Temperance Carpenter

Temperance Carpenter has been a teacher for a decade in the Little Miami school district in Ohio. For 9 of those years, she taught Kindergarten and First grade. “During my last year in the classroom, I took IMSE’s 30 Hour Comprehensive Training. When I began using OG in the classroom, I immediately saw results. My students’ reading score averages went up four levels. I immediately knew this was a powerful teaching system and I wanted to know more,” Temperance says.

In addition to embarking on the 45 Hour Practicum, Temperance used IMSE’s exclusive lesson planning and assessment tool, Interactive OG. “The Interactive OG app allowed me to develop a differentiated lesson plan for groups of students and individual students. So, if we were working on word or sentence dictation, I could create different, tailored worksheets for students at various levels. The sheets would provide more guidance and prompts when needed, while I could be at the front of the class continuing the lesson,” Temperance says.

To learn more about the IMSE 45 Hour Practicum, check out: https://journal.orton-gillingham.com/imse-certification-in-action-melissa-and-sunny-young/

“Like many teachers, my classrooms were always pretty diverse in terms of skill level. So, to have a tool that allowed me to build those customized lessons, while also allowing me to move ahead with new material at the front of the room for all students, it was a huge help,” Temperance says.

Temperance found the Master lesson plans offered on Interactive OG to be a huge time saver, too. “I used all of the Master lessons. Everything from the phoneme/grapheme chart, to the Vowel Craft Sticks, to COPS (or Capitalization, Organization, Punctuation, Spelling)—having those ready to print out was great.”

To learn more about Interactive OG and get a subscription, please visit: https://www.orton-gillingham.com/interactive-og/

Another key piece of Interactive OG that Temperance believes is crucial to success in the classroom is its assessment tool. “Understanding exactly where you are with an individual student or a group of students really drives all of your efforts for the school year and sets the tone. I love that IMSE’s OG has assessments built-in and the fact that teachers can track that data on their students through the year. Personally, I would start my year asking: which student know their sounds, which know letter formation. Then I created my small groups—and their tailored worksheets through the app—from that information.”

For Temperance and millions of other teachers who have discovered the power of IMSE’s Orton-Gillingham techniques and the powerful lesson planning and assessment tools in the Interactive OG app, every classroom can benefit. “As a teacher, IMSE’s program lays everything out in a way that’s easy-to-use and gives you the tools you need to be successful. For students, I love that we can guide them through in a supportive way. So, it’s not about, ‘you’re wrong’ when they make a mistake, it’s ‘you really can read, even if you’re struggling,'” Temperance says.