The Principal's Handbook

Welcome to the Principal's Handbook, your go to resource for principals looking to revamp their leadership approach and prioritize self care. I'm Barb Flowers, a certified life coach with eight years of experience as an elementary principal. Tune in each week as we delve into strategies for boosting mental resilience, managing time effectively, and nurturing overall wellness.
From tackling daily challenges to maintaining a healthy work life balance. We'll navigate the complexities of school leadership together. Join me in fostering your sense of purpose as a principal and reigniting your passion for the job. Welcome to a podcast where your wellbeing is the top priority.
Welcome everyone to the podcast today. I'm excited. We have guests with us, Leah Galeon, and she's here, , talking about her tutoring company, Peak Literacy. And I'm so excited for her to share her background. She's so knowledgeable about literacy and interventions and helping kids learn to read. And so I think this [00:01:00] is such an important topic for principals.
And so I wanted to have Leah on today. So welcome Leah. It's great to have you. Thank you so much. I'm so excited to
be here. Yeah. If you just want to start by telling us your background in education, how you got to start, , how you started your tutoring company and we'll go from there.
Yes. I am a mama of five and , I have had my kids.
I started out homeschooling my kids. Had them in. I've done every form of school. There possibly is two. Yeah. Homeschooling private school, public school. , I mean the online school, um, everything we've experienced and I have a lot of, I come from a long history of educators, , I am a University of Florida graduate.
, and kind of view myself more of a community organizer, , as how my role is kind of generated into, , the literacy realm, it kind of came and in the, the back door, , to the [00:02:00] education, um, realm, I guess you would say. My company as a nonprofit, it's called Peak Literacy and that stands for providing equitable access for kids.
And it started because, , in our county in Florida, we, , are, like I said, home to the University of Florida, but we have the highest racial disparity gap in the state of Florida. And so we have a very large. Number of students who are, , a very, we have a world class hospital as well. So you have doctor's, kids, and you know, kids that are doing really, really great that make our district an A district.
Mm-hmm . But, um, you know, who an A for who is what we would ask. Right, right, right. And so, um, you know, there's just this really large gap and so I was given , a small grant. Um, and kind of recruited out of, , a different, um, position and,, , said, Hey, we want you to work with these kids, these 15, start something.
And so not having a formal background in literacy, but yet being a very connected individual, I just started interviewing. Okay. Went to Dr. Holly Lane at the University of Florida, went to principal, superintendents in my network and said, How would you do this? What would you do if you were me? And so in three months kind of created this.
Um, you know, thing that was put together, , began working with students that was January 2020. And so six weeks later, everything shut down. So the program that we were using, um, that was recommended for us to use was called great leaps. , and it's a very well known program in other parts of the country.
, it had been used sporadically in our, , county with great success, but it was hard from a school's point of, um,, view to, to implement and that it's a one on one intervention. And we all know how difficult that is to actually follow through with, right? , but [00:04:00] the results have been fantastic. And we started just , working with this program with these kids and realized, Hey, , we can do this digitally and using volunteers in the community.
I can train a volunteer to deliver, , you know, literacy lessons, , and a couple hour training and it's not all of what a student needs, but often it provides that kind of lift that student needs to just help them engage more in the classroom. And so from there, , working with these 15 students, COVID shut it down.
We had online tutors. I figured out how to use zoom and I realized, well, gee, this is really, really scalable. Um, and we all know tutoring costs an arm and a leg, , and it's really, , for even, middle class families are a very far stretch to try and get your child the help that they need. And so, , what we did was we created a model that, , joined community volunteers.
Gave them a tool [00:05:00] to use with a child that helped give them that lift that they needed. And provided fluency work and some comprehension. And then what we saw happening was results in the test scores. Yeah. And, um, you know, that. Like any good principle, get your attention. And I always say I backdoored my way into a lot of things, but what started happening was that, , I started getting phone calls like, hey, , we have never seen scores like this in a kid.
How, what the heck are you doing? And say, Oh, I'm using great leaps. And so then they'd say, Hey, I've got this kid. Can you help them? You know? Um, and we just created this model that has since grown. , and we now have, , the model that we've taken. And we've implemented that in different cities in different ways, depending on kind of everybody's, I guess surroundings, you know, for us here, it's the University of Florida.
So not all, a lot, but not all of our volunteers are college students. That's what's around me. So [00:06:00] that's what I'm using. And other communities, it might be a group of churches, , being able to have a large scale way of, , giving kids kind of that crucial piece that they need that helps them get to that next level so that teachers can do what they need to do, , that I can't teach them as, without a master's or doctorate and some kind of reading, you know, uh, certification.
