Let's Talk, Teacher to Teacher With Dr. Gina Pepin
Welcome to the Let’s Talk, Teacher to Teacher podcast. My name is Dr. Gina Pepin - and I am so happy to meet you. I am a mom, teacher, professor, supervisor for teacher candidates, a reading specialist and a whole lot more! I am the 2023-2024 Region 1 Michigan Teacher of the Year and State Finalist - and also served in this role as part of the very first group of Regional Teachers/State Finalists of the Year in 2018-2019. But what I want you to know the most about me is… I have a great passion for early literacy and teacher preparation and the thing I am most proud of is of course our children… but my once in a lifetime chance to become a co-author, along with the extremely talented children’s author - Eric Litwin ! Together… we wrote: The Power of Joyful Reading: Help Your Young Readers Soar to Success. You can learn more about me - my experiences, how to hire me to speak at your workshops, schools, teacher programs etc… at www.ginapepin.com
I offer you practical make and takes - easy tips along with real life shared stories - so that you can easily create joyful shared reading experiences and other amazing strategies and approaches in your learning space/s right away.
I am here to help you make powerful changes - Let’s do this together.
Check out the Ride and Read program I designed along with 100s of FREE resources at www.ginapepin.com and https://www.instagram.com/drginapepin/
Episodes
104 episodes
A Pattern-Based Approach to Teaching Long and Short Vowels
Let’s Talk Teacher to Teacher Still have students who “just can’t get” long vowels versus short vowels—no matter how many anchor charts, hand signals, or reminders you try? In this segment, Dr. Pepin shares the shift that hel...
Making Decoding Visible for Students Who Overapply Long Vowels
Let’s Talk Teacher to Teacher Some students know phonics rules—but apply the wrong one at the wrong time. If you have a reader who turns pop into pope, sack into sake, or “fixes” unfamiliar words to make them look mo...
Truth Be Told: Punctuation Is Not Optional (But They Think It Is)
In this Truth Be Told episode of Let’s Talk Teacher to Teacher, I’m tackling a classroom mystery we all know too well: students who can read every word on the page… while completely ignoring punctuation. Commas vanish, periods...
Word Wonders at Home!
On this episode of Word Wonders at Home!, Dr. Gina Pepin shares the magic of “Word Boards” for families who want to boost early language and reading skills. Discover how setting up a simple word board in your home can turn everyday mom...
Every Sound Has a Story!
Unleash the magic of listening and storytelling with Dr. Gina Pepin in Every Sound Has a Story! This playful and interactive podcast turns everyday noises into fantastic adventures, helping young children build early literacy, language...
Vision Series: Visualizing—Reclaiming Imagination in a Fast-Paced World
In this episode of Let’s Talk Teacher to Teacher, Dr. Gina Pepin explores why today’s children struggle to visualize and imagine in our fast-paced, image-driven world—and how this impacts their comprehension and creative thinking. Disc...
Vision Series: Write On the Wall! — Unlocking the Power of Vertical Spaces
In this episode of Let’s Talk Teacher to Teacher, Dr. Gina Pepin explores the benefits of moving writing off the desk and onto the wall! Discover how using vertical spaces—like easels, chalkboards, whiteboards, windows, mirrors, brick ...
Precious Print
Join Dr. Gina Pepin in Precious Print as she reveals the power of labeling your home to build early reading skills. Alongside coauthor Eric Litwin, Dr. Gina explains how children learn best when they see, touch, and talk about words in...
Table Talk Readers
In this episode of Table Talk Readers, Dr. Gina Pepin invites families to transform mealtime into a playful learning experience with family-ready placemats. Discover how these creative placemats can help build early reading skills—like...
Vision Series: Solving Reading Mysteries with Tiered Support
Join Dr. Gina Pepin on Let’s Talk Teacher to Teacher as she explores the real reasons why some students struggle with reading. This episode dives into the Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS), highlighting the importance of early obs...
Vision Series: When Reading Takes a Whole-Body Effort: Vision Issues, Speech, and Learning to Read
In this insightful episode of the Let’s Talk, Teacher to Teacher podcast, Dr. Gina Pepin—a passionate reading specialist, professor, and Region 1 Michigan Teacher of the Year—dives into a commonly overlooked factor in early literacy: h...
