Tag: teaching

Affirming Words

Affirming Words

by thecindyleafhall ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Mark Twain wrote, “I can live for two months on a good compliment.” The book of Proverbs says of the ideal woman that “Her mouth is full of wisdom, and kindness is on her tongue.” Kindness may not be in vogue in the current political climate of self-positioning and getting ahead by any means, but we are all drawn to kind people who affirm us. Compliments, like thin January sunshine after a week of gray skies, lift our spirits.

My dyslexic students work very hard and often have very little to show for it. That doesn’t mean their efforts should go unnoticed or unpraised. They, like Twain, will work much harder after an honest compliment. I try to daily find an accomplishment from each student that can be noted without being patronizing.  Kids can spot a fake a mile away. They hold me to the truth standard when I am giving out praise.

Handwriting is often a bone of contention for dyslexic people. There is a condition called dysgraphia which may co-exist with dyslexia.  It is basically confusion about the process of writing. Writing on the line, or even close to the line is a challenge in itself; let alone forming the letters correctly, spelling correctly AND remembering to slide the pencil over enough to leave space between the words.

I have two students whom I am sure have dysgraphia. One is toward the end of his time with me. I have been part of his educational life for 4 years, nearly all of his school life. Today I graded one of his writing assignments. A smile of pleasure bloomed across my face as I noted the neat, tight cursive writing, the excellent spacing, and the overall readability of the assignment. Expectantly watching me look over his work, the same smile crossed Patrick’s young face. This guy is out-of-the-park talented when it comes to story telling, and the content of his writing was superb, but that has never been the issue with him. Creativity oozes out of his every pore, and now he can write in a way that others can see that talent. I passed a reward tag across the table to him, and we shared a look of satisfaction as I praised his efforts. When a student does well, we both celebrate.

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My second dysgraphic/dyslexic student is at the beginning of his journey with me. We have traveled together only a few weeks, and he is just learning that I can be trusted, that I will never knowingly embarrass or put him on the spot, that I have a prize box in the cupboard which is not reserved only for kids who make A’s.

Today brought dictation sentences to his small group lesson, and as in the past, he was great at remembering the words to be written down. It was getting them onto the paper in a way I could read that was the issue. We have been working on it, and already there is improvement. Today as I rolled my chair to his spot across the table from me, he gave me a gap-toothed grin as my eyes slid to his work. There were spaces between the words today! And, for the most part, the words sat on the lines. A capital adorned the front of the sentence and a bowling ball of a period marked the end. WOW! I asked him if he knew how good his work was. He shyly said he knew, but that he liked to hear me tell him. Not holding back, I happily pointed out all the good things he had done on that sentence. He basked in the warmth of the words, affirming that his hard work was recognized and acknowledged.

He wrote his name on the reward tag with a flourish and dropped it into the box, half filled with other tags kids had earned for good work during that small group session. A small snowfall of white tags with initials penciled onto them. Each tag representing good work acknowledged, rewarded and praised. Each compliment a step toward building up a child so he or she can continue with the daunting task of working harder at reading and spelling than any of we non-dyslexic individuals can even imagine.

Eyeglasses and ADD

Eyeglasses and ADD

by thecindyleafhall ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

I have taught some real wigglers in my time.  Kids who need to move, climb, see what their neighbor is up to, do just about anything besides get down to the task at hand and stay there. Having been a restless child myself, I sympathize with kids who tend that way. Today we know that ADD and ADHD can interrupt thoughts and actions, and that there is a medical solution for this problem. A lot of research and progress has been made in the area in the past several years, and stigmas associated with medicating children for ADD or ADHD have fallen away.

My Classroom, circa 1982

I digress to tell one story from the long-ago of my teaching career. I had a class of second graders, and the boys’ favorite recess game was to reenact favorite episodes of A-Team, a popular TV show of that era.

