From your friendly neighborhood moderator

nt

Moderator,
As is not hidden, I am the writer of a program. With my utmost I have tried to never present posts with an intent to sell - never. When questions concerning my lifework arise - am I not to answer them? Remember, I did not begin the thread.
I for one vote to keep this as it is. If you see marketing - you own the board - either, remark with directions as to what is inappropriate or DESTROY the offending post.

There are many on this line linked to products: Phonographics, Read Naturally, SRA, DISTAR, Wilson, Orton-Gillingam, Concept Phonics, etc. Excluding us would be excluding an awful lot of reading experience. To me, blatant salesmanship seems blatant and malproductive.

Just to clarify:

I am not proposing any sweeping changes to the way the forums are run. As I said in my original message, we are delighted at the discussions that are taking place here.

As moderator, I reserve the right to delete inappropriate messages. However, before doing so, I felt it necessary to explain what is appropriate, and what is not, so that we would all be on the same page.

For the most part, the discussion here has been right on target – please keep sharing your experiences! All I ask is that you keep the blatant salesmanship to a minimum.

This discussion has been so interesting. As a teacher of special education students for 24 years, I am amazed at all the parents who reccommend the “solutions in a box”. I haven’t heard of most of these things and that’s probably because I look at the kid and figure out what he needs and create it myself. What a racket this must be. I know there are great “things” out there but I usually use the “solutions in a box” to put my drinks on. Nothing beats good old teaching! I am a big fan of such things as the University of Kansas Learning Strategies curriculum, but that’s real remediation not some boxed “thing”. No offense to the “solutions in a box” I know there is a population out there who are looking for “things”. All my “things” sit on the shelf and I am the “thing-maker”. It stretches me!

A while ago I offered to put together a FAQ and asked some other people if they would like to contribute their posts. There was some positive response but most people seem to be too busy. I will still be happy to do it; one of my ideas is to go through the archives, pick up good answers to questions and edit them, and then add other topics and put them together in one FAQ. Of course, the more I do this myself, the more it will reflect my own style and opinion, and that is why I haven’t gone ahead on my own without a stronger go-ahead from the community. OK, friends, do you want a FAQ, and do you want me to put together my best effort or do you want to find another fool . . er, volunteer?

ads: on occasion, I have posted here that I am offering tutoring. I’ve tried to make it clear that these are advertisements and you don’t have to open them if you don’t want to. Others have done the same apparently without offending anyone. Can we get a general opinion if this is acceptable?

I am willing to advertise in the Yellow Pages and have in fact contacted the ofice about it, but honestly for a small private tutor beginning a new practice, the price is quite steep. ($175. US minimum — that’s my entire summer income from one weekly student because I keep my fees as affordable as possible) I’m going to try to afford it in a month or two, but there must be many others out there who can’t handle that price for a small part-time business. Can weta arrange something less expensive for those of us who are NOT commercial profit-making businesses? Comments or suggestions anyone?

I definitely agree with the other posters that there is no solution in a box. I think parents are attracted to these things because they feel swamped both with demands and with too much disconnected information. A FAQ could be a big help for the beginner.

I never knew before that we had a moderator. Hi, there!! Nice to meet you. A few times I’ve complained to weta when we were swamped with chain letters and pyramid schemes. If we see these again, who should we contact?

which works for me… I’d be glad enough for the chain letters to get bounced :)

Hi Ashley,

I wish you had my son in your resource room! As a parent, with no formal education IN education, and no experience teaching any other than my own kids, the “solution in a box” was my only alternative to really teach my son to read. I had tried MY way for 5 years, and he still didn’t get it! The solution in a box worked for him - and I am delighted! I have spent one entire school year going to IEP meetings (7), politely persevering with the school system to teach my son appropriately, and finally came to the conclusion that there is no one in the school system who CAN teach my son in the way he needs to be taught (he has three comorbid identified disorders, and is a very low incidence disability for the school system - probably only one more out there like him - but how old?).

I have also paid three different private tutors to tailor a program for him, which I always discuss at the beginning - and they go their own way without really listening to me tell them what my son needs. I don’t drop them after one or two sessions, we have spent months and tons of money with each individual tutor.

If it weren’t for the solution in a box, my son would still not be able to really read. Thank goodness for this forum and the people who develop these programs!

Lil

Solutions in a box? Life work shared? Maps? “Reinventing the wheel?”

Do it all yourself? Not even the great Druids, who refused to commit their lore to written form, could imagine such an idea.

When my Dad died - one of those who designed and did everything himself - didn’t need texts - he was probably the best teacher who ever lived. You’d never know it though. Have you ever heard of Kenneth U. Campbell who taught at Oceanway Jr. High in Jacksonville, Florida? Didn’t think so.

When Dad died I searched in vain for his notes. There were none. What Dad gave me, I carry inside and am appreciative. I wish he had left you all something. I wish I had the box.

Ken, I don’t know why, but I seem to rub you the wrong way. Not intentional, really. You seem to be a veyr knowledgeable and very committed teacher, and these are not meant to be in any weay personal critiques.

