Empowering Teacher CANDIDATES: Using the lessons I learned to help preservice teachers support readers in the primary grades.

The article discusses the author's role as a professor of literacy and elementary education, focusing on preparing future educators to address reading difficulties in primary-grade students. Topics include the significance of teacher confidence in influencing student learning, the author's personal experience with a struggling reader, and the incorporation of research-based practices in teaching phonemic awareness and phonics to improve reading skills.