EdLeader Podcast host Dr. Rob Jackson might just be a closet bibliophile, someone who has a great love of books. Occasionally he enjoys returning to touchstone texts or timeless tomes, those books that shaped him early in his career and life and bringing them forward, spending time again with the words, thoughts, and reflections that moved him then and move him still.

This latest episode is just that, a return to a treasured book. The book, Tuesdays with Morrie, became a runaway bestseller 26 years ago. It was made into a movie and a Broadway play and is said to have changed millions of lives. A successful young man made a series of trips to visit his college professor almost twenty years after graduating. The professor, Morrie Schwartz, was in the final weeks of his life as he was gradually overtaken by ALS, more commonly known as Lou Gehrig's Disease. The book recounts the fourteen Tuesday visits the young man, Mitch Albom, made, their conversations, Morrie's lectures, and his life experiences. In his final days, the professor taught his student, and all of us how to die, and consequently, how to live.

He said, “The most important thing in life is to learn how to give out love, and to let it come in.”

In this episode, Dr. Jackson is beyond honored and excited to welcome another young man and his mentor to the podcast. They read and shared this book with each other and then shared it with Dr. Jackson. In his hands, it felt familiar, it felt timeless.

Regardless of what day of the week it is as you listen to this, pretend it is Tuesday. Let’s join Morrie and Mitch, and these two guests, let’s imagine opening the worn pages of this beloved book and in Morrie’s words, “Let it come in.”

The professor said, “As long as we can love each other, and remember the feeling of love we had, we can die without ever really going away. All the love you created is still there. All the memories are still there. You live on—in the hearts of everyone you have touched and nurtured while you were here.” As EdLeaders, you will live on in the hearts of everyone you have touched and nurtured while you were here.

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Military-connected students and families transition on average 6-9 times in a military child's academic career. Schools should thoughtfully consider how to provide every flexibility possible to ensure that military-connected students have a smooth transition when they arrive and that their unique needs are met while they are with us.

Dr. Angie Mullenix is the Director of Innovative Practices and Programs and the State Military Liaison for the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction. A veteran herself, Dr. Mullenix leads the state's efforts to recognize schools and school districts for their service to military-connected students and families.

In a time where a war is being fought in the Gaza Strip and in the Ukraine, and understanding the cost that is borne by military personnel and their families, taking some time to consider how schools can support military-connected students and families is time well-spent. 

U.S. Department of Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said, "Our military-connected students are resilient and know how to grow and thrive in new school environments. To do so, they need the tools and resources that we, as education leaders, must provide to support them in these new environments."

Join Dr. Mullenix and Dr. Jackson as they discuss how EdLeaders and schools may support these students.

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The Science of Reading is undergirded by theories of how students learn to read and comprehend text. The theory most often cited is Scarborough's Reading Rope as conceived by Dr. Hollis S. Scarborough. Dr. Scarborough believed that the elements of Word Recognition and the elements of Language Comprehension all weave together into the rope of Reading Comprehension. Just like a true rope, the more strands present and the stronger each strand is, the stronger the rope is. It is surmised that if a student is weaker in one strand, the strength of the other strands can still help the student comprehend what she is reading.

In this new podcast series on the Science of Reading - What Every EdLeader Should Know, Dr. Rob Jackson, host of the EdLeader podcast, has one goal, to peel apart the individual strands of reading comprehension and build our shared understanding of what EdLeaders need to know about learning to read.

So metaphorically, we grab Scarborough’s reading rope and separate the strands of Word Recognition and Language Comprehension. Within the Language Comprehension strands, we find the strand that is the topic for today’s episode, Vocabulary.

Building vocabulary knowledge is important to help students be better communicators, help them access more text, and increase their own expressiveness.

Show notes are available at: www.drrobjackson.com
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