I think the issues brought up by this discussion are quite valid and kids with this type of learning profile frequently go "unnoticed" until they reach the secondary grades when efficiency counts just as much as the skills themselves. I am concerned by the thought that so long as a kid can comprehend at grade level, our job is done as there is no problem. Working in a high school, I run into at least a kid or two every year that fits a profile similar to this and has seemed to slip through the cracks. Yet, I realize that teachers in the lower grades have generally noticed the same weaknesses I see, but do not remediate them because of a child's overall academic performance at the time. Once these kids get to high school, it is VERY HARD to go back and fill these basic skill gaps. They've learned many coping strategies independently, which is great. Generally, however, what I find is that these skills are more so AVOIDANCE skills rather than coping skills - gathering everything you "need to know" about a novel through listening to classroom discussion, not actually reading, does not prepare a student for more rigorous reading requirements in the common core, in college, and on all those pesky tests, but it does help you pass . Their way of "getting by" is certainly more efficient than actually learning the skill, yet there's always a point at which it comes back to bite them and they need to nail down the skills. Doing so at the high school level has to be very much so more individualized than at lower grades because they have all found unique ways around skills so one must find unique ways to slide in appropriate strategies. Yet, in earlier grades, if these weak skills are identified but are not severely impacting a kid's success, I do wonder how we provide this preventative support in light of the fact that there are plenty of "right now" issues in any given classroom.
Heather Waymouth High School Literacy Specialist Honeoye Falls - Lima High School heather_waymo...@hflcsd.org (585)-624-7050 "Always show the you in you that makes you who you are." - Chidinma Obietikponah STATEMENT OF CONFIDENTIALITY This email message and any attachments may contain confidential or privileged information. If you are not the intended recipient, you are prohibited from using the information in any way, including but not limited to disclosure of, copying, forwarding or acting in reliance on the contents. If you have received this email by error, please immediately notify me by return email and delete it from your email system. _______________________________________________ Mosaic mailing list Mosaic@literacyworkshop.org To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive
