Spelling and possibilities

So here we are on day 3. For all you who noticed that I used the wrong their (should have been they're)in my second post. Congratulations! I wish I could say that I did it on purpose to see if you were paying attention, but alas, I can't. In my defense I will tell you that the blog site kept flashing a message informing me that the "save now" button was not working so I quickly published what I had written without proof reading it. Now the question is: do I go back and edit it or do I leave it the way it is to make my point?



Actually as I think about it I'm glad I made the mistake. It leads me to another story about one of my students and the questionable advice of his teachers. He was in high school and, not only could he not read, but he was an atrocious speller. The solution for this, I was told, was for him to use "spell check" on the computer. The first thing that flashed through my mind was an image of my student walking around with a computer connection inserted in his veins. I asked myself if he was going to be on "spell support" for the rest of his life. I pointed out that it was not necessary for him to use "spell check" if he was actually taught how to look at every letter on the page when reading instead of looking at the "whole word" and if he was taught to pay attention to the construction of the word and why it was spelled the way it was. Also, and this is a big also, a computer spell check program would not have caught my mistake (there, they're, their). As I was continuing this discussion with his teachers one of them loudly asserted that he didn't know the difference between the homonyms "then" and "than". I thought to myself, lady if you think "then" and "than" are homonyms my student is not the one with the problem.



For all of you who think this blog is just an excuse to rant against teachers I admit you are partially right. It is an excuse to rant against teachers who don't care enough about their students to look for something that will help them succeed when what they are doing isn't working. Isn't it the definition of insanity to keep doing the same thing over and over and expect a different result? Shouldn't the motto be: If it ain't workin, fix it? (Yes, I know there should be an g on the end of working. Have you ever heard of poetic license?)

You have to understand when I meet these kids they have been in "Resource Room" (Some of them their entire school lives) and they have been through a "Psych Ed" test (Please read first post for my opinion of those) and some of them have attended other reading programs and nothing has helped. Whether it's a boy or a girl or an adult, by the time I see them they hate themselves and school and anything to do with reading. I have had students who have literally started to shake when I placed a book in front of them. The first thing I have to do for any new student, no matter what the age, is to convince them that their struggle with reading is not their fault. After that has been accomplished we can move on and they can discover the wonderful world of successful reading.

There are so many stories that I want to share with you(and you can bet I will)as I write this blog. This blog is for anyone who has struggled with reading or knows anyone who has or is struggling to read. This blog is for parents and students who are fed up with a school system which is not meeting the needs of the students. This blog is for anyone who loves kids and wants to see them reach all the potential of their possibilities.

So if this is you, please keep reading and pass this along.