IRA International Regie Routman Award

Mrs. Markovich 4th Grade Teacher Awarded IRA International Regie Routman Award

Wisconsin Teacher Wins 2007 Reading Instruction Award

NEWARK, DELAWARE, USA Linda Markovich, a fourth grade teacher at Saint Gabriel School in Hubertus, WI, is recipient of the 2007 Regie Routman Teacher Recognition Award, which is presented by the International Reading Association. The award, sponsored by Regie Routman, internationally respected teacher and author, honors an outstanding reading and language arts teacher from a regular K-6 classroom. What distinguishes this award is its reliance on the writing the teacher does as a means to reflect on and improve his or her teaching and learning process.

Markovich, who has been teaching for 11 years, excerpted her journal to catalogue her professional growth. As the only reading teacher for fourth graders, she has faced the full range of challenges common in many classrooms: how to motivate students to read, what to do to help students who struggle with comprehension or demonstrate other reading difficulties, how to get support from home, and how to adjust teaching when reading programs are updated. Throughout it all, she demonstrates a commitment to each student s success, an awareness of the most current literature about best practices, and a willingness to try new techniques. In her own words, Markovich is  on a constant quest for the perfect way to teach reading to every student, conveying in simple terms the need to differentiate instruction so that each child succeeds.

Markovich will receive this award and the $1000 prize on May 16 at the International Reading Association s 52nd annual convention, held this year in Toronto, Ontario.
Website www.reading.org