A Conversation With the Creator of the Slant System™
Introducing, the magnificent and brilliant Marsha Geller!
Guest Blogger: Marsha Geller
In collaboration with Beth Hatlen
Why did you create the Slant System?
The development of SLANT came out of frustration. I was fresh from my Master’s degree in learning disabilities and was working as a resource teacher in a K-6 building. All my students couldn’t read and I was woefully unprepared to teach them.
How did that frustration fuel your passion for structured literacy and dyslexia?
My graduate course work included only one class in reading methods and its main project was to find out what reading program was being used in a school of our choice and present that to the class. I was frustrated and unprepared, so I searched for professional development classes that might help. It was at that time that the Illinois Branch of the International Dyslexia Association (IDA-IL) was just forming.
Who were you lucky enough to be trained by through IDA-IL?
They [IDA-IL] were bringing in Orton-Gillingham (OG) presenters to teach classes. The trainers that came to Illinois were the leaders in the field: Arlene Sonday (author and creator of Sonday System), Marcia Henry (past president of International Dyslexia Association), Jean Osman, Tori Green, and Mary Lee Enfield (creator of Project Read).
How did these experts and trailblazers in the Orton-Gillingham approach transform you as an educator?
I took every class that was offered and for the first time I felt I was learning ways to actually teach my students. I learned along with my students.
Can you share how this impacted your students?
I will be forever grateful to a fifth grader with dyslexia (practically a nonreader) that patiently allowed me to teach him in this new methodology [Orton-Gillingham]. He made incredible gains in the year we had together. He left for middle school close to reading at grade level.
How did the success of your student and your own personal growth propel you forward in your mission to help more students and teachers?
I was hooked on Orton-Gillingham and became active in the IDA Illinois Branch, eventually becoming Branch President. Along the way the IL Branch continued to offer OG classes and I became an OG trainer for the IL Branch.
What did you feel was a missing link regarding the OG training you were providing through the International Dyslexia Association?
At the time, there were very few materials available and those of us dedicated to this type of instruction spent hours planning lessons for our students. This led to my next frustration: lack of materials. As I began to get calls directly from schools to train their teachers, I felt a real need to have materials that were easily accessible to the teachers and their students. If I was serious about training, I didn’t want to train teachers on materials that I found inadequate and I knew no classroom teacher was going to spend hours writing individual lessons. At this time, I was also doing a good amount of private tutoring so I had already developed a teaching sequence, decodable word lists, and decodable sentences that were different from the few materials available. I also wanted materials that were adaptable to students of all ages, which really didn’t exist. My private students, ranging from first graders to high schoolers, took well to the sequence I had developed and were making excellent gains.
How did you help other teachers gain access to these materials you had created?
I began using my own materials in the classes I was teaching for the IDA Illinois Branch. During this time I was also teaching at a Chicago area University and became friends with one of my advisees, Deb Azen. She asked if she could help [create materials] and with her gift for writing decodable text, we were able to get the first two Stages [7 Stages total] of the program written. We finished writing and printed the materials in time for a big upcoming training. Deb and I remember many phone calls collaborating over story ideas and many a glass of wine being drunk!
How did your training through IDA and your work at a local university propel your mission forward?
I was teaching for a Chicago area university in their Special Education program. I taught the only two reading methods classes offered in the special education program and was the only instructor teaching specifically about dyslexia and Orton-Gillingham methodology. This was another frustration: the lack of understanding at the university level regarding specific instruction for students with dyslexia. In one of my classes I had a special education administrator for a large consortium just west of Chicago. He asked if I’d be interested in training all of his special educators! This was a huge step and truly the impetus for the finalization of SLANT. The project would take about a year before all the agreements were completed, so I had time to continue working on SLANT [decodable text, materials and professional development presentations].
After this initial training, how did the Slant System grow?
That initial training grew into many more trainings and SLANT Coaches were hired [to oversee practicum teachers moving through certification]. We were a real family, with monthly staff meetings at my house. With the help of our small initial group we solidified procedures, Deb and I finished all the books in the program, and I began to present and display at IDA conferences in the Midwest.
Starting a business is a giant leap of faith. Who did you lean on for support?
Throughout the years my husband, Rich, worked tirelessly behind the scenes on the business end of SLANT.
Looking toward retirement, how did you decide the next steps for keeping the Slant System alive?
Rich and I had many discussions about the future directions of the program. We were committed to keeping the program small and regional. I wanted to know each teacher that came through the program. That was how I met Beth Hatlen and Karla O’Brien.
Beth and Karla both went through certification and were continuing learning in Advanced Seminars [continuing education]. It was time for me to retire and I shared that information with the class. Karla reached out after class asking what was going to happen to SLANT when I retired and… the rest is history!
Beth and Karla have given the program a new life! I am so grateful to them for moving it forward and for reaching so many more teachers than I ever could have. I hope no teacher will ever again have to feel the frustration of not being able to teach the children sitting in front of them how to read.
A word from Beth Hatlen:
Dear Marsha,
Karla, and I are deeply grateful that you entrusted us with the Slant System. From the start, we’ve been committed to creating a family-like atmosphere and building meaningful, lasting relationships with the educators we serve, just as you did. No matter how much we grow, we remain dedicated to that same level of personal connection.
You’ve made a lasting impact on us and the students we work with every day. The professional development and materials you created for the Slant System, along with the simplicity and power of the intervention itself, will continue to shape the lives of countless teachers and students for years to come.
With love,
Beth and Karla
