For our first installment of the #WhyITeach series, the CLE is pleased to spotlight an incredible educator, Emma Fleming. Ms. Fleming is a fourth-grade teacher at Our Lady of Fatima School in Stockton, California.

The reading research is unequivocal. The more a child reads the better he or she will be at reading. It is as simple as that. Children who read more enjoy reading; they read to challenge themselves, to satisfy their curiosities, and to experience unknown lands. Reading is an adventure and pure joy.

Belonging: identifying as a valued, represented member of a larger community

  Confidence: Thinking independently and expressing ideas with assurance  

  Friendship: Having close, trusting relationships and personal connections to others; learning to interact in positive, productive ways    

Hope: Thinking optimistically and believing that today's efforts will produce good things in the future for yourself and the world  

As National Family Literacy Month closes, we've been thinking a lot about why school and parent partnerships matter. Obviously, kids spend a significant amount of time trying to improve reading skills during school hours.

The seven strengths focus on social and emotional growth and well-being. They are critical to helping kids become super readers, but they extend far beyond academics; they help children to become powerful and compassionate individuals.

Podcasts and audiobooks have become wildly popular over the past few years.

It was my first classroom observation as a new teacher, and I was terrified. I was only about six weeks into my first year teaching middle school English and literature when my supervisor, language and education specialist Dr.