Michele van der Veen
mrsmvanderveen.bsky.social
Michele van der Veen
@mrsmvanderveen.bsky.social
Teacher. MEd student. SOR advocate. All things literacy. IDA ON 2023 Recipient Literacy Leader of the Year.
Some fun learning in class this next month for our last science unit of the year.
April 21, 2025 at 3:58 PM
Picked up this book on word origins. I call myself the word nerd so it seems appropriate.
April 12, 2025 at 1:18 AM
Reposted by Michele van der Veen
The Easter holidays are here, so I have a copy of Primary Reading Simplified to give away.

Just **repost** this post to have a chance to win.

The winner will be selected 19th April.
April 6, 2025 at 2:38 PM
We need to do better to protect our students. The system is broken. I don’t know what the solution is but what we have now isn’t working.
April 4, 2025 at 12:09 AM
Tails the cat was very interested in my discussion post today. He agrees with the research about literacy leadership.
March 22, 2025 at 10:49 PM
As part of our phonics routine we explored words connected with <one>. They share a history in Old English beginning with <an> & evolving over time. Learning about words helps provide meaning during our word study. Instead of learning just <one> we now know 5 words that are all connected in meaning.
March 17, 2025 at 11:52 PM
This was a quote from my course tonight. I am an informal leader. I’m trying to support teachers and better the education of students as much as I can.
March 5, 2025 at 2:08 AM
I’ve been working on a huge assignment for my MEd. Thought it was due Wednesday. Turns out it’s due next Sunday! I’m actually ahead…for once.
February 17, 2025 at 1:23 AM
Take a look at the IDA magazine Perspectives 75th anniversary copy. It is all structured literacy with researchers, infographics. Great for educators wanting to know more.

www.flipsnack.com/B88EAE88B7A/...
Perspectives Winter 2024
Flipsnack is a digital catalog maker that makes it easy to create, publish and share html5 flipbooks. Upload a PDF or design from scratch flyers, magazines, books and more.
www.flipsnack.com
February 9, 2025 at 4:35 PM
Started my MOY screening with my Gr 1 class. I’m seeing improvements in all children. Yes, still in the red but I’ve seen results go from 0-24ish with the nonsense word fluency. That’s huge growth! We need to work on fluency all around. Just picked up @timrasinski.bsky.social book to help!
February 6, 2025 at 10:20 PM
Waiting my my new course to open so I can first nerd out about the content, then panic at the due dates. 😆
January 6, 2025 at 9:10 PM
Tried the book All Fours by Miranda July. I got to about 1/2 way and decided it wasn’t for me. I never used to be able to put a book down that I didn’t love. Growth as a reader. Moving onto my next book: Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q Sutanto. I love the story already.
December 29, 2024 at 4:18 PM
Merry Christmas to all who celebrate. There is a street in Guelph where many neighbours have minions on the yard. Check out this particular house.
December 25, 2024 at 12:31 AM
Merry Christmas and happy holidays to all. We made it. You will find me watching movies with those I love, reading for pleasure, seeing friends, and sleeping in!
December 21, 2024 at 3:05 PM
Just finished the latest Katherina Vermette book Real Ones. Such powerful storytelling. Worth a read if you are interested in reading more indigenous content over Christmas break.
December 12, 2024 at 1:28 AM
@j-metsala.bsky.social yes to this this! How do we make this happen when there’s no release time. Coaches focus on schools with very low test scores which is great but why do those teachers benefit from the extra support? What about the rest of the system who needs to learn.
December 10, 2024 at 1:59 AM
Reposted by Michele van der Veen
“A one-time meeting and a box of materials won’t cut it. [Teachers] need learning opportunities, resources and in-class coaching. And they should not have to spend their own time and money seeking out training.”

@j-metsala.bsky.social

macleans.ca/the-year-ahe...
How Structured Literacy Will Upend Canadian Education - Macleans.ca
Canadian students have struggled to read and write. That stops this year.
macleans.ca
December 7, 2024 at 1:44 PM
You know you are a learning nerd when you ask for the thinkSRSD course for Christmas. It will be a slow process but I’m ready to learn more about writing. @leslielaud.bsky.social
December 4, 2024 at 12:31 AM
I couldn’t get tickets to Taylor but Elphaba and Ga-linda will have me!
November 22, 2024 at 11:08 PM
Changing habits are proving hard. I’d like to transition away from the other app but still find myself navigating there first. I mean, this one has my favourite colour in its name. That should be enough for me!
November 19, 2024 at 9:59 PM