For those of you who have stumbled across Pureliteracy.com and are new to the community I thought it best to introduce myself. My name is Kathi Zotovich and I am a literacy consultant, coach, staff developer, educator, mother, wife and author.
Some fun facts about me:
A. I have four crazy talented kids, two beautiful grandchildren, an amazing hubby, two pups who keep us company and a handful of chickens in the backyard of our petite farm on the California Central Coast.
B. I love to cook! I can’t get enough of Food Network... don't you just love Ina and Jeffrey?!?!
C. I want to continue to see the world…any chance I get I am either exploring or planning my next adventure! I just had an amazing vacation to New Zealand and had the great opportunity to visit the University of Auckland and tour the Reading Recovery Center where Marie Clay's work originated! I'll make sure to share more on this in another Teacher Tips post!
And here is the shortest version I can think of to explain my professional experience.
I am currently a literacy consultant.
I spend the majority of my days planning and providing professional development in literacy. I also observe and coach classroom teachers in grades K-5. Coaching is my favorite part of the job, collaborating with teachers and reaching deeper understandings as to best practice in literacy instruction is truly inspiring, especially when you can see the immediate impact it has on teachers and their kiddos.
Before becoming a consultant, I was a district literacy coach. Prior to that, I taught in grades K-6 where I taught using the Reading and Writing Workshop Model, and was a Reading Recovery Interventionist for over a decade as well. I received my master’s degree in education from Point Loma College. I've trained numerous times with multiple staff developers from the Reading and Writing Project and completed a Literacy Coaching training course at TCRWP, Columbia University in New York. The best part about the training is that I got to meet and talk about literacy with Lucy Calkins an author of many professional development resources including Pathways to the Common Core and her Units of Study Writing and Reading Series. I have also trained with conferring guru Carl Anderson author of How’s It Going, Kate Roberts co-author of Close Reading, Ruth Culham author of the 6 Traits, Irene Fountas, a co-author of many professional development resources, including, The Continuum of Literacy Learning.
I really enjoy teaching all areas of literacy, but I have to say writing is my favorite. I absolutely love teaching students to see themselves as writers who have something important to share with the world.
There is nothing more magical than when every student in the room (even those reluctant writers) groan and beg for more time when I tell them we need to stop writing. I learn the most from my students by listening to what they have to say in their writing. I think they learn the most about themselves when they realize they actually have something worth saying.
Because of my extensive training, I began creating practical resources that follow best practices for literacy instruction. These are tried and true resources that I implemented in my classroom during my teaching years coupled with resources I've developed to support teachers throughout my coaching and professional development years. I'm constantly trying to develop these resources with teachers and young learners in mind. You can check out these resources on the my products page.
It's hard to believe after all these months of brainstorming, planning and work that the website is finally here. I can hardly wait to see Pure Literacy grow in exciting new directions!
My goal with Pure Literacy is simple: I want to create a community that revolves around empowering teachers with literacy best practices to help impact and engage their young learners.
Now, I invite you to join the Pure Literacy community and engage, explore, inspire, aspire and grow.