Hi! I’m Tori Friedrich. Welcome to my little space on the internet. Let me tell you a little about myself.

My teaching journey has been full of twists and turns, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. I started in 2006 as a music teacher, having completed my music education degree in NC. After graduation, I moved (for love 😍) to Kansas City, MO, where I had my first teaching job.

A few years in, with the birth of my son, I wanted a way to work from home and spend more time with my growing family. I put my Master’s Degree (Curriculum and Instruction with an emphasis in Reading) to use and became a Curriculum Developer for a small start-up, where I stayed until 2019. I LOVED this work, creating materials that I knew would be easy to implement for teachers in the classroom.

But the pull of the classroom is strong, and in 2019 I found myself back at it, this time in third grade, and just in time for a global pandemic 🤪. A couple of years ago I had the opportunity to switch to Title 1 Reading for 5th and 6th grade upper elementary students. In the process everything (I thought) I knew about reading was turned on its head! As I dove into the Science of Reading, I learned why, despite daily small groups and doing everything “by the book,” I never made great progress with my students who struggled most with reading. I became LETRs trained and began implementing explicit foundational skills instruction in my small groups. It turns out, reading really is brain science!

Most importantly, I’m a wife and mom. My three boys are in/ entering their teen years and busier than ever. Nothing makes me happier than attending a soccer game, watching a concert, or even cheering along the sidelines of a cross country race for a 20 second glimpse of my kid. Iykyk.

My hope here is to create a space where we can share ideas and what’s working in our classrooms! Your feedback and input are incredibly valuable to me. Please don’t hesitate to reach out via email at torifriedrichteaches@gmail.com. If you have questions, comments, or suggestions, I am ready to listen and make sure that this little corner of the internet is helpful to you.