Literacy is a basic human right,

it is something that empowers a person
and it liberates a person.

That power, of being able to learn and grow

and connect, I just don't think
there's anything like it.

My name is Tisha Hayes,
and I'm an associate professor

in the School of Education
and Human Development.

I'm pretty lucky because I get to work with

pre-service teachers, in-service teachers,

training to be reading specialists.

Dr. Hayes laid out the roadmap for systematic
reading instruction.

I attended the Postgraduate Master's
of Teaching Program at UVA's

School of Education, and now I teach
second grade at Johnson Elementary.

What Dr. Hayes taught me.
I apply every single day.

A lot of times we think of learning
to read like learning language.

We learn our language very naturally
our brains are set up to do that.

Reading is, it's a different beast,
because we're connecting

a symbol to our sounds.

which is really an abstraction,

and it really is a big leap for a kid
to make .

Some kids make that leap easily,

and some kids need more support
and help along the way.

And it's our job as a teacher
to show them the magic of this system.

In second grade
they really make this connection

between all of the letter sound spellings
and basically their fluency in reading.

You see the transition between
learning to read and reading to learn.

They can start reading the instructions
on their work in math.

And so their understanding
of other concepts and other

content areas becomes much more secure,

so they gain confidence as a learner.

And there comes this moment,

where I have this
big bank of words that I know

And I do have this,
this flow of what I'm reading.

Then my mental resources
move from

the words on the page, 
to the meaning on the page.

And that is a beautiful, beautiful moment.

When you see their excitement
and curiosity

paired with their literacy, it breaks open
a whole new learner and a whole new kid.

Their world just expands immediately.

We know from our statewide data, kids
in kindergarten

through third grade are feeling the impact of the pandemic.

And so, we are at this place of reflection
as a field

in how we can best meet
the needs of all kids.

All of our choices, the teacher,
the schools,

school board and teacher preparation

programs come together and have

a great impact on a child's 
learning and their

potential opportunities in life.

So we all have to work together,

because we all want to get it right.