, yeah, so it's been really exciting to be able to help people figure out , how do I do this in my context? What can I do? How can I use the community, the resources that I have to get kids what they need? That was a long answer.
Yeah, no, it was great, though. And what I love about it that Leah and I had talked about before is this idea that great, , great leaps, , is aligned to the science of reading and we were talking about the University of Florida.
So those of you who don't know in my district that I was in as a principal previously, we were using you fly [00:07:00] and we saw great results with you fly. It's systematic phonics instruction. , that's very easy for teachers to follow. It matches the science of reading. There's a lot of research behind it.
It's very inexpensive, actually, as well. , and we had huge results using that. It's, it started out as intervention, but I know in Ohio it was approved as a tier one instruction as well. And so we were talking about that and that's actually what your program that you're using is based off of, right? It's similar to that, correct?
So Holly Lane, before Dr. Lane, before UFLY was even around 30 years ago, she was part of the initial study that Great Leaps, , When they work with Dr Cecil Mercer at University of Florida, the original study is which took great leaps into kind of international success. She was on that as a doctoral student, I believe on, , that study.
And they can have continued to train all of their special education [00:08:00] teachers at the University of Florida to use Great Leaps. And it did something similar, very similar to what I'm using, , what I'm doing using Great Leaps years ago, but the funding dried up. And we all know when that happens at a university level, like things should be.
If things are housed in the community, then they have a lot better chance of being sustainable than relying on, you know, some kind of sometimes unreliable grant funds that, you know, when great things are happening, they just get pulled. But that was why she told me to use it and our schools actually.
, use you fly not quite with fidelity, but it is used and in one of the schools that we press into the classroom, the kids get you fly from the reading specialist in small groups. And then we go into the classroom with our volunteers. And, , pull students using Great Leaps. So they're getting both YouthLight and Great Leaps.
Yeah, , that's great that, , they have that opportunity because, I mean, that instruction is so good. And we know that those [00:09:00] interventions really have to be high dose, explicit interventions. I think looking back when I first started as a principal, I remember teachers coming with.
The worst interventions because they weren't interventions. I kept telling them interventions are reteaching. It's actually teaching something. It's not just a worksheet. Here you go. You know, work on this. It has to be that explicit reteaching. And so, you flies a great inner intervention. What you're talking about on the computer is it's with the computer, correct?
Right. So traditionally, Great Leaps was a book program. They transitioned. , they still have their books and a lot of people you go and they have that same notebook that they had like 20 years ago, the interventionists used Great Leaps to do. But the nice thing about the digital program is that I have the data of 175 kids at my fingertips.
I can see fidelity. I could see who's doing it. I can see. Is a tutor, , like why does this data look different than the 30 year data that they have? [00:10:00] So from, perspective of a, of a nonprofit who has to rely on grant funds, you want to be able to show the difference that you're making.
, and so the digital program is what we use.
how is your understanding of reading challenges and what have you seen evolve since starting your company over the years?
Wow. Reading challenges. This is all just things that, I've kind of taken in after, sitting with 300 and some now, parents who, when a student comes into the program, I'm meeting with the parents, I'm hearing their frustrations, I'm hearing teachers frustrations with not being able into the whole gamut, right?
I think the whole education world is just Frustrated, right? Yeah. I mean, we're in a constant state of frustration that we can't really do what we're trained to do. And, , one of the things that has been a problem in schools is kind of this, stalemate, right? Where you have kids that actually have reading disorders that need, , [00:11:00] specific help, right?
That only a trained professional. Could do.
But along with that, you have, a group of students that, , have been given a dyslexia diagnosis that, , may just have been given that because they weren't taught, right? Mm-hmm. And so , they received that diagnosis, which is a fair diagnosis because , they can't, but what they haven't seen is.
Have they actually been given the instruction they need? Right. So when I look at my data and I go to, , our professors at UF and say, , Hey, , this kid jumped from, , 1. 1 grade level to a 2. 7 grade level in a matter of 12 weeks. Okay, a kid with a learning disability, traditionally from the historical data we have, there's no way a kid with a learning disability makes that jump you.
It's just, it's impossible. That's a kid who actually wasn't given good instruction. So now, if I can take that lift. [00:12:00] Off of the literacy professionals who have these kids mixed in and have to provide this one to one or these, , interventions with groups that, , you really can't do effectively if a kid just needs that instruction.
So we take that piece off, right? It kind of just makes sense, right? You take that piece off and, put it in the hands of somebody that just wants to help. Rather than having a teacher, you're a retired teacher coming to the back of the classroom and do the worksheet that you fly worksheet that they're working on with a student.