One slender boy from that class struggled to make friends enough to be included in the fun and games. Justin made himself an outsider at recess by his in-class behavior.  The boy could not sit down and stay on task! His behavior got on the nerves of the entire class. His mom and I conferenced and schemed, tried behavior modification until we were the modified ones. The strategy which worked better than others was giving Justin three rocks on his desktop at the beginning of the morning, and three in the afternoon.  He could ask an unrelated question or get out of his seat for no reason, but he had to give me one of his rocks each time. When the rocks were gone, so were his “free passes.”  The getting out of his seat and asking unrelated questions improved, but I can’t say that we ever addressed the underlying problem that caused the behavior issues.  We never did get him to the place he longed to be but didn’t know how to achieve.  Justin was never chosen to be “Face” in the A-Team recess game.  They always invited him to be “Murdock.”  The crazy, annoying team member. Justin’s behavior affected not only his learning life, but also his social interactions.

Back to the Present – there are choices now!

Fast forward 30 years, and as you were telling me through your computer while you read about Justin, he probably was ADHD.  There was little he could do to control his behavior or the effect it had on those around him.  Happily, today there are choices to help the Justins of the world.  Many of the choices are pharmaceutical ones.  That is a Huge Deal.

Let me tell you what I see in my classroom when one of my students who normally takes medication for ADD or ADHD comes in without a dose of the medication that morning.  I cannot effectively teach him or her, and he or she cannot effectively focus on what is being presented.  The medication allows learning to take place in a way that it cannot in the absence of the medication.  I am not a doctor, nor a psychologist, nor a pharmacist, only a teacher in a classroom.  All I know is what I see.  I see that kids who have ADD or ADHD learn better when they are appropriately helped, and that help may be medication.

Read the newest information

Dyslexia and ADD or ADHD do not always go together.  Dr. Eric Tridas has an excellent book, The ABC’s of ADHD. He estimates that about 30% of children with dyslexia also have ADD or ADHD. If you or your child falls into that 30%, I urge you to follow your child’s best interest, and not to rely on outdated information or old ways of thinking. Get a copy of Dr. Tridas’ book and read up on the newest information available.

Another story to give some perspective

One of my tutors gives an example about ADD or ADHD medications that I think succinctly sums up the issue.  She relates that Stacy was discussing with Tammy how she did not give her child the prescription for ADD or ADHD medication all the time. Stacy complained that the medication didn’t seem to do much for her child anyway.  Incredulous, Tammy asked Stacy if she wore her glasses all the time. The answer was a surprised yes. Stacy couldn’t see to read or drive without the glasses. She needed them all the time to make her path clear. Your child, Tammy said, needs the medication all the time too, so her path is clear.  Medication is to an ADD or ADHD child what glasses are to a near or farsighted individual.  A tool that helps overcome a medical obstacle.  Nothing more, and nothing less.

Syllables Are Your Life

Syllables Are Your Life

by thecindyleafhall ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Change is hard

Sam, a new second grader started at my school and in my dyslexia classroom this week. It is hard for little guys to leave their familiar school behind, especially at semester break. That was the challenge Sam was taking on. His new mainstream classroom teacher and classmates were fabulous at welcoming Sam to their room. They made him cards, elected him “mayor” of his pod of 6 desks, and showed him where things were. I wanted him to have the same warm welcome in the Dyslexia Center, where I knew that I would be prodding Sam to work on the very things that are hardest for him. I needed him to like coming there.

This year began with two students in my second grade small group. The addition of Sam swelled the crowd to six, and filled the last available slot in that small group. The other three new students remembered how it felt the first week in my room.  No hiding from confusing concepts like vowels and blends. Using new tools like finger sounding and airplane writing.  Strange ways to practice words, like tracing sight words on a fur covered board that doesn’t let you see what you have written, only feel it. The experience is certainly different from any other classroom, and takes some adjustment to get used to.

The five “old timer” students were up to the task of helping me make Sam feel at ease.  They offered to sit near him, told him where important supplies like erasers and the pencil sharpener are, got him his own small white board and a “juicy” marker when it was time for dictation practice. And it helped. Sam visibly relaxed by the second or third day. He could tell the new tools were helping him already.

Learning a different way is ok, and fun!

When Sam relaxed, his curiosity about our way of doing things caused him to ask about the reasons behind our methods. That is always a turning point. When a student understands that learning a different way from his or her non-dyslexic classmates is not only ok, but it is fun, that knowledge is the first step on the path of owning their dyslexia.

