I have been teaching for over a decade in both general ed and special ed and am new to this board. I even have a master’s degree. I used to think I was a pretty good teacher but after finding this board I have much to learn. I am looking for a good resource on remediation. Books? classes?
I want to better understand what tests I can use to find out students strengths / weakness in all the lingo used on this board. I presently have access to the use the Woodcock 3, Brigance, and have access to the IQ info.
How do you know for example that a student is language learning disabled, or just ld, or how do you know if it is a auditoty processing vs visual processing or neurological, or something else? With an IQ in the 60’s how do you know if it a memory problem or mental retardation? Presently, I just teach kids in math with lots of manipulatives and drill. I use Step Up for writing, I pretty much don’t teach spelling and just let them have a cut list from general ed since I haven’t been able get kids to spell. In reading I use Reading Mastery and Read Naturally, Explode the Code. I am now learning Phono-graphix from the book.
And if we remediate all these kids with different formulas, then how do you do it in Public School? I have groups of 5-8 kids in and out all day for 45 to 1 hour slots? Is is better to pull them out for shorter, more individualy slots with less time? So many goals, so little time.
I feel like what I learned in college did not prepare me for what I should be knowing. I do feel I have had many successes but….I am hungry for more. What is the best way to learn more about the remediation and presciptive teaching?
Crayfish
Re: Need more info
Janis,
WOW, you are wonderful. I forgot to add that I just started Visually Verbalizing and love it. I’m learning LIPS but am not even close to feeling competent. I watched the videos and I’m watching a lesson each week with an expert.I’d like to get training but haven’t yet. Good information. I will defininately check out the links and I also found a book that talks about IQ scores in detail.
I already have spent a couple hundred dollars on ADHD and ADD books and videos. They have helped me a great deal with one student who is severly ADHD like I’ve never seen before. Knowlegde is power.
I guess I never used to worry to much about labels. I just taught them what they didn’t know. I need to be more prescpiptive in my approach. I used to teach LD years ago, then regular ed, now I’m back. I used to see IQ’s that were so much higher. Many of my students today are in the 70’s 80’s and even 60’s. Special Ed has changed. These kids didn’t place as much and were considered slow learners. Now I have them on my caseload. I need different tools in my teacher tool box. I only have one student with IQ over 100 It used to be the other way around. Higher IQs and a few low ones. I guess I need to get used to it.
crayfish
Re: Need more info
You are very welcome, Crayfish. The more knowledge we can share, the better off all the kids will be! I agree that low IQ kids are problematic. Our district is pretty careful not to label slow learners as LD, though.
I also have had access to LiPS and V/V tapes. I may go for the training this summer. I really like Phono-Graphix as the first course of attack on decoding problems, though. I’d save LiPS for back-up. I don’t know of anything that equals V/V except I have heard of a similar program that costs about 2 1/2 times as much. For some reason, the name escapes me.
If I didn’t already say this, the “All Kinds of Minds” book has a great section on attention deficits, too. Good luck on your quest for knowledge…it’s actually become quite a passion for me!
Janis
Welcome, Crayfish,
I will have to tell you that I came to this board maybe a year and a half ago and it has been more than a degree for me. I have learned more through this site than I did in my master’s for sure.
You are already off to a good start with the materials you are using. I will tell you that Explode the Code will conflict a bit with PG as PG never teaches consonant blends. So the books A,B, and C which introduce the consonants are okay and probably book 1 which I think covers short vowels.
I would recommend going to the LD In Depth part of this site and just read all the articles you can. That will take awhile but well worth the effort. I am currently reading “All Kinds of Minds” by Dr. Mel Levine. I really recommend it as it helps you understand neurodevelopmental aspects of learning and learning problems. You will then understand memory, attention, language issues, etc. better.
One thing you may want to add to your remediation materials is a program called Visualizing and Verbalizing by Lindamood-Bell.
http://www.lindamoodbell.com/
It is one of the few good programs out there to teach children to visualize in order to increase comprehension. All the other LB programs are good, but if you are learning PG, you don’t have to get into LiPS right away since PG will do the trick with most kids. That is what the experts around here say, anyway! And there are some outstanding teachers here. PG has a spelling component, so perhaps you will be able to improve spelling that way.
I’m afraid I can’t point you to a single source for understanding testing. I have learned so much reading the Teaching Reading message board and just watching people here analyze children’s test scores. There are a few good links I can give you which will help you better understand the WISC subtests. That’s a good place to begin.
http://www.patoss-dyslexia.org/epreports.htm
http://www.wrightslaw.com/advoc/articles/tests_measurements.html#anchor846102
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Oracle/1580/sped/wisc.html
http://www.wrightslaw.com/info/test.matthew.effect.htm
Good luck! I’ll have to say that I am a much better teacher after coming here.
Janis