星期二 [ 2010-1-26 9:51:49 | watches2009 ]   Using the Struggle to Understand Others I come from a family of five sisters and two brothers who are all readers and were good students in school. I was the shy and quiet sister. I struggled in school and could never figure out how to read, spell words, or solve math problems. I was always watching everyone, trying to figure out what they were doing and why it was so easy for them. I remember my parents always reading books, magazines, and newspapers. You would think that because I come from a house full of readers that I would have just picked up the love of reading, but that was not the case. My mom knew something was wrong early on. It wasn't until I was 10 years old that my parents finally got some answers. They found out that 1 had a learning disability (dyslexia) in reading, written expression, and math. That was both a relief and a cause for concern for my parents. They didn't know what to do for me or how to help me. From the time I was in 4th grade until college, I went to summer school and took both a reading and a math class. I graduated from high school with a 5th grade reading and math level. I then decided to go to college because everyone else in my family went to college. I loved working with kids and I was good at training new employees where I worked. So, I went for a degree in education. At first I thought I wanted to be a middle school teacher since I struggled so much in 7th and 8th grade, but I decided for elementary. After 5 1/2 years of sweat and tears, I graduated from University of Arizona with a B.A. in elementary education. There were professors who told me that I should led tube lamps not be there. There were times I failed and had to take the class again. But through it all, I wanted to show everyone that I could do it and be a good teacher. It was in college that I learned about what I needed to do to be successful in school. I started tape recording all lectures. Then I would have to go back and listen to them to finish taking the notes I had difficulty in keeping up with in class. I sat in the front of the class to help me stay active in learning instead of sitting back and being passive. I learned that if I was in a study group, I learned more from group discussion then just reading the chapter. I learned about color coding my notes and writing important information on index cards to study from. I learned that I was better at labs and active learning then sitting in lecture halls and taking notes. I then got my masters in special education. I knew I wanted to help other students who struggled in school like me. I thought that this would be enough to make a difference. But even after 10 years of teaching experience and a master's degree, I still didn't know how to help all students, especially those who struggle in reading and spelling. It wasn't until I learned about Orton-Gillingham and multisensory teaching that I understood the importance of teaching the structure of our language and the importance of teaching the decoding of words. It was during this time that I found my true love, and that is training teachers. Since 2003, I have been working at the Arizona Department of Education in Reading First. I have been a part of and have seen a remarkable transformation of schools and teachers in what researchers know is "best practice" in the instruction of at-risk students. I have been able to share my experiences and knowledge with teachers who have never struggled to learn to read or who have not been taught how to teach reading explicitly and embroidered patches systematically. I am truly blessed to have a job that I get to work with educators and share my story and knowledge every day. by Mary Wennersten, President, Arizona Branch of IDA Other articles: http://www.gxfow.com/Blog/View/?213 浏览(294) | 回复(0) |