Hey, I can take this volunteer and in two hours time, I can train them how to use a program that runs through and it's proven and worked and it's a tier one of proven, tier one intervention. Then, great, I can use that under the, , supervision of a teacher and really make a big difference for that kid.
Now I can work with those kids, giving them what they need that actually have, , some kind of read learning, , issue, , [00:13:00] that can't just be done by simple fluency work or going back and remediating phonics or, , high frequency word phrases or, things like that.
Yeah, I think you brought up a couple of good points.
I want to point out one being when you're talking about kids that get diagnosed with dyslexia, and then they're on an IEP. , Ohio came out with some language in the law that talked about if a student has dyslexia. It's like a specific, , learning disability for reading. And so that became really tricky because we're like, okay, if this student has characteristics of dyslexia, does that really mean they have a learning disability?
And one thing that somebody explained to me, and I thought this was a good point, , is that we can almost look at dyslexia kind of like autism on a spectrum, right? You have those students who, , because we know that with good instruction, some kids with dyslexia are going to just. pick it up really quick, right?
And so they just needed that really good instruction. And then you have kids that might be a little bit more severe. Like you're saying, [00:14:00] we know that these kids who picked it up really quick, probably they do have dyslexia and need that explicit instruction, but don't necessarily have that specific learning disability.
And then there's those kids with the specific learning disability. Who aren't picking it up as quick, even with that explicit instruction. And we saw that even doing UFLY, we'd have kids on IEPs and some would pick it up very quick. And you knew, like you said, that they hadn't got the correct instruction.
We hadn't been teaching the correct way. Then there were those kids, even with that explicit instruction, they were making more progress, but it was still very slow. So that's just one thing I like to point out because that was brought up to me, and I thought it brought up a really good perspective. And when we compare it to autism, how I thought of it as a principle is you have kids who have autism who aren't on a 504.
They don't have an IEP. They're with regular instruction. They're fine. They just have that diagnosis that they're a little bit different, right? But then, you have kids who are [00:15:00] autistic who need to be in a resource room. There's so many, it's such a range of how that looks. And I think that we can kind of look at dyslexia in the same way that we have those students, as soon as we get the right instruction, they're going to take off and they're going to be good.
And then those kids who are going to need that constant remediation in that good instruction.
So it's a great comparison. It's a great comparison. You're extrapolating that. , what can we take from what we've learned about what's been done to kids, , that had, were labeled Asperger's, autism,
there's a whole, cost benefit, that you could kind of weigh on these things of does a label actually help a kid? Does it? Does it not? So there's all these like nuances, but I mean, one thing that, we can agree on , whatever label you want to place on them, , the intervention is the same, right?
Like the intervention is they need intervention. They need. Explicit instruction. We know that this is the best method, but it [00:16:00] becomes very challenging as At school administrators, how do you really best do that when you're really strapped for funds strapped for paras? You know, it's a , difficult task.
And my philosophy is, you aren't going to do it alone. . I really don't think, , the literacy crisis is solvable within our current school system. And as that's not a reflection on anyone, it's just the reality of where we're at. And so we can either keep fighting that and pretending like we're going to one day be able to do it, or we can say, hey, you know what, we need help.
And what I found is that there are people coming out of the woodwork. They want to help. It's intrinsic in us. It's intrinsic that people want to help. And a lot of people want to go into the schools and help. But what we've done a poor job at is giving placing volunteers, and it really takes a strategy of, hey, [00:17:00] we are going to train you in this way.
It's kind of like, oh, you have a volunteer. Yeah, I want to come in and have a have lunch with the kid. I I was at a county meeting that, , the NAACP was like, we've got to come in and we've got to do this. We've got to help. And their solution was they wanted the community members pick a school and go have lunch with a kid for 30 minutes a week.
And I thought you have a room full. I mean, I was so distraught. You have a room full of people that have that you have gathered here along the officials, and this is your solution. Go have lunch with a student once a week. What are we doing? These people want to help. So let's give them a tool that they can use.
That's evidence based. That's very simple. I mean, if you can read, I've got 16 year old kids. , tutoring, kindergarten, first graders. I've got, people that have never used a zoom before navigating, , zoom or being trained in this way or [00:18:00] figuring out how, you can do this with a phone call.
They can get on a phone call and they can do the intervention with the kid. However, we can, we have to do something widespread. Or I mean, it's going down. I mean, it's it is not good. It is not good for education and kids reading. And we know this leads to long term problems. So let's use the resources we have and let's do large scale implementations, however, it is in your community, however, it works in your school to really make a dent, in the literacy crisis.
And I think you bring up a good point about how we use volunteers because, , my last couple years at my previous school, the reading coach actually was awesome. She would take volunteers, train them on really good interventions that they did in person with kids, , and it was empowering because some of them were grandparents of kids or parents of kids and their kids struggled.
