The Access Network: February 2008

Thursday, February 28, 2008

Practical Strategies for Pupils with Dyslexia

Dr Gavin Reid, formerly senior lecturer in the Department of Educational Studies at Moray House, joined our recent Dyslexia Flashmeeting all the way from a Starbucks store in Kuwait.

Several teachers from around Scotland participated in the event, which consisted of a 40-minute talk on the nature of Dyslexia and some strategies which may assist the Dyslexic child. The final segment of the session saw participants ask questions relating to their own setting.

Gavin made a number of key points:

there is no one strategy that works for all dyslexics; you need to know the child and the child needs to reflect on their own learning
sequencing of tasks is important

dyslexic pupils should overlearn ie "if you don't use it, you lose it"

kinaesthetic learning should be facilitated

reading should be a whole language experience ie related to their lives, encourage 'critical literacy', utilising multimedia.

The talk and the questions moved in to further areas, such as the marking of work (spelling) and homework. If you wish to watch a replay of the 65 minute session, then please email me at noble_d@hillsideschool.co.uk.

Many thanks to Gavin for joining us during what was evening-time at the start of the Kuwaiti weekend. It was an inspiring talk and a great example of how communication technology can facilitate great quality CPD.

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Latest news from the Access Network

I am pleased to announce that I am now taking bookings for the 'Practical Strategies for Pupils with Dyslexia' online meeting, which will take place on Thursday, 28th February from 4.15-5.15pm. We will hopefully be joined by one of the world's leading experts on Dyslexia, live from Kuwait!

I have approached LTS to secure input from their ACfE team for the rescheduled ACfE update Flashmeeting. This event will take place on Thursday, 13th March from 4-5pm. Again, please email me noble_d@hillsideschool.co.uk if you would like to participate. Details of all this terms events are available here.

There was significant interest in the Access ICT meeting which took place last Saturday morning. The time seemed to suit some colleagues, therefore I will probably pencil-in a Saturday AM Flashmeeting at least once per term.

I would appreciate the following support as I plan future meetings. I am looking for a teacher who is working towards Chartered Teacher status via the MTeach route who would be willing to share their experiences. Also, I would love to hear from colleagues who would be willing to 'show and tell' a resource, project or strategy that would be of interest to Access Network participants.

Finally, if any teacher would like a free educators' log-in for Flashmeeting, which would allow you to book web conference space for, for example you, your colleagues, or class, then get in touch and I will forward your request to the relevant Open University staff.

Sunday, February 10, 2008

Access English meeting write-up

This meeting featured two teachers who, having successfully tested Flashmeeting in their schools, were participating in their first online conference.

During the hour-long session it was interesting the extent to which teachers of Access units and pupils could meaningfully share resource ideas and practice, despite working at very different schools.

Below is a list of some of the points of discussion. Below that are some links:

The structure of Access 3 English, particularly ways of encouraging 'reluctant' students to choose a text for their Personal Study
Focusing on non-fiction texts with above pupils
Strategies for facilitating Access 1 - Respond to imaginative texts
Reading programmes for teenage boys and how to find room for this during an Access course
Online books and online supporting material for physical books
Promotion of Access English to pupils whose school friends are working towards their Standard Grade English folio and exams
Creating an exam-like atmosphere when pupils are working on NABs
Using Standard Grade texts with an Access class
Shared reading using, for example, big books
Using sensory stories with Access 2/3 classes and then getting them to create their own which could be 'read' to local nursery, pupils with PMLD etc
Reading texts which have a PSE theme, for example 'There's a Boy in the Girls' Bathroom' to confront inappropriate behaviour
Downloading stories from the Web and copying on to iPods or mp3 players, including copyright concerns
Teaching staff recording themselves or pupils using mp3 player voice recorder
Texts which appeal to those who are 'on the fringes'
Installing 'text-to-speech' software to assist pupils to access all on-screen text, and to listen as they type
Building stories visually using Clicker 5
Finding out a pupil's reading preferences
Preparing students for the Literary Study NAB
Delivering aspects of the course in a cross-curricular way eg one focus for Social Subjects (Organising and Presenting Information) and Language Study.