06/18/2026
Our latest podcast conversation with Natalie Pryor has really left me thinking. There are so many educators who care so deeply about the students they support and the work that they do, yes at the same time feel like they're not fully expressing what they have to offer.
Like the setting, or the system, or the structure doesn't exactly leave space for the impact you wanted to make on the world. It's not that you're burned out exactly, just...not fully lit.
That's definitely how I was feeling before I made my shift into starting Ascend, and I think Natalie would relate as she left her career in law. If you've been feeling like this recently, we'd love to invite you into the conversation.
Comment PODCAST and we'll send you the link.
06/15/2026
As a literacy specialist, you're probably noticing so much more than just literacy difficulties with your students.
You might notice that a lot of your students are struggling with short-term working memory. Or that connection and confidence are barriers just as real as decoding. Or that the tools you have don't quite cover what your students actually need.
On our latest podcast, Natalie Pryor shared that she noticed the same things. So she decided to create the things she wished existed. Like conversation cards to help connect with her students, and the Confidence Code Program to build confidence, and a Conversation Tower that made formulating and sharing opinions fun (and this can make a great writing response activity!).
Now, hear me when I say it’s not necessarily about creating more things...
it’s about noticing where your students are struggling and meeting them right there.
This fall, we’ll be really digging into these conversations inside the 5CCL Learning Lab, where we will be bringing something entirely new.
And in the meantime, check out the blog to dig deeper into this incredible conversation with Natalie! at https://smarterintervention.com/blog-highlights/insider-spotlight-natalie-pryor
06/13/2026
In our most recent podcast episode with Natalie Pryor, a conversation came up around dyslexia (and autism) diagnoses and the value that the label (or the knowing) can provide.
In our practice, we talk about this all the time. We use an analogy with students and families that goes something like this: imagine you're left-handed, but no one ever told you.
For years you've been trying to write with your right hand and wondering why it feels so hard, why you keep falling behind, why everyone else seems to get it and you don't. And then one day someone says, wait, you're left-handed. Here, use this hand instead. Here are the strategies that work for the way your hand actually works.
That's what a diagnosis can do. It doesn't change who the child is. It just finally gives them the understanding (the right hand to move forward with...and in that case it would actually be the left hand).
Natalie makes a really important point in the episode about the stigma around labels right now, this cultural swing toward seeing diagnosis as something to avoid or resist. In her experience, and in ours, kids don't use a diagnosis as an excuse to stop trying. They use it as an opportunity to understand themselves and move forward.
If you want to hear more about our thoughts on this topic, comment PODCAST and we'll send you the link!
06/12/2026
Natalie Pryor built a studio on the Sunshine Coast that has mini trampolines, obstacle courses, and cave reading sessions under the table. Ours looks a little different. But both spaces were built asking the same question: what does this space say to a kid before we've even started?
Now, I know what some of you might be thinking. I have 28 kids and a standardized classroom and zero mini trampolines. I totally get it. The logistics of Natalie's setup are specific to her context.
But here's what I actually heard underneath all of that: she built a space that communicates something to every student who walks through the door. You have a say here. You are safe here. You don't have to perform or pretend here. We start with connection, and then we learn.
That's not a mini trampoline thing. That's a values thing.
And I think most of us, in whatever setting we're in, have more ability to create that feeling than we sometimes give ourselves credit for. What does your space say to the kids who walk into it? What does the first five minutes of your lesson communicate? That's the question Natalie's studio is really asking.
We're diving deeper into that conversation over on the blog. Check out our link in bio.
06/10/2026
Natalie Pryor of Hidden Key Literacy Specialists on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, Australia sat down with Lindsey to share about her journey from law to literacy on the podcast. When I listened to this episode, I found myself stopping it more than once to really hear what Natalie was saying.
Natalie started her career as a lawyer. She was good at it. She did it for a long time. And then she had kids, and something shifted. She came to this knowing that there was something else she was meant to do. So she went back to school, got her master's in education, specialized in literacy, and started working one-on-one with kids. And she never looked back.
What struck me about the way she tells this story is that she doesn't frame it as escaping something. She frames it as moving toward something. There's a difference. And I think that distinction matters a lot for anyone who is also in that space of considering a shift or pivot.
She said, "It has been the best thing that I have ever done. Even the days where you wake up and you're like, ugh, work today, by the time that I'm at work, I'm loving every second of it. I leave and my heart is full."
I know that feeling. I spent years at Children's Hospital in Colorado as an assessment specialist and then as a learning specialist, and I loved it. I genuinely did. I learned so much there. But there also came a point where I felt called to build something that was truly mine, a space that looked and felt like me, that served the way I wanted to serve, that could shift and grow as I did. We opened our literacy clinic in 2015, and over a decade later, that freedom to build something that actually reflects who I am and what I believe is still the biggest joy of my career.
