Angela Gillespie

Angela Gillespie is a dedicated 3rd-grade classroom teacher and dyslexia therapist at Spring Valley School, where she has been employed since the fall of 2012, marking her 13th year of teaching. She holds a degree in Collaborative Education from Birmingham-Southern College and is a Certified Academic Language Therapist (CALT). Angela plays an active role in the school as a member of the leadership team, lower school lead, and security team.

In her personal life, Angela enjoys reading, practicing yoga and Pilates, and chasing after her two sons. She finds great joy in witnessing her students' self-confidence rebound and grow, especially those who arrive feeling defeated. Angela's teaching philosophy emphasizes that students learn best through explicit, multisensory instruction with plenty of practice and review, believing that children learn best by doing.

Angela is committed to helping her students become independent learners by teaching them to use assistive technology like speech-to-text tools. One of her most engaging units is an immersive study of the Titanic, where she decorates her classroom to resemble the ship and guides students through an in-depth exploration of its history. This high-engagement project includes learning about real passengers, studying primary and secondary sources, and culminates in impactful student reflections. Last year, she introduced a poetry unit featuring a "poetry café," where students showcased their work in front of an audience, an event she plans to repeat due to its success.

Angela advocates for a better understanding of "learning differences," emphasizing that it does not signify anything "wrong" but rather highlights the need for different teaching methods. She challenges the myth that individuals with dyslexia cannot read, asserting that many dyslexics can be taught successfully to read and that dyslexia exists across all levels of intelligence. Angela believes that the specialized, multisensory, and systematic approach at Spring Valley is not widely available in most educational institutions, which is driven by research and science.

Angela is married and a proud mother of two boys, ages 6 and 3.