Instructor Spotlight: Johanna Gomez
Ms. Gomez with her Reading Rescue materials
Johanna Gomez is one of 754 Reading Rescue instructors who began her Reading Rescue journey during the 2020-2021 school year, our most unusual year on record. As a literacy coach, she is accustomed to helping students who struggle with foundational reading skills. This role typically involved supporting K-2 teachers with data evaluation and literacy planning, assessing and sourcing materials, and managing literacy assessments. However, due to logistical challenges presented by COVID-19 building closures and hybrid learning, Ms. Gomez is “back in the classroom” this year, working full-time and remotely as a teacher of a 3rd and 4th grade classroom.
P.S. 116 in Brooklyn, which is attended by students in grades Pre-K through 5, has a Spanish dual-language program. Ms. Gomez often works with students who are bilingual, which she says is a gift for the students, not an obstacle. “I’m a believer in dual language,” she says, having spent the last twenty years working in the dual-language space in the NYC Department of Education. Ms. Gomez brings an immense amount of experience, knowledge, and passion to her dual-language work, and is excited to be a Reading Rescue instructor.
Ms. Gomez with fellow Reading Rescue instructors at P.S. 116 K
In addition to pulling her first grade Reading Rescue student for daily remote lessons, Ms. Gomez uses the skillset she gained from her Reading Rescue professional development to work with her 3th and 4th grade bilingual students. While the Reading Rescue intervention is intended for use with first grade and second grade students this year, it is inspiring to see how Ms. Gomez uses the tools she learned to help students of various grade levels. Any student struggling with foundational reading skills can benefit from this explicit instruction to target the five pillars of literacy: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. Specifically, she uses what she’s learned in part 3 of the Reading Rescue lesson to support her older students with multi-sensory phonics. “It’s been such a natural transition into that...it’s become part of them,” she said.
Ms. Gomez has found a deep and rewarding connection in working with her student, Alanis, who has worked diligently to improve her literacy skills. Alanis told Ms. Gomez that her favorite part of the school day is their time together, as well as participating in art and music class (which Ms. Gomez works hard to ensure Alanis never misses). Alanis said that while in the session, she enjoys “the Jamboard, when you have to figure out the sounds of the letters.” Unlike in a typical year, there are scheduling challenges that mean instructors and family members must go the extra mile to ensure students like Alanis can get online and learn. “We have to depend on the adult that’s in the house, which sometimes is an older sibling.”
Ms. Gomez during a Reading Rescue session with her student, Alanis
Ms. Gomez and her colleagues have prioritized Reading Rescue instruction in a year of many competing priorities and unusual scheduling challenges. We thank Ms. Gomez and all instructors for their diligence and dedication to literacy!