A woman a few years older than myself, grew up dyslexic. In those days of schooling, dyslexia was not something that was frequently talked about, much less diagnosed. This woman went through her entire school career without help. Reading was difficult; next to impossible. Life was hard. After diagnosis, she made a decision that she was going to learn to read - to learn, go to college, and then teach others who suffered like she did. And she did just that.
A tall woman; blonde with big blue eyes, and her name is Karen. The wife of one husband, and mother of three girls. She was committed to her faith, and it was evident in how she lived it out. She appeared to be very academic and professional. She was passionate, and giving, and loving, and committed. She loved her students without abandon, and was an advocate that most would die for.
I had the great privilege of working side by side with Karen in the "resource" room. We worked with low IQ kids, kids with mild behavioral disabilities, but mostly kids with learning disabilities. This woman was amazing. Each child that was brought into her program became like her own. She loved them, nurtured them, taught them, and encouraged them. They knew her room was a safe place where they could thrive, and because they could thrive they could learn, and because they could learn they could experience success, and because they could experiences success they had a desire to learn more!
Her idea was in elementary school (especially) learning should be fun, not stressful. Goals should be set that can be achieved, and build upon the next goal. However she could get the info or exposures into the child's brain she was game. She used short term rewards to build a habit, that were things that the kids loved.
A young boy had an attention span of about a minute and a half. He came from an "underprivileged home" where mom was trying to keep things together, working outside the home and caring for he and his sister. He was diagnosed with ADD and put on meds. Because of mom's schedule sometimes the boy didn't take his meds. He was literally impossible to work with. Karen decided to find a way to motivate him and make him responsible for his own meds. So, she found something that realllly interested him - a model car - purchased it, and then every day that the boy took his meds he earned a piece to the model car. There were enough pieces that it equaled enough time to establish a habit. Enough time that he learned that he "felt" better in the learning environment, and that "feeling" was enough motivation in and of itself. It wasn't long and his attention span was up to 20 minutes, and he was learning, and thriving, and anxious to come to class.
A little first grade girl, with a lower than the average IQ, came from family if intelligent people. Her sister, a few years older than she, was brilliant. Her mother was well known in the school district, and wasn't too thrilled about her daughter's disability. This little girl's brain could not wrap itself around learning. Sight words, and simple number facts were almost impossible. Mom relented, with a plan, to let her be a part of the "resource" room. Karen was committed to unlocking this littler girls brain, and was willing to do whatever it took. She didn't believe in traditional learning; putting a piece of paper with a bunch of stuff on it in front of a child and saying go to work. She didn't believe in worksheets, nor memorization - those frustrate even the smartest of children. Until 4th grade she believed that it was all about repetition. A child with a learning disability requires many more exposures to retain - thats it. Sometimes they also require more than one sense to be used to retain, as in this little girl. Karen would take her to the table, grab a tray and a spoon and a jug of pudding. She would seat her down, spread the pudding on the tray, pull up a sight word and begin her magic. She would have the little girl look at the word, say the word, hear herself saying it, write it in the pudding with her finger, and then eat the pudding that remained on her finger. She incorporated every single sense there was, and made the learning fun. The awesome news? That little girl grew up to be in the top 10 of her class upon graduation.
Addition, subtraction, multiplication and division were done with wooden cubes with numbers and signs written on them and rolled. Rather than a timed test, the child would roll the cubes like dice, and see how many facts they could get in a minute. Facts were written on laminated index cards, 2 cards per fact, with answers on them. There were matching stickers in the corner so the child knew they went together. They played old maid, or memory - always having the answer available - no frustration. Manilla folders were laminated with stickers on them, to use as a game board. Math facts were written (with answers) on the board. The child would choose the rules of the game, and as they would travel on the board from sticker to sticker they would read the fact that corresponded.
Spelling and sight words were done in the same way. Memory and old maid, board games, whatever medium she could use to get rid of the frustration and make learning something desirable. Word problems were cut into strips and done one at a time - no frustration. Often the classroom would send up work the child needed to complete and she would strain her brain to find a way to unlock the learning capability of the individual child.
Whatever it took to make sure any child entrusted to her care would never experience what she did, she was game. Every child entrusted to her would feel safe and successful in her room, and feel like they could conquer the moon if they set out to. She empowered them, encouraged them, challenged them, and loved them - AND they knew it. She was passionate and was willing to go to any extreme to advocate for a child. When I think of no child left behind - I think of her. I think of how she individually served those kids, and the tiring responsibility of meeting the demands of the parents, the school board, the state, and the classroom teacher.
