Archive: Around Town

'Lessons I Learned from My Students' is the title of a keynote address delivered by Dr. Michael Bend of the ABeCeDarian Company, to the Tutor Institute, a one-day workshop sponsored by the Philadelphia Mayor’s Commission on Literacy, in Philadelphia, PA. Bend delivered the keynote on October 23, 2010, in Philadelphia and also conducted a workshop for 60 volunteer literacy tutors and officials with the Mayor’s Commission on Literacy.

Bend is the Founder and President of ABeCeDarian Company, www.abcdrp.com,  which was established in 2000, and publishes and distributes the ABeCeDarian Reading Program. The Program is a comprehensive, research-based step-by-step curriculum for students reading at kindergarten to 6th grade level. The ABeCeDarian Company also provides teacher workshops nationally and expert tutoring in reading, writing, and math locally.

Bend’s 'Lessons I Learned From My Students' keynote addrress focused on the work he did with a former student who is now a special education instructor. It emphasized the idea that Bend knew the student was a smart young man, but wasn’t working at the level he could. Bend discused how he could have helped the student more, by focusing on being a better instructor. As part of the address, the student himself spoke about the value of tutoring in his life.

Bend also conducted a workshop on how the AbeCeDarian Reading Program effectively helps elementary-level reading students of all ages learn to read or improve their reading skills. The Program is currently being used by some of the volunteer tutors in the Philadelphia Mayor’s Commission on Literacy and is being evaluated by other tuors.

The ABeCeDarian Reading Program is already used by special education teachers, reading specialists, classroom teachers and homeschoolers across the country. It emphasizes phonemic awareness, phonics, and fluency by having students do simple activities such as tapping on the letter, which helps them associate letters with sounds. The program is targeted toward special education teachers, reading specialists, classroom teachers, and students who are home-schooled.

The Philadelphia Mayor’s Commission on Literacy was established in 1983, to focus attention on the literacy needs of adults, coordinate the efforts of existing programs, and provide educational opportunities for increased numbers of adults. It works closely with Philadelphia literacy organizations, local corporations, social service providers, government agencies, community groups, religious leaders, and adult learners.

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