Natalie's story reminded me of that. And I am curious if it brings something up for you, too. Comment PODCAST, and we'll share the link where you can listen to this incredible conversation about what's possible in this space.
06/05/2026
This summer, I’m working with a few students who needed a slight shift from our typical structured literacy lesson framework.
They needed the opportunity to really see how those skills actually show up in real reading.
So for these students, we’re shifting from a traditional phonogram-focused lesson to a book-based structured literacy lesson.
The structure is still there.
We’re still working on phonological awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, comprehension, and writing.
But instead of organizing the entire lesson around one target phonics pattern, we’re organizing the lesson around a book the student is reading.
That means we can still practice the same routines, but the words, sentences, vocabulary, comprehension work, and writing are pulled directly from the text.
This is where generalization starts to happen.
Because students don’t just need to learn a skill in isolation.
They need to recognize it, use it, and apply it when the reading actually matters to them.
The goal is not to make structured literacy less systematic.
The goal is to help students connect the system to real reading, real language, and real meaning.
That’s the work we’re focusing on this summer.
If you’re looking for a more engaging way to support literacy skills this summer, check out our Book Clubs Spotlight PD https://smarterintervention.com/ondemand-pd/bookclubs. We’ll walk you through the exact process we use.
06/04/2026
Initially, her scores looked okay.
Her WIAT-4 academic scores were mostly in the average range, and at first glance, it would have been easy to assume she just needed a little extra practice.
But when we looked more closely, her language scores told a completely different story.
Her oral discourse comprehension score was significantly lower, which meant that she was having a hard time in one or more of the following areas:
understanding spoken language,
holding onto information,
organizing ideas,
making connections,
explaining her thinking
So this summer, we are building a concrete process she can use across her classes.
For this student, that means we will use content-area passages and podcasts tied to her interests and then use this step-by-step process:
1. Start with key vocabulary connected to the topic
2. Activate background knowledge before reading or listening
3. Annotate each section using the 5 Ws
4. Walk through 5 levels of comprehension after reading or listening
The goal is not just to “improve comprehension.”
The goal is for her to have a process she can actually use when the content gets more complex and the classroom demands increase.
If you are working on comprehension support this summer, check out our Comprehension Spotlight PD where we walk through this process in more detail → https://smarterintervention.com/ondemand-pd/comprehension
06/02/2026
We just wrapped up our spring semester here at Ascend and are immediately rolling into summer sessions. But this morning, my schedule offered up a rare gift, a trail run before the workday began.
And my brain, being my brain, could not stop thinking about how trail running and teaching are pretty much the same thing.
→ Both are things you love, even though almost everyone else thinks you're crazy.
→ Both are things that keep you questioning your life choices.
→ Both are things that feel so hard in the moment, but so rewarding at the end.
→ Both require you to pause, look up, and notice the incredible things around you.
Like this guy we saw on the trail this morning (swipe through) 🐻😱
If you're one of the educators who just crossed the finish line of a school year, you made it! Take a breath, look up, and notice what you've accomplished. Seriously. You've earned it.
And maybe you're ramping up for summer teaching. Maybe you're on the other side of the globe, right in the middle of your academic year, still very much questioning your life choices. 😉 Wherever you are, we see you. We're here with you!
Regardless of whether you've wrapped up the year, or you're still very much in it, comment and let us know something you're proud of...we'd love to celebrate you!
05/29/2026
We're deep in progress monitoring season right now, and we love it when we see the growth students have made...truly the best feeling ever!
But what about when students don't make growth?
Look, this happens to all of us, and it can be easy to get into a doubt/panic spiral. But instead of getting caught in that trap (which is normal, it's just proof that we care!), we always consider these three things:
1. What we knew (we look at baseline data and observations we had going in, so where did the student start and what were we noticing beyond the numbers).
2. What we tried (we are considering the type of intervention we provided, was it word recognition/decoding, language comprehension, both? How did the group or setting impact the student?)
3. What we saw (this is the ongoing story, weekly session data and also our other observations like attendance, other potential contributing factors, etc.)
Let us know in the comments if it would be helpful to dive deeper into data conversations for our next school year!!!
05/29/2026
I don't know about you, but we're deep in progress monitoring and report-writing season over here.
It's a TON of work, but usually one we're actually pretty excited about. More often than not, those scores come back as something to celebrate 🎉 Seeing the growth you helped create is honestly one of the best parts of this job.
But let's be real, sometimes the growth just isn't there. And that's when the questions start:
Did I use the wrong approach?
Did I miss something?
Were the materials the wrong fit?
Did they just have an off day?
Those questions are actually really good... If you have a way to work through them without spiraling. This is the hard part!
So I'd love to know, what's the first question that runs through your head when a student's scores don't move?
06/05/2026
06/04/2026
06/02/2026
05/29/2026
05/29/2026