Tag: teaching

So, if they have dyslexia, they can’t read, right?

So, if they have dyslexia, they can’t read, right?

by thecindyleafhall ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

People with dyslexia can learn to read and to spell, and to write coherent sentences!  They just learn a different way from non-dyslexic people.  

Dyslexic people have different brain architecture which spreads out the centers in their brain where language tasks take place rather than having a tidy little brain neighborhood of language factories whirring away at reading and spelling tasks.  But we can create “brain roads” from one center to another, making language tasks faster and less prone to getting lost along the way. Targeted and memorable practice transforms those brain roads into brain superhighways along which language information can zoom.  

Teaching a dyslexic person to read involves a lot of really fun and creative methods.  Fun for the student and the teacher! I say “make it memorable” (and I don’t mean scarred-for-life memories of classroom embarrassment).  I mean connecting a language concept with a fun activity or crazy story.  Many dyslexic people are highly creative, so the kids are along for the ride on this, often making great suggestions which we implement to give them ownership of their learning.  

Phonics are at the core of teaching a dyslexic person to read.  It surprised me to learn that there are 44 speech sounds in American English, but only 26 alphabetic characters. So somebody is working overtime to create those extra sounds! Many sounds are spelled in multiple ways.  We make letters into characters from our story, learning in a sequential way their sounds and characteristics. The letters’ personalities unfold like beloved book characters whom we crave to know more about and understand.  

For example, the secret life of the letter Y.

My students love discovering the secret life of the letter Y. By day, mild-mannered consonant, minding its own business, living at the beginning of words or syllables.  But!  Y sometimes dons superhero capes hidden in its closet that allow it to become an undercover vowel, making an e or an i sound, when the need arises.  And you can bet every child in the room wants to know exactly what the needs are that allow super capes to be whipped out and worn!

So they learn the Y Rule. This is a smidge of what I mean by making it memorable.  Secret Superheroes vs. letters on a page.  Hmm, I know which one I would remember more readily!    

And the fun has barely begun!  In another post I will give you a peek into kinesthetic methods, brain training games, and a whole lot of other great tools from my bag-o-tricks.

The O-G Method

I would like to mention that the sequential method for teaching a dyslexic person, and the kinesthetic methods which are so successful are all part of the Orton-Gillingham method.  It was pioneered by Dr. Samuel Orton in the 1930’s, and is the method in which I was trained to tutor dyslexic people.  Google it.  You will be reading about the O-G method for the rest of the day.  It’s that interesting. 

Hi, I am Teacher Cindy

Hi, I am Teacher Cindy

by thecindyleafhall ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

This post was first published in 2013, when I began blogging.

I’m a career educator.  This is my 20th year in the classroom. I come from a family of teachers.  My grandma taught in a one room school house in Webster County, Iowa.  My aunts were teachers, my son is adjunct faculty at a university near him, his wife teaches middle school English.  My niece teaches high school math. Teaching is who we are, and classroom stories are what we swap at the dinner table, what we email to each other, what we chat about when we talk on the phone over the weekend.  Those are some of the stories I want to share with you on this blog.   

After my first 7 years as an elementary teacher, I took 10 years away from teaching in a classroom when our three sons were small.  During that time I discovered my love of tutoring reading!  Watching my own young sons develop into readers made me want that for every child.  Ten classroom years later, I was trained to tutor children with dyslexia, and launched a private tutoring practice.  

Some wonderful people were patient in helping me hone my teaching reading skills to meet the needs of dyslexic students. I loved working one-on-one with students of all ages, and getting to know them well enough for them to confide in me their heart’s desire—to be able to read and spell as their classmates could. Students’ confidence soared as they approached their goal by working with parents, themselves and me.  Five years passed, my schedule filled and I had a waiting list of potential clients. I thought I was in my do-this-until-I-retire career, and that was good with me.  

And then an unexpected request wrinkled my well ironed plans.  

Tonya, the principal at one of the schools where I went on my weekly tutoring rounds, called me into her office one rainy October day after I finished up with my student.  She asked if I would be interested in developing and implementing a dyslexia intervention program for their school, to start the next fall. After taking time to discuss it with my very supportive husband, and praying over the decision, I agreed.  

The next months were a blur of meetings, proposals, idea bouncing, and program development. Sally Shaywitz’ book “Overcoming Dyslexia,” has a chapter called “A Perfect World,” which I took as my guide for the program. My graphic design major son created beautiful brochures for us, we advertised with our local cable provider and parents began to call to express interest in enrolling their children in my program. The Dyslexia Center was launched, and neither I nor my students have ever been the same. 

Now, three school years into the program, I’ve made improvements, won victories, and learned many lessons. I have stories to tell, and I hope you will enjoy letting me share them with you.  

Fast forward six years – I am still with the Dyslexia Center, still just as passionate as ever about teaching dyslexic students to read. Another growing passion has become sharing knowledge with other educators to help them learn how to teach the dyslexic students in their classrooms.