About Me

Imagine being a teacher for 11 years and wondering "How can I help my child? This is the job I do to every day. I have taught hundreds of other children, and yet my own child is struggling. Why can't I help her?"

 My name is Brandy Dunn, and this was me a few years ago. I had reached the point in my teaching career where I was ready for a change from the general education classroom. For 7 years I taught first grade and then fourth grade literacy for 4 years. I taught the curriculum and materials I was given, but never felt like I was reaching the students who were struggling.  I wasn't seeing the progress I thought should be taking place,  and things were not transferring from one subject to the next. Why could they make a 100 on their spelling test, but then they misspelled the words in their essays? It was then that I requested to move to EIP (Early Intervention Program) and become an interventionist. Little did I know that my whole thought process on teaching literacy would be turned upside down, re-arranged, and enhanced.

 I began my first year in EIP participating in professional development and trainings on intensive reading instruction and how to help students who were struggling with literacy. This ignited a fire and I began to do my own research and invest in my own learning. The missing pieces of the puzzle were falling into place. After 200+ hours of trainings from various institutions I obtained certificates in Orton Gillingham Instruction, Phonological Awareness Instruction, Fidelity in Orton Gillingham Instruction, and added a Dyslexia Endorsement to my teaching certificate. 

Throughout this learning process I discovered that two of my six children are dyslexic. At first this was heartbreaking for me because I felt that I had failed them. After purchasing the SMARTER Intervention program, I began implementing it with the two of them. They are now on grade level and doing well. They still struggle, and reading/writing takes more work for them than with my other children, but they can read and write successfully at their grade level. With each year comes new challenges with the difficulty of the content increasing. When that happens, I begin interventions at their level and fill in the new gaps.