So they were learning the [00:19:00] interventions and I thought how powerful that these parents and grandparents are learning what it takes to help a struggling reader, because then they can help other struggling readers, not just at school. Like we're empowering people in the community.
Yes. And parents too. So we've trained, we've done this a bunch of different ways.
I always say, , give me a willing person and I will figure out a way to help you use this tool. Is it the only tool? No, but. Again, I don't want to be, you fly is a great program. Okay. , and Holly, I'll tell Dr. Lane, sorry, we'll tell you this, . It's a great program, but I mean, I'm on there, , you know, Facebook group and there's trained teachers that have been doing this for years that have questions.
You can't take that. I've had somebody been in a meeting where , we're going to use you fly in our afterschool program. You're going to kill your volunteers. It is a great program. It's rigorous and , you should use it that way. And it doesn't have to be great leaps. I don't care if somebody else has something better.
Hey, [00:20:00] hunt me down and be like, Hey, I'd have this better tool and I'll look at it, you know? But what I found is , we've got a tool that works for kids with dyslexia. It works for kids with autism. It works for English language learners, actually, , a large variety of kids. So you kind of level the playing field on who does this tool work for.
And then you put it in the hands of somebody that cares and you know, you have the kind of world is your oyster at that point. Right. So what tools do you have, but it has to be simple and it has to be something that, anybody can do. And it certainly has to be research based. And it certainly has to have data.
Because, , I'm a big proponent of , we've got to measure what we're doing. If my program , isn't moving kids. Okay. If the scores aren't changing, their impact at reading at home and their engagement with books and the, if that's not changing, then what am I doing?
Then I shouldn't be paid. Then let me find a new career, you know? Yeah. I love that. [00:21:00] Fire me. And I know as principals, nobody's in this for the money. I mean, let's just face it. You're not. You're there because you care, you really want to make a difference, and you want to be that person that stands out.
And my challenge would be, I don't know that you can do it with just the resources you're given. I really think engaging community members in a way that, , empowers them, , and they get to see the results and then, in turn, then they want to volunteer more. They want to say, you know what, I don't want to come once a week in your school and do this, I want to come twice a week.
And that's how you create sustainable health for your within your schools in your community.
Yeah, and I will say I've seen it with volunteers. If they can see that they're making a difference, they're more likely to come back. I think of myself, right? If I'm going somewhere and I don't even feel like I'm making an impact, you're going to drop off.
But if you see the difference you're making in that [00:22:00] impact, like you said, you are more likely to be like. I'll help another day. What else can I do or want to continue it? Yes. I mean, we have three UF interns right now. , and the one, , we met after the first week and, they had essentially had each kid had five lessons at that point and they were like, I actually am starting to see she's smiling .
And then it's empowering to them. So we actually, I have, you know, we started five years ago. I have some volunteers that have been with me the entire time. I have a volunteer out in Boston. , he emailed me the other day. He's like, look, , I'm into the next phase of med school. And he's like, I can't volunteer anymore, but , he had taken a break and he called me and he's like, give me two more kids.
Like I want to volunteer, people want to, it's like I said, it's intrinsic. They want to help. So let's use the resources we have , and really make the most of that because. , it will create long standing returning volunteers for your [00:23:00] schools.
Well, Leah, it's really exciting, and I think your company is doing such good things.
How can people find you if they're interested in learning more or maybe want to partner with you in some way to help the students at their school?
Thanks. Yeah, you can find us at www. peakliteracy. org So P E A K, Providing Equitable Access for Kids. And, , You can go to our website. There's a contact us link.
, you can email me at Leah, L E A H at peak literacy. org. One of the greatest, joys for me is really connecting the dots and trying to strategize and figure out how do I make this work for you? How do we take what you're doing and your school and your, , nonprofit and you're wherever you are and you want to help kids.
How do we do that together? And, yeah, go to our website, email me and, , we actually, there's some really cool things too that, , you can do with outside grant funding and combination where we have a grant from our city with the gun [00:24:00] violence initiative right now. And we're going into some low income neighbor with a gun violence grant.
I love to talk this stuff all day long when, you know, so, um,, please reach out and we're glad to help in whatever way we can with. Connecting you with resources or hearing more about what we've done or, , what, like I said, or what you're doing. And that's really cool. It's great.
You can always learn from each other.
Yeah, well, I will put all your information in the show notes too. And again, thank you so much for being here. This was great. I think a lot of great information about the science of reading, tutoring, working with students with dyslexia. So I appreciate you being on the podcast.
Thanks, Barb. We appreciate you having me.