I found the Hudson article on dyslexia fascinating--most notably, the idea that dyslexia is a reading disability. I liked this because it really makes you stop and think that this is a specific problem related to reading, and reading only. I think that really helps you to understand dyslexia better--I know that reading the misconceptions about dyslexia (some of which I held) helped me to better understand this reading disability. It also helped me think about my ELL students, and how so often their process of decoding is very, very similar to a dyslexic person's.
It made me think of the Tovani reading about "fake readers" because truly, fake reading would be a coping mechanism a dyslexic child would employ. I can't imagine the pressures on an undiagnosed child to keep up the appearances of a true reader, and then to fall through the cracks and make it to high school? We have utterly failed that student because the chances of surviving college, let alone a career that involves reading, studying, graphs or other elements of literacy, is slim to none. I knew people like that when I was in high school, and sadly I just attributed their lack of academic success to those students not working hard enough, or caring enough. I wonder now if they had an undiagnosed reading disorder...
I also think the RTI model is vital for a teacher when trying to teach reading. Routman and Cooper would agree with the Mesmers that one strategy is simply not enough. A teacher must try every trick in the book to see if one strategy takes a foothold, and the only way to discover if a strategy is working or not working is to intervene and keep detailed notes and records on those strategies. This is just good practice in general, and I think you see it with most schools in the form of Running Records. However, RTI should be used regularly on kids who need reading interventions in order to correctly discover what is going on in that student's mind, and how to help him or her achieve success in the classroom.
Empowering our students through strategies, differentiation and positive motivation is so vital towards creating good readers--even those who have significant reading disabilities.
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It made me think of the Tovani reading about "fake readers" because truly, fake reading would be a coping mechanism a dyslexic child would employ. I can't imagine the pressures on an undiagnosed child to keep up the appearances of a true reader, and then to fall through the cracks and make it to high school? We have utterly failed that student because the chances of surviving college, let alone a career that involves reading, studying, graphs or other elements of literacy, is slim to none. I knew people like that when I was in high school, and sadly I just attributed their lack of academic success to those students not working hard enough, or caring enough. I wonder now if they had an undiagnosed reading disorder...
I also think the RTI model is vital for a teacher when trying to teach reading. Routman and Cooper would agree with the Mesmers that one strategy is simply not enough. A teacher must try every trick in the book to see if one strategy takes a foothold, and the only way to discover if a strategy is working or not working is to intervene and keep detailed notes and records on those strategies. This is just good practice in general, and I think you see it with most schools in the form of Running Records. However, RTI should be used regularly on kids who need reading interventions in order to correctly discover what is going on in that student's mind, and how to help him or her achieve success in the classroom.
Empowering our students through strategies, differentiation and positive motivation is so vital towards creating good readers--even those who have significant reading disabilities.