We told Sam how fuzzy board tracing will help glue to spelling of sight words into his brain.  He knew that was true, because by Friday he was spelling the mysterious sight word “does” correctly.

The girls demonstrated how airplane writing a new cursive letter’s formation helps when it is time to write it on paper with a pencil.  Sam knew they were right. He compared his efforts at the cursive letter e from Monday with the page of cursive e, l, i, t and m he wrote by Friday. Airplanes helped alright!

The secret to life, according to a dyslexic second grader

The funniest method explanation came from the other boy in small group.  He drew upon his success of the past three months in the dyslexia program when he told Sam that dividing longer words into syllables mattered. Leaning in close, he divulged the secret to successful reading for a dyslexic person of any age. “Syllables,” he whispered with the wisdom of an aged sage, “are your life.”

Sam will do well. His reading and spelling will continue to improve, and language tasks will seem less confusing to him.

Especially now that he knows the secret.

Syllables are your life.

Big Elephants

Big Elephants

by thecindyleafhall ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Great ideas come from everywhere. It’s just a matter of being ready and willing to grab an idea, modify it to your needs, and go with it.

We had a need in my classroom. We needed great mnemonics to help the kids remember how to correctly spell frequently used but creatively spelled words. Like the word “because.” Most students had settled into spelling it “bicuz,” but we had more variations on the spelling of that one word than Paula Deen has ways to cook with butter. I was on the hunt for a great idea alright.

The Inspiration

The idea came from a comment made by character Patrick Jayne on an episode of the TV show The Mentalist.  It was intended as a wise crack, but I took it for the gift it was. Jayne snidely remarked to another character on the show “Big elephants can always understand small elephants.”

He had just smirked a mnemonic for the word “because.”

Thank you, writers of The Mentalist!

In the classroom, I created a backstory for the phrase, “Big elephants can always understand small elephants.” It needed a memory link, or the students wouldn’t remember what it was that could help them remember how to spell “because.” I borrowed heavily from Babar and other wise old elephants in children’s literature and came up with this yarn.

The Backstory

The little elephants of the village had tangled their trunks and tails playing soccer. Again. This time none of them could get free to help the others. So they did what they always did when in a fix of their own making. They called for Granddaddy Elephant. He laid aside his pipe, kindly lumbered over, sorted out kinks in tails and knots in trunks, telling stories of his boyhood escapades to keep the little elephants from wiggling as he worked. When they thanked him for his kindness to them, he looked fondly from one to another and told them, “That’s ok. Big elephants can always understand small elephants. I was a small once too, you know.”

Brain Glue

Now for some artwork to glue the story on its mental peg in each young brain. Grey elephants were cut from construction paper to be Granddaddy and glued to yellow construction paper. Small elephants in all manner of tangles were stamped onto the page, with speech bubbles asking for help. Down the side, in big letters, “because” was spelled out, and written across from each letter was the word from the mnemonic phrase, “Big elephants can always understand small elephants.”

Did it stick?

Yup, they still remember it! We went through that exercise about a year ago. Recently the students were writing journal stories, and I could hear one softly whispering to himself, “Big elephants can always understand small elephants” as he wrote. His neighbor smiled and commented how much he loved that story, and it helped him spell the word correctly. A girl who is new to the group asked to be told the story, and her classmates happily obliged.

Why did this work? Because. Because small stories can be used to solve big problems.

Priorities

Priorities

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“The reason most major goals are not accomplished is that we spend our time doing second things first.”

This quote sits in a frame on my desk at school.  I try to look at it before I am pulled off on rabbit trails.  I owe my students the best planning, the best lessons, the best visuals I can give them.  That won’t happen if I give in and allow myself to while away my time on interesting but less important tasks. But why do second most important things seem more appealing than most important?
Yeah! I can do this!

Yeah! I can do this!

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“We read the whole book!”

“This is the first chapter book I have ever read to the end.”

“When we started, I didn’t think we would finish.”

If I could find a way to bottle the sense of accomplishment dyslexic individuals feel when they turn the final page, savor the concluding paragraph, close the back cover on a book they have read all of, I would be rich.

