Differentiation

This fall, I attended the IDA in San Antonio, TX. It was so much fun and incredibly informative and engaging. I had been twice before over the last fifteen years or so, and the layout of this year allowed me to attend a range of sessions (much more so than in years past). The most interesting sessions included talks with research connecting literacy gains of LD/ELL students and the connection between the classroom and remediation, mental health and the connection to literacy/LD diagnosis, phenotypes of dyslexia (headed up by the UCSF team), and practical classroom strategies such as the benefits of repeated reading for fluency. I added all of the slides to a folder, so any Burke's colleagues can take a look! I'll also be sharing some of the information during our LS meeting in January. I felt incredibly lucky to go!

This was a three day workshop hosted by Teachers College Reading and Writing Institute. I'm breaking up my learning into the three days. They were organized by: what is the latest research on dyslexia? how do we screen for dyslexia? how can we accommodate our students with dyslexia in reading workshops and other content area?

Day 1 Notes

First off, it was important to familiarize myself with dyslexia's definition. It is so much more - and an inaccurate stereotype - than students writing characters backwards.

Definition: A brain-based condition that makes it difficult to read. An unexpected difficulty in learning how to read.

Success dependent on: correct instruction specifically for dyslexia, self-motivation, and intellect. This graphic was fascinating to show the difference in a dyslexic's brain when it comes to forming language skills:

This summer, part of the Student Support Services (SSS) team began the ambitious project of updating our outside referral list. This is the list of outside providers that we use to match students with services, such as when making a referral for a neuropsychologist, therapist, occupational therapist, speech-language pathologist, etc. This project included contacting outside providers, working on an updated google form, and interviewing new providers. This will be an ongoing project for the remainder of the school year, but this was a great start!