Middle Georgia GLRS Updates

With Georgia’s renewed focus on literacy through the state’s new literacy legislation, this learning community will intentionally support educators in strengthening evidence-based literacy practices grounded in the Science of Reading and merging it with Specially Designed Instruction. Together, we will explore structured literacy, data-driven instruction, intervention alignment, and meaningful supports that ensure all learners especially students with disabilities—have access to high-quality reading instruction.

Our work will bring the heart and the harmony of reading instruction together by providing support for teachers in their classrooms with their students. By doing this we will build sustainable instructional practices that lead to lasting student growth.

Join us as we go deeper in the literacy instruction and connect it to what IEPs will need to include to move from compliant and instructional.

Registration link: https://reg.learningstream.com/reg/event_page.aspx?ek=0016-0031-04a41b2559544de2ab2486c72b7262df

This is a year-long professional learning experience designed to strengthen evidence-based literacy instruction for students with disabilities across all grade levels. With the focus being on the older students who may not have learned the foundational skills needed to be effective readers, this cohort will allow secondary teachers to learn how to help students before they transition out into the world.

Grounded in Georgia’s evolving literacy initiatives and the Science of Reading, this cohort will support educators in the secondary level with instructional practices, intensified interventions, and meaningful systems of support that improve student outcomes.

Participants will engage in collaborative learning sessions focused on structured literacy, data-driven instruction, and practical classroom implementation.

Educators will also have opportunities to network with colleagues across the region to share successful practices, and deepen their understanding of how to meet the diverse needs of older learners.

Join us for these sessions!

Register here: https://reg.learningstream.com/reg/event_page.aspx?ek=0016-0031-e4146317a05b48b0a89e9076fc3a6ae8

Maybe you haven't had a lot of experience with literacy but you are curious about what it's all about. Lexia LETRS® K-12 provides you the foundational skills to understand the Science of Reading and how students learn to read.

LETRS for Grades K-12 course utilizes a blend of self-paced digital coursework and expert-led in-person bridge sessions for delivery of training and requires participants to complete inter-session assignments.

Participants must have consistent, direct access to students with disabilities to apply and refine these evidence-based strategies in real time. Please note that the full LETRS training consists of two volumes.

Registration link: https://reg.learningstream.com/reg/event_page.aspx?ek=0016-0031-dccf2606bb7b401686182f3130eff3b1

You walked into this school year with a new classroom, new names to learn, new systems to navigate—and probably more acronyms than anyone warned you about!

Here’s what we want you to remember: You do not have to know everything to make a difference.

Ask the questions. Lean on the people around you. Celebrate the small wins. Give yourself permission to learn alongside your students.

There will be lessons that don't go as planned and days when you wonder whether you're getting any of it right. But somewhere in your classroom is a student who needs exactly what you bring—the patience, perspective, encouragement, or fresh energy that is uniquely yours.

Your first year isn't about being perfect. It's about becoming.

Keep learning. Keep growing. Keep showing up.

You belong here. And we're glad you're part of the beat.

You may be feeling like this is just another year...I beg to differ.

You may have done the first days, learned hundreds of names, adapted to new initiatives, survived changing standards, embraced new technology, and probably heard “This year we're doing things a little differently” more times than you can count.

But this year isn't just another year.

There are students entering your classroom who have never experienced you as their teacher.

Your experience matters. Your wisdom matters. The lessons you've learned—not just from the successes, but from the difficult days—matter.

Stay curious enough to try something new. Stay reflective enough to adjust what no longer works. And stay confident enough to know that experience has given you something no professional learning session ever could: perspective.

You don't have to recreate yourself every August.

Sometimes growth isn't starting over. It's building on everything you've already become.

Your beat still matters.

As the school year begins, your teachers are watching more than the calendar, the schedule, and the expectations.

They're watching YOU!

Your presence can steady a nervous first-year teacher. Your encouragement can reenergize an experienced teacher who is running low. Your willingness to listen can remind an overwhelmed educator that the work they do is seen and valued.

There will always be something that needs fixing, a deadline approaching, or a problem demanding attention. But in the middle of managing the work, don't forget to lead the people doing the work.

Celebrate progress. Protect opportunities for learning. Make room for questions. Encourage collaboration. And when possible, remind your staff that they are more than their data, their evaluations, or their to-do lists.

Leaders set the rhythm.

When you create a culture where educators feel supported enough to learn, reflect, and grow, that beat eventually reaches the place that matters most—our students.

Keep Marching to the Beat and Lead on!