In the classroom, we celebrate finishing a book in the grand style such a feat deserves.   We savor and revel in the moment and the work it represents. We let each person tell what was their favorite part of the book. We talk about who liked the ending and who can suggest a better one. The characters have become fellow classmates. Ones whom we will miss now that the book is done, and we want it give them the farewell our closeness merits.

It is a pivotal moment when a student understands the charm of crawling inside the world created between the covers of a book. Visiting another time. Bravely adventuring in a far away place.  Traveling in unimaginable ways. Hanging out with friends whom you have come to treasure. Understanding how something works which baffled you before you read a book about it. Once a person catches a glimpse of any or all of those things, the effort to read becomes worth it.

Today I began “Because of Winn-Dixie” with my 4/5 grade small group. We settle in and take turns reading orally to each other. I know their eyes will well with unshed tears in the sad parts, and they will snort laughter in the funny parts. I know they will get better at reading as we read. I know we will finish the book, and that everyone of those students will be richer for having spent time with Opal and her goofy canine sidekick during a hot Florida summer.

I know I don’t have to try and bottle their enthusiasm to get rich.

I already am rich, just by being along for the ride as this amazing group of kids grin and say, “Yeah! I can do this!” when we finish the last page.

Getting the basics right

Getting the basics right

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Our goal as teachers and tutors of dyslexic students is to “Teach them to hear the words they’re looking at, and to spell the sounds they hear.” Dorothy Blossomwood Whitehead

Mrs. Whitehead is one of the early teachers and tutors of dyslexic students.  Trained in the northeast, where O-G method seemed to have its start, she ended up in the northwest through a family move.  Rather than give up and return to traditional teaching methods, she nurtured the O-G methods she had been taught.  Mrs. Whitehead pioneered a volunteer tutor-based classroom for her many needy students, and wrote a manual on O-G method that is still a go-to reference for many today.   My signed copy of her manual came off my shelf as I wrote my lesson plans for this week.  Thanks, DBW!

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Playing Mind Games

Playing Mind Games

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As I set up for 4/5 grade small group, I hear muffled giggles at the door. “Is she there?” a small voice stage whispers, clearly the elected spokesman for the group. I go to my classroom door, my hands full of exactly what I know they want. I carry into view the desired objects that these dyslexic kids arrived early to get. They crave – Brain Games. I invite the early arrivals in, and they claim the games from me, quickly divide themselves into groups for playing, and set to work training their brains – loving every minute of it!

Tenzi and Blink currently reign as top favorites among our brain game possibilities.  These games have no words, only symbols, and are played with astounding concentration at top speed. Both games center around almost instantaneous pattern recognition, and the player’s correct, quick action based on that pattern recognition.  Sounds, well, like reading, doesn’t it?

Don’t tell the kids, but these brain games are building the centers of their brains where symbols are interpreted and appropriately acted upon. Yup, playing these games will improve reading speed.

A name like Tenzi stirs up images of a game steeped in ancient cultural richness, perhaps originating in Morocco, or Tibet. I imagine ancient, white clad men in turbans squatting in the dust to play. But no, it was invented by two friends named Steve and Kevin right here in the USA. What it lacks in historical pedigree, it makes up for in adrenaline rush and brain neurons multiplying like dust on a Moroccan roadside.

Tenzi is played with sets of ten brightly colored dice. Players roll their 10 dice, continuing to roll the ones that don’t match until all dice show the selected number. No polite conventions like taking turns when playing Tenzi. Everyone goes at the same time, with the victor shouting “Tenzi!” and beaming at his pile of matching dice. I bought two sets of 40 dice from Amazon, allowing for an epic, eight player Tenzi game if we want to go there, or more quiet games of two or three players scattered through the classroom.  

Blink is a two player card game. My sets came from Target and cost about $5.00 each.  The game has 80 cards with symbols in one of three colors, patterns or numbers. All the cards divided between two players fly as players race to sort his or her cards first. On a quiet day, I am sure I hear their brains growing as they speed to interpret the meaning of each card and act on that information – the faster the better!

The great thing about brain games is that there are no losers, only winners.  Winners with really great brains.