BETTER INSIGHT, BETTER EDUCATION STAFF ATTENDS THE INTERNATIONAL DYSLEXIA CONFERENCE BY ASHLEY BOWERS // 6TH GRADE ENGLISH TEACHER
Twenty percent of American students are dyslexic, and one-third are reading below grade level. Yet, there has been almost no change in reading instruction in five decades. Luckily, as the world’s awareness of dyslexia grows, so does the research. In November, our 6th Grade Team traveled to Portland, OR, to attend the International Dyslexia Conference. While Collegiate has been arguably progressive in its implementation of learning lab tutors and accommodations, we felt there was still much to be learned on the topic of learning differences. At this conference, the best and brightest minds in neuroeducation presented their findings to a large group of educators, parents, and medical professionals. The insights we gained from these experts fell largely into two categories: better scientific understanding, which boosted our general knowledge and empathy, and best practices, which has improved our instruction in the classroom. Many believe that dyslexia is simply the reversing of digits. It is not a visual processing disorder, however, it’s a neurological one: the brain’s ability to attach a sound to a phoneme is impaired. Likewise, dysgraphia is not just messy handwriting, as commonly believed. Those with dysgraphia do not have access to the neurological function to plan and execute written language. They must access working memory to determine the necessary sounds and symbols (letters) and how they go together. It’s not that their brains don’t think as fast– it’s that the connection isn’t immediately there. The good news is there are research-based strategies to help students with each of these learning differences. Across all disciplines, the goal of reading should be comprehension, not just fluency. Students should be able to remember what is read, then do something with that knowledge. This focus on comprehension was at the core of 30
each of the strategies presented. While we did feel a certain amount of affirmation as to what we at Collegiate are already doing, we also discovered new strategies, big and small, to enhance our teaching. In math, word problems can be extremely challenging for dyslexics. We learned that math teachers can use morphological families of words to build understanding of difficult math vocabulary. For example, if one can tie words such as equal, equation, equivalent, and equa-angular together, it will help with understanding. Additionally, students must spend time visualizing what is happening in a word problem before they can begin to solve it. If students can take the numbers out and comprehend the story, it will be easier to solve. Successful and enduring memorization of basic math facts was also heavily emphasized. We have begun implementing these changes in math and have already seen improvement. In literature, we have begun using DIMS (Does It Make Sense?) exercises to force students to slow down and comprehend what they are reading. When reading difficult texts, the teacher’s first question should be, “What is happening?” This helps ensure that students are fully understanding and making sense of what they read. We also discovered a new app – Re-Wordify – which will aid in the reading of more difficult texts. In science and social studies, we are going to continue to focus on comprehension while reading difficult texts, rather than the more traditional practice of hunting for specific answers. A good point was made at the conference that while handson experiments are very useful and fun for students at this age, adults don’t do science experiments. We read articles and listen to podcasts. If we want students to be lifelong learners, we cannot overlook the fact that helping them make deep connections