It’s All About the ‘And’: Blending Science, Joy, and Student Needs in Literacy
In this inspiring episode of “Let’s Talk Teacher to Teacher,” Dr. Gina Pepin welcomes a special guest who is both an accomplished reading interventionist and the coauthor (alongside children's author Eric Litwin) of The Power of Joyful Read...
Dyslexia in Secondary Students: What Teachers Need to Know
In this episode of Let’s Talk Teacher to Teacher, Dr. Gina Pepin explores the key characteristics of dyslexia in middle and high school students. Learn what dyslexia looks like beyond elementary grades, discover classroom signs to watc...
Michigan’s New Dyslexia Law: What Every Elementary Teacher Should Know
In this episode of Let’s Talk Teacher to Teacher, Dr. Gina Pepin breaks down Michigan’s new dyslexia law and what it means for elementary educators. Learn about universal screening, practical classroom requirements, and actionable stra...
Aligning Michigan’s Dyslexia Law: What Secondary Content Area Teachers Need To Know
In this episode of Let’s Talk Teacher to Teacher, Dr. Gina Pepin unpacks what Michigan’s new dyslexia law means for secondary content area teachers. Learn the law’s key requirements, discover specific classroom strategies, and gather t...
Vision Series: Spotting Dyslexia—The Power of Observation and Understanding Visual Processing
In this episode, Dr. Gina Pepin focuses on the critical importance of identifying dyslexia characteristics through careful observation of students’ language, reading skills, and behavioral signs—while also considering the multi-faceted role of ...
Fast Mapping & Lexical Learning—Supporting Students with SLI
In this episode of "Let’s Talk Teacher to Teacher," Dr. Gina Pepin shines a spotlight on the unique vocabulary learning challenges faced by children with Specific Language Impairment (SLI). Discover why fast mapping—acquiring new words quickly—...
Vision Series: The Real Science Behind Sight Word Learning—It’s Not Just Visual Memory
In this episode of “Let’s Talk Teacher to Teacher,” Dr. Gina Pepin debunks the myth that sight word learning is all about visual memorization. Drawing on current reading science, Dr. Pepin explains how true sight word mastery actually relies on...
Blending Authentic Text with Structured Literacy in Tier 3 Intervention
In this episode of "Let’s Talk Teacher to Teacher," Dr. Gina Pepin explores how to balance intensive, code-based reading instruction with the vibrant, meaningful experiences that authentic texts bring to striving readers. Discover why real book...
Word Recognition vs. Language Comprehension—Unlocking Reading Success
In this episode of “Let’s Talk Teacher to Teacher,” Dr. Gina Pepin breaks down the essential building blocks of reading success: word recognition and language comprehension. Discover the key components of each—like alphabetic coding, print conc...
The Power of Structured Language & Literacy—Teaching All Aspects for Lasting Success
In this episode of “Let’s Talk Teacher to Teacher,” Dr. Gina Pepin unpacks the essential components of structured language and literacy instruction. Discover how effective teaching goes beyond simply sounding out words—encompassing phonology (t...
The Truth Be Told: Dressed for Success…or the Circus?
Join Dr. Gina Pepin on this laugh-out-loud episode of “Let’s Talk Teacher to Teacher” as she shares an unforgettable compliment from a first-grade student: “You look so beautiful—just like a clown!” Dive into the unpredictable world of honest s...
What RAN Scores Really Mean
Ever wondered what those Rapid Automatized Naming (RAN) scores truly reveal? In this episode, Dr. Gina Pepin breaks down how RAN points to a child’s processing speed and automaticity, risk for reading challenges—including dyslexia—and early sig...
Rethinking Nonsense Words
Join Dr. Gina Pepin as she unpacks the hot topic of nonsense words in early literacy! Originally created as an assessment tool to gauge students' decoding skills, nonsense words have made their way into daily instruction—but is this really best...
Wikki Stix Wonders: Scooping Words and Building Phrasing
"Let’s Talk Teacher to Teacher with Dr. Gina Pepin"—the podcast created by educators, for educators! Join Dr. Gina Pepin each week as she shares practical tips, creative strategies, and real classroom stories designed to inspire and...
