“Teaching Isn’t One-Size-Fits-All”

 

The Hidden Layers of Teaching Expertise Why “Teacher” on a CV Isn’t the Whole Story

 

A powerful true story of mismatch, confusion, and breakthrough—revealing why the right experience matters more than just experience.

 

📚 The Problem

Recruiters often treat “teacher” as a catch-all label. But teaching is a mosaic of specialized skills. A secondary science teacher isn’t automatically equipped to teach phonics to six-year-olds. The result? Mismatched placements, frustrated educators, and confused learners.

 

“Experience matters, but the right experience matters more.”

Major cause of 'dyslexia'.

                                                     

Here is another Tweet that was not replied to by Dr. Sam Bommarito.

Luqman Michel @luqmanmichel

I did not speak a word with Alanna's son. I heard a recording of the sounds of the letters and told Alanna that the reason why her son could not read was due to confusion as a result of extraneous sounds taught by his teacher. She corrected him and he was keen on learning to read.

Let’s discuss this. What exactly do you disagree with, Dr.Sam?

Tell me why Alanna's son was keen on learning to read after his mother taught him the sounds of the letters without the extraneous sounds. You are familiar with this discussion on Twitter in 2020/2021.

Dr. Sam did not reply but here is an answer he Tweeted in January 2021 to Alanna Maurin’s Tweet.

Dr. Sam Bommarito @DoctorSam7 Jan 4, 2021

What works with one child doesn't always work with another. Glad you found something that is working for your student. Here is a blog in which I try to make it clear one size doesn't fit all.

This appears to be a stock answer. 

Are Dr. Sam Bommarito and the other educators that naive? Part 2

 

If anything is deemed offensive in my post yesterday on Dr.Sam Bommarito, it is intended.

He and many so-called educators have been stating things that are obviously misleading.

Sam mentioned David Boulton in his blog post. I commented on David Boulton’s LinkedIn post back in 2015 and stated that one of the main reasons why kids disengage from learning to read is due to the fact that teachers teach the sounds represented by letters wrongly as in the 2 videos that David recommended for viewing. He disagreed with me and blocked me and yet removed the 2 videos immediately thereafter.

In 2015, Andrew Johnson and I had several email discussions where I told him that phonological awareness deficit is not the cause of kids being unable to read. He asked me for evidence and research reports and cut me off saying that I don’t have the credentials to talk with him on this subject.

This was the same with Timothy Shanahan who ignored my comments in 2015 and made an about-turn in 2017.

I have been blocked by many so-called educators for no reason at all since 2010 when I started being active on social media. 

Are Dr. Sam Bommarito and the other educators that naive? Part 1

 

I don't believe that Dr. Sam is that naive not to be able to think for himself.

Here are tweets by Dr. Sam Bommarito and my responses.

And Andy Johnson has started a respectful conversation with someone from the "other side". They are doing a series of YouTube posts on this. That's the way science should operate- both sides respectfully listen to each other and then talk about the issue. Hope Andy's example is the start of a trend. This one is the third in the series.  So even though they disagree with each other they are both talking and listening to each other.

Luqman Michel

Did you actually listen to their dialogue? Andrew thinks there is no reading crisis because the graph shows a flat line from 1972 to 2022. David says that NAEP shows that about 60% read below proficiency level.

To me, it appears absurd that one can say there is no reading crisis.

Different perspectives – Part 5 – Research

 

Evidence-based practices have been gaining ground since the formal introduction of evidence-based medicine in 1992 and have spread to the allied health professions, education, and other fields.

Many educators continue asking for research reports for everything. Daniel Kahneman in his book –Thinking fast and slow - said, ‘We are far too willing to believe research findings based on inadequate evidence and prone to collect too few observations in our own research.' LINK.

Once a researcher says something everyone jumps on the bandwagon and repeats what he says without the slightest bit of thought. This is exactly what happened about 45 years ago when one researcher said that it was Phonological Awareness Deficit (PAD) that was the cause of dyslexia. More than a hundred so-called educators repeated what he had said.

I disagreed with the above theory and explained why it cannot be PAD which is the cause of dyslexia. Timothy Shanahan said that there were no research reports to support what I said.

Common sense will tell that if a kid can read in Malay and Hanyu Pinyin but not in English then the cause of that kid being unable to read in English cannot be because of phonological awareness deficit. 

The important first step

 

I read the following tweets this morning which prompted me to write this post.