Solutions in a box — well if they work so well, why hasn’t Hooked On Phonics cured all the cases of dyslexia in the country? For that matter, why hasn’t Phonographix/Reading Reflex cured every single case? Why do some people love FastForward and about the same number get nothing out of it? Why didn’t teaching machines cure all the nation’s educational woes in the fifties and sixties? Programmed instruction in the seventies and eighties? Computerized instruction in the eighties and nineties?
It does appear from many centuries of experience that you DO need that talented and knowledgeable and dedicated teacher. To do a good job teaching, you have to make a lot of judgement calls, all day and every day.
A system in a box can only fit a certain limited population who have those particular needs. If a parent happens to hit on the right boxes at the right time in the right order, things can work well; if not, there seems to be a lot of floundering around. Many parents here are incredibly dedicated and try every approach they can until something works, and keep working on it until the next one works; hats off to them. A lot of time, effort, frustration, and money could be saved by having a little more guidance as to what has worked for other people in a similar situation and stage, and that’s why I volunteered to try to put together a FAQ.

There are some people who are great teachers and some people who are great writers and some who are great at constructing a curriculum, and they are often not the same people.
I remember one math professor who terrorized (literally — a nasty,.vicious, screamer) me and a number of other students; largely because of my experience with him I took fifteen years to go back and finish my math major. After having succeeded in four years of work, I started graduate courses and found that this same professor was the author of one of the standard texts. I recoiled at the name, but then forced myself to open it. It’s excellently written and beautifully constructed. In person he was sarcastic and cruel and started conversations with an attack, not even hearing what was the question; on paper he was careful and helpful and even humorous.
On the other hand, many wonderful teachers have written some of the worst programs and textbooks inflicted on schools. They know what they do, but they don’t know how to explain to other people how it works and where and how to make those judgement calls. I am of the generation that hit university in the sixties and tried to teach in the seventies, and the amount of trash that was piled on us as the “latest discovery” was astounding; the school system is still trying to recover from much of the loss of that era.
I would say be grateful for a good teacher, and don’t worry if a great personality and intelligence cannot be boxed.

Victoria,
My responses have never been personal, though they are often very emotional. Cecil Mercer once said I presented like a “gunslinger” and one day it will get me in trouble. Oh, well. I’d rather call it “flying by the seat of my pants” and if one day I crash - if I survive - I can fondly recall all the wonderful places I’ve flown to. (Notice how adeptly we Southerners end sentences with prepositions, infinitives, etc.)
Good boxed programs (commercial curricula) are pieces of a puzzle (which have no one solution) to be placed together into an intervention for a student. It is, and has always been, the teacher/tutor/parent/aide/volunteer who is the artist/designer/savior/inspiration to help the student reach objectives.
I just wanted to defend - and, you know, perhaps inspire - other great teachers to get their ideas and lifework into a box (publication) so their insights can grow beyond them in time and space. How sad it would be if I hadn’t met Ogden Lindsley, Tom Lovitt, Owen White, Norris Haring, Hank Pennypacker, Eric Haughton, Nancy Mather, and even my good friend, Cecil Mercer, in print.
Anyone who believe my work, or anyone else’s for that matter, is the end all for a child having difficulties is a fanatic doomed for disappointment.

Anyone who believe my work, or anyone else’s for that matter, is the end all for a child having difficulties is a fanatic doomed for disappointment.

Believes me theirs a typo or too up they’re!

Victoria: here’s my vote for FAQ edited by yourself…this would help many parents new to the boards, who may not have time to ‘stick around’ long enough for topics to come up, or time to search the archives…

Thanks for the welcome! I have actually just started at Reading Rockets, and am thrilled that moderating the forums will be one of my responsibilities. You have created a vibrant community here, and we want to make sure it continues to thrive.

You probably won’t be seeing a whole lot of me, since I firmly believe that this is your area to discuss what is important to you. However, even though I won’t be posting very often, I will be keeping an eye on things. So far, I’ve found all the discussions to be absolutely fascinating.

Please feel free to report any spam, pyramid schemes, or other inappropriate posts to me. Hopefully I’ll catch most of them, but the more eyes the better. I can be reached at [email protected], or, if you’re accessing the forum through the Reading Rockets web site, by clicking on “Contact Us” at the bottom of the screen.

Regarding a forum FAQ, I’m all in favor of the idea. Victoria, if you’re still willing take this on, perhaps we can discuss it off list?

Victoria,

I am laughing at the idea that you of all people don’t like solutions in a box.

I have often thought you should box your ideas about automaticity (maybe in the form of a book) and get everyone to understand the principles you explain so well.

The instruction my son has received at school does not follow these principles. He has done better since I started using them.

Perhaps you could bring forth some very worthwhile, research based ideas in the form of a book or a box.

Linda F

How about a forum for therapists. Speech, OT, PT etc?

If you build it they will come.

I’ve long been trying to figure out how this could be put together. When I get a good creative structure I’ll tell you all.

Thank you for your helpful posts