Hi all!
I am a Visual Learning instructor ( a combination of a vision therapist & a teacher/tutorer). I currently work with LD students for the most part.
My question is about one of my students. He is a smart kid who had extensive learning problems that were only worsened by eye dysfunctions. However, he is doing very well now with a few exceptions.
He seems to have gotten himself into a rut where he just does not like to take the time to proof read his work and to spell properly. His mom thinks he may have ADD but I don’t think so at all. He works just fine for me, although he makes numerous errors in grammar & spelling that I have to remind him to check for. This behavior just seems imbedded into his learning style and I am hoping for suggestions on how I might correct this. His mom is at the end of her rope and I’m reaching mine!
Any ideas?
Re: New to the group with a question...
Sue has a point here.
Also, how long have you been working with this student?
It can take a hundred hours to make a real change and another hundred to get it ingrained as a fairly consistent habit. Patience is a virtue and just keep grinding away at it.
Re: New to the group with a question...
Does the student use the Spell check and Grammar Check features built into Microsoft Word? They both can be turned off during the writing phase and turned on during the editing phase. The Grammar check includes explanations for why certain things are recommended. You can also use the read back feature built into Word so that the student can listen to what they have typed.
You can also prompt writing corrections - both audio and text, which are motivating for many students. You do this by using the Reviewing Toolbar which allows you to insert comments. Editing is an incredible chore for many students with LDs and these strategies often work.
Spell Check does need to be explicitly taught so that students don’t choose the first word on the list unless it is the correct choice. And often they need to type more of the sounds so that the correct word choice will appear.
(An example from my son’s homework tonight - he
typed “headache” as headeak and the correct choice didn’t appear. I heard him yell, “Mom, how do you spell headache?” Before, I could get to the computer, he spelled headake and the correct choice appeared. He has gotten much better at typing different approximations until he finds the correct spelling and he has improved his ability to identify the correct spelling.)
Feel free to email me privately if you have any other questions about this method.
Nancy3
If the student has dysgraphia, the problems with written spelling and grammar probably have a neurological origin. Dysgraphics have great difficulty performing the simultaneous tasks required for writing, and this makes them “drop the ball” while writing and make mistakes in spelling and grammar. Although it appears they are not paying attention, in fact they are often devoting more energy and concentration to the task than their peers even though their performance is much poorer.
I would certainly continue to work with the student to improve. However, if the underlying problem is dysgraphia, assistive technology should be introduced at some point. Spelling often gradually improves with the use of Spellchek, for example.
Dysgraphia is relatively unresponsive to interventions and therapies. Although it is the teacher’s job to be persistent, it can be a mistake to attribute continued writing errors to inattention or not trying hard enough. This may be true of some students, but not for someone with dysgraphia.
Nancy
Nancy3
If the student has dysgraphia, the problems with written spelling and grammar probably have a neurological origin. Dysgraphics have great difficulty performing the simultaneous tasks required for writing, and this makes them “drop the ball” while writing and make numerous mistakes in spelling and grammar. Although it appears they are not paying attention, in fact they are often devoting more energy and concentration to the task than their peers, even though their performance is much poorer.
I would certainly continue to work with the student to improve. However, if the underlying problem is dysgraphia, assistive technology should be introduced at some point. Spelling often gradually improves with the use of Spellcheck, for example.
Nancy
‘bout the only way to teach persistence is to be The Meanie, and to provide structured situatoins where that proofreading simply has to be done.
I”m talking about “okay, you need to find the X mistakes on this page; go to it. Then I’ll look; for now, you’re allowed to miss ___ of them (start with some sort of reasonable easy number that’s maybe two fewer than he would make in the first place) - and for every one you miss, I have five little practice exercises from the Disgustingly Dull Copybook or, betty yet, I will correct it for you and have you copy that sentence twice.”
Now, the main rule here is that it has to be MORE WORK to do it wrong.
I don’t know this kiddo - do your very best to find a way to make the MORE WORK educational. HOwever, if all it is is *motivational* then it will also be educational.
Duly note, dear bleeding hearts, that I’m not trying to cost this kiddo more than five minutes of his time; I’m not saying to exponentially increase the number of sentences so that he spends an afternoon in useless torture. SOmetimes a very bad idea has some good elements. And, of course, I know neither teacher nor student - it could simply be inappropriate in this situation.