There is more than one way to teach children.
Western education system is incredibly linguistic (Language Institution) - this only works if language is a strength.
Dyslexia
- Not a learning or reading/writing problem.
- It is a teaching problem.
85% of Pakeha population are right sided (hand, eye, foot) - Use left frontal hemisphere for cognitive processing/active thinking
Other 15% are a mixture of left and right - Use right frontal hemisphere
The child who has the left foot and right eye & hand will be the most likely to stand out in classrooms as having learning difficulties.
Teaching to front part of brain (frontal hemisphere/cognitive processing) - very tiring.
THE BRAIN:
- Left brain - Language (listening, speaking, reading, writing, processing language, linguistic logic and memory)
- Right brain - Pictorial/Personality (Pictorial Thinking, Emotions, Artistic expression, practical logic, pictorial memory, spontaneity)
- Both sides working together all the time.
Given word - linguistic then pictorial
Given picture - pictorial then linguistic
Both sides work together but one side carries greater load than the other.
Women have 8 dedicated sites in the brain that can simultaneously handle language.
Men have 1 site dedicated to language.
Male and Female have very different brain make up.
Language Production
Female - 8000-16000 words - tuned to language brain
Male - 2-4000 words (average male teacher 6000 words) - tuned to pictorial brain - screens example
Girls pick up language much faster.
Why are boys and girls placed in the same classroom when they begin school? They learn very differently.
- Calling out ideas - Issue of hands up and losing thought/idea (screens) - this can lead to disengagement.
- Trouble forming inner dialogue - need to process out loud.
Intelligence is a situational factor.
"Hurry up" (Mining story) vs. "Run"
"In a hurry"
"Come here" vs. "Stand in front of me" or "I need to talk"
"No" Language vs. Specific expectation
Think about allocated spots for students - allow them to change if they are not comfortable.
Upper case and Lower case - Literal lower and upper case on desk
Direction of reading/writing - Venetians
Numerals, Numbers and Number Concepts
Metaphor
School/Teachers as petrol station - average learner as petrol car and dyslexic students as diesel cars. Teachers fill up students with petrol each day - diesel students don't run well on this.
Understand what is going on in the student's brain and teach to that.
Techniques - The What and How of teaching
- Visual Timetables/Picture Timeline on board
- Specific Action Instructions
- Assigned Seating
- Use of a device for support - help to access the brain and get on with other learning
- Support students to understand and make this a positive - they have to go through life this way
Use of sign language from birth.
Male Maori teachers work better with dyslexic students.
BE AWARE AND OPEN EYES TO THE SITUATION.
EMPOWER CHILDREN TO UNDERSTAND THEIR OWN WAY OF WORKING AND THEIR OWN STYLE.
Books
- Reaching The Reluctant Learner
- With, Not Against
No comments:
Post a Comment