michelle vliek

Speech & Language Therapist focusing on Literacy, future founder of Affordable Private Schools

[michelle vliek @mlvjax]

@Prudential How can you run a company where there is no real customer service? There’s 1 person who answers all our calls. The other insane thing is we had to get info & we had 2 fax it. They have delayed & made this process so difficult. I know I am speaking into the abyss but…

[michelle vliek @mlvjax]

When is a soccer game over? Nobody know @natebargatze

[michelle vliek @mlvjax]

@MissB53 💙

[michelle vliek @mlvjax]

💙💛

[michelle vliek @mlvjax]

@PruHelp ✅ thanks

[michelle vliek @mlvjax]

@Prudential How can you run a company where there is no real customer service? There’s 1 person who answers all our calls. The other insane thing is we had to get info & we had 2 fax it. They have delayed & made this process so difficult. I know I am speaking into the abyss but…

[Timothy Shanahan @ReadingShanahan]

https://t.co/Qy7KsnQCvi

[michelle vliek @mlvjax]

@HannahWardEdu Read How to make an apple pie…many years to this day my kids (20 year olds now) bring up Sri Lanka… a pear shaped island off the coast of India

[Brendan Lee @learnwithmrlee]

Ever had a student ace a test on Friday and forget everything by Monday?

In this clip @KimberlyBerens5 explains exactly why that happens: we are measuring the wrong thing.

Accuracy is a false ceiling. If we want learning to actually stick we need to focus on true fluency. Watch the clip to hear why fluency is the only functional measure of mastery and how it leads to retention, application and endurance.

Catch our full chat on the latest episode of Knowledge for Teachers! 🎧👇
https://t.co/OwwEaVVyL8

[michelle vliek @mlvjax]

@chefsevenn @dutchgirlusa I do. It’s a great Sunday family dinner

[Robert Pondiscio @rpondiscio]

Teaching without a curriculum is like *firing the chef* and making the waiter cook--and do all the grocery shopping--since "only you know what every diner needs."

P.S. If you fire the chef and make the waiter cook, she'll need to make a lot quick and easy meals just to keep her head above water.

Like...Hamburger Helper.

[The Writing Revolution @TheWritingRevol]

📝 Sentence Expansion: The building block of powerful writing! When educators explicitly model how to expand kernel sentences using question words (Who? What? When? Where? Why? How?), students learn to craft detailed, descriptive sentences that enhance their writing. This TWR strategy transforms basic thoughts into rich expressions, setting the foundation for sophisticated writing across all content areas.

Here's a peek into how The Writing Revolution models instruction of this strategy in our self-paced training. #TeacherPD #writingrevolution #K12Teachers #writinginstruction #hochmanmethod #teaching #SentenceExpansion #WritingSkills

[Nate Joseph @NateJoseph19]

Tips for using Repeated Reading:

1. Do it once a day for 5-15 minutes
2. Pre-read the text
3. Pre-teach the vocabulary and content
4. Segment words students struggle with
5. Focus on content area texts
6. Consider dabbling with poetry
7. Repeat until prosody is achieved

[michelle vliek @mlvjax]

@CrosswalkPD @VinceBoley @TheWritingRevol

[michelle vliek @mlvjax]

I agree

[SMB Attorney @SMB_Attorney]

With a week to reflect, I’m convinced this was the greatest moment in sports history.

A 2-star recruit leads the worst program ever to a national championship, beats his hometown team that wouldn’t let him walk on, and finishes it by running over the same guy who knocked him out the year before, with his mother battling MS watching from the stands.

If it was a Disney movie, you’d say it was too much.

[michelle vliek @mlvjax]

@BMcGrewvy This was a lovely movie. The scenery is gorgeous

[michelle vliek @mlvjax]

🤍❤️

[DK🇺🇸🦅🇺🇸 @1Nicdar]

130 schools said no.
He led the losingest program in college football history to a national championship anyway.
Fernando Mendoza was a 2-star recruit from Miami.

He tried to walk on at his hometown school. They passed.
So did FIU.
So did FAU.
So did everyone else.

At 17, he was sitting in his bedroom, crying over a silent recruiting inbox—after driving to 18 camps with his dad and sending highlights to more than 100 programs.
Not one FBS offer.
His only option? Yale. No scholarship. No NFL path.

Everyone told him to be “realistic.”
“Know your place.”
“Be grateful.”
He didn’t listen.
Because Mendoza understood something most people miss:
The worst outcome isn’t failing.
It’s never getting the chance to try.

Two weeks before signing day in 2022, his phone rang.
Cal needed a body. One offer. Out of 134 schools.
He took it.
He arrived as the third-string quarterback.
Spent a year on the scout team.
Lost his first four starts.
Got sacked 41 times behind a broken offensive line.

Still got up. Every time.
Then Cal brought in a transfer instead of building around him.
So Mendoza left the only school that had ever said yes.
He transferred to Indiana—the losingest program in college football history.

People laughed.
“Career suicide.”
“Graveyard program.”
“Nobody wins there.”
One coach told him something different:
“I’m going to make you the best Fernando Mendoza possible.”
That was enough.
Mendoza wasn’t just playing for football.
His mother has battled multiple sclerosis for 18 years.

Before every snap, he thought of her.
“My mother is my why.”
Indiana went 16–0.
Beat six Top-10 teams.
Won their first Big Ten title since 1945.
Mendoza threw 41 touchdowns.
Won the Heisman—first in school history.
First Cuban-American to ever do it.

Then came the title game.
Miami. Near his hometown.
Fourth-and-4. Season on the line.
Quarterback draw.
The kid 134 schools rejected spun through defenders and dove into the end zone.

Game over.
Indiana—national champions.
The losingest program became the best team in America.
All because a 17-year-old refused to believe “no” was the end.

Rankings don’t decide your ceiling.
Gatekeepers don’t write your ending.
Being overlooked isn’t a verdict—it’s a starting point.

Sometimes all you need is one shot…
and the courage to bet on yourself when nobody else will.
Don’t quit.

Credit: Barclay Mullins

[michelle vliek @mlvjax]

@Rosalyn_Teach thanks for the easy and practical ideas we can use to build literacy and STEM knowledge students 10/10

[Keso @Keso_904]

“The Jacksonville Jaguars don’t have fans”

Duval Vs. All Y’all #UnderratedFanbase

[michelle vliek @mlvjax]

🐆

[Tony Khan @TonyKhan]

Thank you @Jaguars fans!
Congratulations + thank you to Liam and the Jaguars players, coaches and staff on an incredible team win on the road today!

Go Jags!

[Frank Frangie @Frank_Frangie]

You don’t wanna play the Jags right now. I don’t care who you are.

You don’t want to face Trevor right now. I don’t care who you are.

This is elite stuff. Truly elite.

That is all.

Be well.