Introduction
This page highlights my professional reflections and key takeaways from implementing UFLI Foundations in my first-grade classroom. Throughout this process, I have been able to deepen my understanding of structured literacy and and discover how intentional, systematic instruction can completely change the way that young learners in the classroom experience reading.
Reflection:
Implementing UFLI Foundations in my classroom has completely transformed the way that I approach phonics instruction. Before I began teaching first grade, I taught third grade. I often felt like I struggled with teaching phonics because I felt like I had never learned all of the foundational reading rules myself. I did not realize how much those early skills impacted students later on-especially when they reached upper grades and were still struggling with decoding. Learning to teach phonics explicitly through UFLI has not only filled those gaps for my students, but also for me as an educator.
Before using this program, I truly did not realize how much structure and routine could affect a students confidence and growth. Now when using UFLI in my classroom my students know what to expect each day-they look forward to working on the drills, the blending, and even our progress monitoring tests on Fridays because they can feel themselves growing!
One of my biggest takeaways has been understanding the power of explicit, systematic instruction. UFLI truly does not leave any gaps in a students instruction and every lesson intentionally builds on the one before it. I have had the joy of watching my students who struggle with decoding now being able to blend and read words independently and that has truly been one of the most rewarding parts!
The consistent structure has also helped to make me a stronger teacher. The clear steps of the process, the daily PowerPoints, and the built-in review routines allow me to focus more on student engagement in the lesson and differentiation instead of constantly trying to recreate new materials for my students. I have also been able to see how using materials for multi-sensory skills such as tapping out sounds, manipulating letter tiles, and reading the connected text in the PowerPoints helps to keep my students actively involved in their learning.
Moving forward, I plan to continue deepening my knowledge of structured literacy and exploring additional ways to connect different home and school supports for my students. Every child deserves to feel like a reader, and UFLI has truly given me the tools and confidence to make that happen with every child who walks into my classroom.