probably certifiably phobic of snakes.

People say I…

…should do massage therapy for a living

Blocks and Dogs

We never know what will happen during the 5 minute breaks between sessions or when students are waiting for someone to pick them up after they are done for the day.



This is Anna, who ran back into our office one day because she wanted to show off her little puppy to one of our Instructors, Kim. Kim was already back teaching her next session so we took this picture for her. Looks to me like these two are going to be great buddies. But I don't know how much longer Anna will be able to carry her puppy around for visits with her friends!



And this is Patrick. He's another one of our block builders. He was excited to show off the height he managed to build this tower so we took a picture for him as well. I'm almost to the point where I may have to just hang my camera off my neck so I'm always well prepared to record the activities of our busy students!

Following Up: The Learning Continues

Kristin, one of Langsford's Learning Coordinators, recently followed up with a family of a student who will be entering 8th grade this fall. At the end of his work here, Kristin prepared further recommendations so he could continue to benefit and strengthen the gains he made from his work at Langsford.

Kristin's main recommendation was that the student continue to work on writing this summer. So as summer arrived, she contacted his mother to remind her about that and to offer specific suggestions. She wanted to offer ideas that would be fun, help motivate and give him more control over the process, so she recommended creative writing. She gave the mom the following link to help along those lines. Readers of this blog may want to check it out as well. Click here.

Another recommendation Kristin made for this particular family was to investigate the possibility of using a Franklin Speller. Technological advances such as these electronic dictionaries and spellers can be helpful depending on the situation. Sometimes these tools are used soley for accomodation or compensation. Langsford believes it's important to concentrate on remediation first and then move to technology to assist in learning and the Franklin Speller can be a great tool.

Finally, Kristin recommended that this family have some fun with a Group Story. A Group Story is where someone starts a story and then passes it off to another person who writes a few sentences and so on. The stories can get quite crazy and you never know how it's going to turn out. I know I (Debbie) did this several times with my children and I still have my favorite. We suggest everyone give it a try.

Kristin received this feedback from mom after her follow up:

Good Morning Kristin,

I hope this finds you well. Yes, Brock did finish with a great report card. All his grades were 88 and above. He made second honors for the very first time! YEAH!

I purchased the Franklin speller for him and he seemed to benefit from it. Thanks for that good suggestion.

To say the least I am impressed with your follow up! I always appreciate people that hold me to my word. I purchased the notebook for the combined story writing weeks ago. Now, making the time for the writing. Thanks for the nudge.

Please pass along my thanks and appreciation to your staff for their part in Brock's success!

Take care,
Courtney

There's a word for that?

It's important to Langsford that we stay on top of what's happening in the field of reading and reading research. So our Director Stephen is always on the hunt to learn more and keep up to date.

Recently he ran into a new word he hadn't heard before: Phonotactics. Of course, it's highly related to one of the the underlying brain processes we work with at Langsford every day, all day long: phonemic awareness. But phonotactics takes the idea of phonemes in a bit of a different direction. You can read more about it here.

We compile the work Stephen does in keeping up with the research in reading and include the links in an email newsletter we publish every other month. If you are interested in adding your email to our list, please contact us by clicking here.

Benjamin's Surprise

People sometimes ask if Langsford is part of a franchise and the answer is no. Since its beginnings in 1992, Langsford has been owned and operated by Stephen and Claudia McCrocklin.

One unique difference about Langsford is that Claudia and Stephen want to remain very involved and hands-on in the work that goes on here, even though they also have broader responsibilities as owners/directors. So when Benjamin's family decided to sign up to do work at Langsford, Claudia became his Learning Coordinator.

Benjamin happens to attend the same school as Stephen and Claudia's son. The day Benjamin found out it was his buddy's mom who would be helping him, he said "Wow, this is cool!"

Rhonda Rocks

Our clients come to us with a wide variety of challenges and needs. Sometimes parents need help and assistance as they figure out how to be an advocate for their child and make sure they get the help they need as they move forward in their schooling. Below is a recent card Rhonda received from a past client who knows that Langsford will remain available to help her in any way we can:

Rhonda, How can I thank you for the countless hours of helping me through this challenging transitional year. Your guidance and listening ear has been so appreciated! Thanks because I know I can count on your in years to come. We so appreciate you!

Brent Has Style!

This is Brent, who just finished some work at Langsford refining her reading and spelling skills.

One of our instructors, Kara, had this to say about working with her:

I loved working with Brent! She's so very bright and interesting, and as soon as she learns something new she applies it to prior material and comes up with ideas beyond the sum of the parts. That sort of thinking is very impressive (also hard to teach)! Beyond that, Brent is down-to-earth and has a heart of solid gold. She's a very likable person and I would enjoy meeting her again in five or ten years to see what she's doing with herself.

And Maryanne, another instructor, wrote this:

Brent was wonderful to work with. She seemed wise beyond her years. She was willing to give her all to any task I set before her. She wore the cutest clothes and was easy to talk to about almost anything. Just a delight.

Oh, and I also just have to mention that Brent has the coolest purse. It's covered with colorful shiny sequins and I heard her get lots of compliments on it during her time here. That girl has style!

Evan's Tapering Plan

This is Evan and her little brother Tommy. Evan's mother has a special education background and when she first called to speak to us, she said she knew Evan was struggling, but not really at an extreme level. She thought Evan would benefit from a boost and wanted to do something to help her self-confidence when it came to reading. Mom reports that school says she is now reading above grade level.

Working In conjunction with her Learning Coordinator, Mary, Mom has decided to continue bringing Evan in sporadically over the summer to ensure that she has more time to apply what she's learned. At Langsford, we refer to this part of our customized plan as "tapering," which means that we want to gradually move a student out of sessions as they demonstrate the ability to apply their new skills. This tapering plan will differ with each individual client and his/her specific needs.

Our goal is to make sure that every client leaves Langsford with the skills needed to be a self-correcting, independent learner.

Alex's Favorite Toy

In the picture above, Alex is playing with one of his favorite toys. The orange star in front of Alex has proven to be a very popular item during student break times. The star consists of thin plastic colored pegs that are loose and will conform to whatever shape is pressed into the back side of the toy. For example, if you put your hand on the back, then look at the front, you will see the shape of your hand in the orange pegs.

A simple idea I know, but lots of fun. Wish I had thought of it!

It also works as a good stress reliever. I've been known to just pick one up and play with it a bit after I've had to battle some traffic. Or after a student absolutely obliterated me during a reading and spelling game we played in session!