My son and I are not the ones failing to understand the issue.;-) And I love Gentry's work.
Lori Jackson District Literacy Coach and Mentor Todd County School District Box 87 Mission SD 5755 ----- Original message ----- From: cnjpal...@aol.com To: mosaic@literacyworkshop.org Date: Sunday, June 14, 2009 8:20 AM Subject: Re: [MOSAIC] Lori's story-was Do we really need to teachexplicitstrategies > > Lori > My heart goes out to you and your son. He is lucky he has such an advocate > in you. I work in an elementary school with children like your son every > day. > > We as a profession need to work to help our colleagues understand that we > are teaching children, not a curriculum and that it is our JOB to make > learning accessible to all. If children fail to learn, it is our > responsibility > to find a way to get that done. > > Have you read Richard Gentry's work on spelling? It would help you and > your son understand the wiring in his brain that affects his ability to > write. > Jennifer > > > > In a message dated 6/14/2009 9:48:34 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time, > ljack...@gwtc.net writes: > > My youngest son is a brilliant thinker, a real outside the box kind of > kid, but he reads slowly (with great understanding) and struggles with > handwriting and spelling. This year, as an eight grader, we began noticing > that > he was struggling to correctly copy mathematical equations. He would err in > the transcription, not in the solution, and then correctly solve an > incorrect problem. He had a great year in language arts, but my husband was > his > teacher and believes that when laptops are available to students, they > should all have the opportunity/choice to use them for drafting to > publishing. > Unlike his previous middle school language arts teachers, one in > particular, who harped on him constantly about neatness, letter formation > and > spelling, his dad grades all kids journals for thinking. Even with the > support of > word processing, we both saw Isaac struggle with spelling of even simple > words and began to push for evaluation in February. Sadly, because he is a > brilliant kid who still scores well on the standardized tests by local > standards, we met with resistance. I could point to the decline in his test > scores but since they were high in comparison to our general population, we > ere dismissed. His math instructor was quick to label him lazy and a behavior > problem (something we have discovered she does with any child who is > struggling) and he was pretty quick to let her know she was an idot (which > she > is not, but she was a non-certified, math phobic person assigned to proctor > a poorly designed distance learning class and is does appear she pretty > much hates boys). I ended up having to threaten to call the State Department > of Education and file a complaint before they finally decided to test him. > He did not qualify for services BUT was clinically diagnosed as dyslexic > with a specific focus on dysgraphia. In other words, he could spell and > visualize words correctly but then scramble them when asked to write the same > > thing. He cannot transcribe information well, makes reversals and > transpositions that impact meaning. He is not lazy, he CANNOT do this due > to a > specific processing disorder. I had met someone about about a year ago with > a > son with the same diagnosis and as she described her son to me, along with > the fight it took to get him services, she could have been talking about > my son. > > > > > > **************Refinance and lower payments online with Ditech. Visit > www.ditech.com Today! > (http://pr.atwola.com/promoclk/100126575x1221879746x1201405835/aol?redir=http:%2F%2Fclk.atdmt.com%2FDEG%2Fgo%2F155848685%2Fdirect%2F01%2F > ) > _______________________________________________ > 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. > > _______________________________________________ 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.