Regie Routman @regieroutman Mar 3

Explicit, systematic teaching of letters & sounds—decoding-- is necessary but insufficient for becoming a reader, one who chooses to read (mostly) books & who comprehends, self-monitors & finds joy in becoming a discerning reader. We have known this for decades.

suzy yates @bubbletroublex7 Replying to @regieroutman

I have been reading your books since I discovered Transitions in the 90s. My district is now following the science of reading. I don’t see kids reading books.
Heartbreaking. Decoding only is, imo, not going to develop lifelong readers. Have you written any articles about this?

A retweet of the above with the following by: Regie Routman @regieroutman on 22.5.2022 (Malaysian time)

SoR is needlessly a fraught topic. Teaching kids to read is not either-or. Becoming a reader requires decoding AND fluency AND attention to comprehension AND lots of reading of self-chosen books.

My 5th day with Jack and emails from his parents

My firth day, dated 11.5.22, with Jack was teaching Jack word family ‘ig’ and ‘ug’.

Once he heard me pronounce the word family ‘ug’ he read the words bug, dug, hug, jug, mug, rug, tug with no prompting by me.

He could read the words above because he now knew the correct pronunciation of the consonants and his confusion has been cleared.

Jack is not the first student who can read all the words from chapter 8. Almost all my former students were able to do it. 

What is important is for you to ask how these students who could hardly read any word, when they came to me, are able to read them after a few lessons.

Do read my Twitter discussion with the mother, Alanna Maurin, who had used my lesson to teach her son to read. Link.

The reading brain - Mark Seidenberg

 

This is a continuation of the Tweets by Alanna Maurin. I am posting this now as, yesterday, I listened to a short video by Mark Seidenberg where he says that there are no multiple ways that the brain can be structured to read.

“Educators have a pretty firm belief that every kid is different and that the challenge of reading is to be able to tailor your instruction for the needs of the child, and their learning style, the way that they happen to learn best. We don’t find that when we study the computational, and behavioral, and neural systems that underlie reading” (Mark Seidenberg) LINK.

As far as decoding is concerned, the above video should have put paid to the frequently quoted saying ‘One size doesn’t fit all’. 

A fictitious tale by a SoR proponent Dr. Brittney Bills

 

The following is a Twitter discussion between Dr. Brittney Bills and Alanna Maurin in December 2020. I did not take part in the discussion.

Dr. Brittney Bills @Brittne79358065

“Imagine a nation where 99% of our third graders read at or above grade level and where our high schools are dominated not by students who are discouraged and frustrated but by confident young adults who are preparing to fulfill their life mission.” - Denise Eide

Do We Need a New Definition of Dyslexia?

 

       Curriculum casualties, of which there are millions, could be virtually eradicated…(IDA)

International Dyslexia Association and National Institutes of Child Health and Human Development’s definition of dyslexia is:

Opaque language vs transparent language

 

I have written 2 articles on this topic but I am prompted to write again on this as within a span of less than a week two dyslexia experts have said that kids are unable to read in English because it is an opaque language.

English is considered an opaque language because letters represent more than one sound.

Empirical evidence for Jeffrey Bowers

 

Here is a tweet by Jeffrey Bowers and my response.

I have responded a number of times, and would be interested in any empirical evidence for your claims. (Jeffrey Bowers). 9.10.2021.

Luqman Michel @luqmanmichel Replying to @jeffrey_bowers and @KevinWheldall

Do you want empirical evidence to support that consonants should not be taught with extraneous sounds?

You responded once and when I retorted you did not answer.

I suggest you hold a Zoom meeting so that I may educate you on why phonics is not working as it should.

Let us put to rest once and for all this debate between you and Jennifer/Kevin.

Are there any studies on extraneous sounds of consonants?

 

I met Alanna Maurin on 23.12.2020 on Twitter and started sharing with her what I had learned from my students who were unable to read when they came to me for tuition.

She was distraught and at her wit’s end as her son was unable to read and was willing to try anything. 

Please read the previous 2 blog posts for a complete understanding of this post. 

Tips to an Australian teacher

 

Here is our chat which is self-explanatory. It started on December 23^rd 2020 and ended on January 30^th 2021.

Her profile on Twitter says:

Australian Teacher. Highly Accomplished. Passion for literacy. Master Reading and Literacy. Mother of 4 boys. Out-of-field secondary science. Joined (Twitter) December 2020