It is an unwritten rule that each and every year we teach, we have a new set of experiences to learn from. Last year, my autistic kiddos and other special needs sweet peas made me a better teacher than I ever thought I could be. And I miss them. I really, really do. (If you would have told me that at the beginning of last year, I would have probably laughed at you, then looked at you sideways, but really, now, it's true!) :)
This year, I really am blessed to have another diverse classroom that I've never had before-- multiple (multiple) students with dyslexia. In the past, I've had 1 or 2, and I have followed accomodations, loved them lots, and really tried to help them succeed. This year, though, with many more, I'm having to amp up my teaching, add to my teaching "repitiore" and learn lots of new tricks and techniques. Which. is. awesome. I REALLY love learning, and just over these past few weeks, I've been so blessed to learn something new each and every day.
Yesterday, our dear, sweet dyslexia therapist spoke with us in our afternoon staff meeting, and she shared some pretty powerful videos. And of course, now I HAVE to share them with you! (Caution: Cry easily? Heads up!)
This next one has the beginning from an acutal documentary, but has been edited to include a "commercial" on the tail end for a specific school. Sorry I couldn't do the whole documentary, but if you just disregard the ending for the school, the first 80% of it is AMAZING....
So, after these first few weeks of school, and of course, some YouTube inspiration, I thought I'd devote the next few weeks (for myself) to learn all I possibly can about dyslexia and helping my kiddos! Which means, in turn, that I'm going to TRY to be a more reliable blogger (like last year!) and share with you! No promises though-- I don't know what it is, but I just can't seem to juggle this year like I could last! :) But anyways, check back soon...I might just have something new and interesting to share. Happy Thursday!
Posts
I loved this post. I suspect I have two students with dyslexia. I need some ideas for interventions. Our district doesn't even recognize dyslexia has a learning disability. It is more a medical disability and we do not get any strategies or interventions to use in the classroom. Thanks for opening my eyes. I will be researching too :)
ReplyDeleteThis is an amazing post, Jillian. I so wish we could crawl inside our students' brains and see how they work. For those who struggle, I sure wish we could just know WHY. As Miss Nelson above said, our district doesn't recognize it either and doesn't offer any services to help. So sad. Thank you for enlightening us and inspiring us as well!
ReplyDelete~Christy & Tammy
Fluttering Through First Grade
Gosh, I couldn't even imagine working in a school that doesn't recognize dyslexia as a learning disability. Our dyslexia therapist makes SUCH a huge difference with each and every kiddo. She is AMAZING, and on top of that, having that understanding of dyslexia also allows our students a few accomodations that help them out on all the standardized tests. I think the BIGGEST thing she has ever told me that students with dyslexia need is simply TIME! I couldn't imagine making our students with dyslexia be limited by the same amount of time as students without dyslexia!
DeleteSometimes I take a step back and just think how crazy it is-- in education we've come SO far, but there's still SO far to go to help each and every child succeed!
I am tutoring a 4th grader with phonological dyslexia. I am in the middle of reading journal articles to learn as much as I can. I am going to try Corrective Reading with the 4th grader. There is some research that shows that CR is effective with dyslexic children. I used it last year and saw some success with a 2nd grader who had dyslexia. I look forward to reading your posts! Lauren Teacher Mom of 3
ReplyDelete