In this Educator Spotlight interview, literacy liaison Heather Green shares how striving readers in Dexter, Michigan elementary schools are benefiting from the explicit, systematic instruction in their Tier 2 and Tier 3 intervention, SIPPS®. Thank you for speaking with us, Heather!
Tell us a little about yourself, your school or district, and the students that you serve.
My name is Heather Green. I work at our Y5–2 school in Dexter, Michigan, right outside of Ann Arbor. I have worked in Dexter for 16 years—as a first and second grade teacher, as well as my current role of literacy liaison.
What is the most rewarding part of being an educator for you?
The most rewarding part of being an educator is working to find whatever it will take to “change the trajectory” for a striving reader and imagining what that change means for that child’s life. It never fails to make me feel a sense of awe.
How long have you been implementing SIPPS? Tell us a little about your implementation.
Our intervention team started using SIPPS last year after we were awarded a teacher scholarship from Collaborative Classroom to get our first kit. We got a Beginning Level kit and really liked what we saw.
Our district was able to purchase a few more SIPPS Beginning and Extension kits and we began a full implementation late last winter.
What do you appreciate about SIPPS?
There are a lot of things! First, I love that you use a placement test to group students with like needs. Second, we’ve really come to appreciate the beauty of using a scripted program. Everything you need is in the script, including the corrective feedback that is very effective and efficient.
In addition, it’s pretty masterful how the program shifts its instruction as students’ skills grow—from Beginning to Extension to Challenge. We also appreciate that it comes with decodable connected text that matches perfectly with the skills the students are working on. And lastly, we appreciate the gains we are seeing with our students. It feels great knowing we are giving them solid Tier 2/Tier 3 instruction.
SIPPS has taught me what good direct, explicit instruction is. It is very interactive, efficient, and responsive. As Anita Archer would say, “Cut the fluff and teach the stuff!”
What have you noticed about your students’ learning and engagement?
Students are engaged because there is never a moment to waste! We are never on one section of a SIPPS lesson too long before we have moved on to the next part of instruction. It keeps them on their toes!
Their favorite part is the guided spelling portion of the lessons. I love seeing students rely heavily on the wall cards (e.g.,the cat cards for the short vowels) as a scaffold when they first learn a new skill, but as the skill is constantly reviewed, they need to reference them less and less.
How has SIPPS affected or changed your own teaching and learning?
SIPPS has taught me what good direct, explicit instruction is. It is very interactive, efficient, and responsive. As Anita Archer would say, “Cut the fluff and teach the stuff!”
What advice or insights would you share with an educator who is new to SIPPS?
My best advice is to make yourself read the sections at the beginning and end of the manual. These sections answered so many questions I wasn’t quite clear on at first. The professional learning videos on the Collaborative Classroom Learning Portal were priceless, too, in getting my timing just right.
Also, don’t be afraid for the first few weeks to feel clunky as you learn what language to use. Try not to stray too far from the program exactly as it’s written. Every single thing is there for a very precise reason. Once you teach a range of lessons, you see how it all comes together!
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Related: Learn why so many state departments of education have recommended SIPPS.