Audiobook Office Hours
2025-09-04 16:00 - 16:30 (America/New_York)
Unlock the Power of Audiobooks with Learning Ally
Welcome to Audiobook Office Hours. This is an exclusive, interactive meeting. It’s designed just for Learning Ally Audiobook Solution customers. This is your direct connection to our expert team. You can get answers to your most pressing questions here. Master the platform. Unlock its full potential for your classroom.

What to Expect
Join these live sessions. Dive deep into key features. Find solutions to specific challenges. Get personalized support. Maximize your experience. This is an open forum. Bring your questions. Share feedback. Engage in conversations. These will help you leverage Learning Ally’s resources.
We can guide you. Learn to use the platform’s features. Differentiate instruction. Support diverse learners. Create customized reading lists. Track student progress effortlessly. Access a vast library of human-read audiobooks. These are aligned with your curriculum. We’ll also cover ways to integrate audiobooks. Use them in your existing literacy programs. Make reading more accessible and engaging. This helps all students.

Why Join Us?
Our goal is simple. We want you to feel confident. Feel empowered using the Learning Ally Audiobook Solution. Use it to support your students’ learning objectives. Join our community of dedicated educators. Discover new strategies. Help students build fluency. Improve comprehension. Develop a lifelong love of reading.
Ultimately, these sessions are about empowering you. Transform your classroom. Empower your students with the power of audiobooks. Ensure every learner can reach their full potential.
Register now!

National Clean Off Your Desk Day
2026-01-11
This day is an opportunity to begin your new year with a clean and organized workspace. Whether your desk is in a private or shared office, cubicle, home or a make-shift desk on the counter, having your workspace uncluttered and organized will help you work more efficiently. A clean workspace improves productivity and inspires us, too. It often gives us a sense of serenity.

Cross-Language Connections: Assessing for Dyslexia among Bilingual Learners
2026-01-14 16:30 - 17:30
Accurately assessing emergent bilinguals for learning differences presents some of the most complex challenges in modern education. It demands specialized knowledge beyond monolingual assessment standards. Join Julia Betancourt and Nancy Rebarchik for this SPOD Diving Deeper session, a comprehensive, 300-word follow-up explicitly designed for educators and education leadership. You must refine your understanding and practical application of dyslexia assessment strategies for bilingual learners. This specialized training builds on their popular “Spotlight on Dyslexia” session and focuses intensively on the complexities of cross-language connections and cultural considerations. Ignoring these factors can lead to devastating misidentification or failure to identify needs altogether. Therefore, mastering reliable dyslexia assessment strategies for bilingual learners is essential to promoting equity.
This session offers advanced insights to enhance your ability to accurately identify and support dyslexic bilingual learners, ensuring literacy for all. You will gain essential, research-backed knowledge about building robust systems for identification and intervention, thereby promoting literacy for bilingual learners across your entire school or district. Furthermore, the presenters will address common pitfalls, misconceptions, and the specific diagnostic tools necessary for this population.
Key Strategies for Bilingual Dyslexia Assessment:
This SPOD Diving Deeper session provides advanced, actionable steps to improve assessment and intervention practices immediately. We’ll delve deeply into:

Advanced Case Studies: We will conduct an in-depth analysis of complex scenarios in bilingual dyslexia assessment. These case studies move beyond the basics, focusing on differential diagnosis and distinguishing language acquisition issues from true learning disabilities.

Data Point Analysis: We will identify and analyze the specific data points crucial for accurate identification. This includes analyzing data across both languages (L1 and L2) to ensure appropriate educational planning and to avoid bias.

Referral Processes: Learn actionable steps to build robust, equitable referral processes for emergent bilinguals. This ensures timely and appropriate access to necessary evaluations and resources.

Effective Interventions: Discover practical, proven strategies for implementing effective dyslexia interventions within your district or campus, specifically tailored to honor and leverage a student’s linguistic strengths. This includes practical tools and resources you can implement next week.

Understanding Policy: Discuss the key policy considerations and legal mandates that impact the assessment and instruction of bilingual learners with dyslexia.

You will also have immediate access to the original “Cross-Language Connections” session, making this a complete, high-value professional learning experience within the SPOD series.

World Thesaurus Day
2026-01-18
World Thesaurus Day is celebrated annually, honoring the birthday of Peter Mark Roget, the creator of Roget’s Thesaurus (first published in 1852) and encouraging people to use thesauruses to expand vocabulary and improve writing. It’s a day to appreciate this essential resource for finding synonyms, antonyms, and related words, helping writers avoid repetition and find the perfect term for their ideas.

Martin Luther King Jr. Day
2026-01-19
Martin Luther King Jr. Day is a U.S. federal holiday observed on the third Monday in January, honoring the life and legacy of the pivotal civil rights leader, celebrated with service, reflection, and events focused on equality and community building–often called a “day on, not a day off”. The holiday, signed into law in 1983, commemorates Dr. King’s efforts against racial segregation and for justice, encouraging volunteerism to create his vision of a “Beloved Community”

National Handwriting Day
2026-01-23
National Handwriting Day is celebrated annually on January 23, coinciding with John Hancock’s birthday, to promote the art, benefits, and personal expression of handwriting in a digital world, encouraging people to write letters, journal, or make lists by hand. The Writing Instrument Manufacturers Association (WIMA) established the day in 1977 to highlight handwriting’s role in cognitive development, memory, and individuality

International Day of Education
2026-01-24
The International Day of Education 2026 will be celebrated with the theme, “The power of youth in co-creating education,” focusing on young people’s role in shaping learning and policies, with major events held at UNESCO and online by youth networks. Established by the UN, the day highlights education’s role in peace, development, and achieving global goals, urging action to ensure quality education for all.

Dyslexia Defined: Unpacking the 2025 IDA Definition
2026-01-28 16:00 - 17:00
The revised 2025 International Dyslexia Association (IDA) definition of dyslexia reflects decades of scientific progress. This edWebinar invites you to explore the full scope of this expanded definition. Dr. Tim Odegard, a member of the IDA definition committee, will bridge the gap between scientific language and classroom realities, and real-life experiences that persist across lifespans. He will clarify how this updated definition fosters a deeper understanding of dyslexia’s causes and defining characteristics.
Attendees will gain a deeper understanding of how a continued focus on instructional persistence informs our approach to identification and intervention. This session offers the reassurance that as our scientific understanding of dyslexia evolves, our shared commitment to helping every student thrive remains the heart of our work.
Learning objectives include:

Analyze the core components of the 2025 IDA revised definition regarding word-reading accuracy and speed
Evaluate “instructional persistence” as a key indicator of the dyslexia profile
Identify the defining characteristics of dyslexia

This edWebinar will be of interest to K-12 teachers, school leaders, district leaders, dyslexia specialists, reading specialists, speech pathologists, and MTSS and intervention specialists.
Register now!

National Puzzle Day
2026-01-29
Each year on January 29th, National Puzzle Day recognizes how exercising our brains with puzzles is just one of its many benefits.