She was amazing, and my life is different because of her. Some things I learned from her:
1) Make every child feel safe in your presence - no matter what
2) A naughty kid isn't necessarily a naughty kid
3) Be that voice for a child - their well being made depend on you
4) Think outside of the box - get to the point and stick to it
5) Make learning fun - always
Karen has set an example for me of what "teaching" really is. Its not about clumping all kids into a heap expecting them to internalize, process, and grow in the same way. She taught me how, as a parent, to not take encouragement and suggestion from a professional as criticism or something negative, it is meant to give your child a chance to experience success. She taught me lifelong tools in helping little kiddos I come in contact with to experience success where they may be struggling, or how a word of encouragement to a parent that may have a non-traditional child can boost their day. What a gift these things are; my life, and my kids lives are better because of them.
A little first grade girl, with a lower than the average IQ, came from family if intelligent people. Her sister, a few years older than she, was brilliant. Her mother was well known in the school district, and wasn't too thrilled about her daughter's disability. This little girl's brain could not wrap itself around learning. Sight words, and simple number facts were almost impossible. Mom relented, with a plan, to let her be a part of the "resource" room. Karen was committed to unlocking this littler girls brain, and was willing to do whatever it took. She didn't believe in traditional learning; putting a piece of paper with a bunch of stuff on it in front of a child and saying go to work. She didn't believe in worksheets, nor memorization - those frustrate even the smartest of children. Until 4th grade she believed that it was all about repetition. A child with a learning disability requires many more exposures to retain - thats it. Sometimes they also require more than one sense to be used to retain, as in this little girl. Karen would take her to the table, grab a tray and a spoon and a jug of pudding. She would seat her down, spread the pudding on the tray, pull up a sight word and begin her magic. She would have the little girl look at the word, say the word, hear herself saying it, write it in the pudding with her finger, and then eat the pudding that remained on her finger. She incorporated every single sense there was, and made the learning fun. The awesome news? That little girl grew up to be in the top 10 of her class upon graduation.
Addition, subtraction, multiplication and division were done with wooden cubes with numbers and signs written on them and rolled. Rather than a timed test, the child would roll the cubes like dice, and see how many facts they could get in a minute. Facts were written on laminated index cards, 2 cards per fact, with answers on them. There were matching stickers in the corner so the child knew they went together. They played old maid, or memory - always having the answer available - no frustration. Manilla folders were laminated with stickers on them, to use as a game board. Math facts were written (with answers) on the board. The child would choose the rules of the game, and as they would travel on the board from sticker to sticker they would read the fact that corresponded.
Spelling and sight words were done in the same way. Memory and old maid, board games, whatever medium she could use to get rid of the frustration and make learning something desirable. Word problems were cut into strips and done one at a time - no frustration. Often the classroom would send up work the child needed to complete and she would strain her brain to find a way to unlock the learning capability of the individual child.
Whatever it took to make sure any child entrusted to her care would never experience what she did, she was game. Every child entrusted to her would feel safe and successful in her room, and feel like they could conquer the moon if they set out to. She empowered them, encouraged them, challenged them, and loved them - AND they knew it. She was passionate and was willing to go to any extreme to advocate for a child. When I think of no child left behind - I think of her. I think of how she individually served those kids, and the tiring responsibility of meeting the demands of the parents, the school board, the state, and the classroom teacher.
She was amazing, and my life is different because of her. Some things I learned from her:
1) Make every child feel safe in your presence - no matter what
2) A naughty kid isn't necessarily a naughty kid
3) Be that voice for a child - their well being made depend on you
4) Think outside of the box - get to the point and stick to it
5) Make learning fun - always
Karen has set an example for me of what "teaching" really is. Its not about clumping all kids into a heap expecting them to internalize, process, and grow in the same way. She taught me how, as a parent, to not take encouragement and suggestion from a professional as criticism or something negative, it is meant to give your child a chance to experience success. She taught me lifelong tools in helping little kiddos I come in contact with to experience success where they may be struggling, or how a word of encouragement to a parent that may have a non-traditional child can boost their day. What a gift these things are; my life, and my kids lives are better because of them.
