Consists of some of the following areas for consideration
Cognitive Ability: learning profile, verbal/visual, learning difficulties, processing, memory, etc
Affect: self regulation, emotional state, emotional modulation, psychological and physiological emotional condition, nutrition, medical, pharmaceutical, etc
Language Acquisition: word recognition, comprehension, context, letter recognition, letter identification, sound/symbol relationship, auditiory processing, EAL consideration, etc
Experiential: backgroud, family, primary language spoken, multiple language spoken, ability to draw on previous learning scaffolding to new learning, etc
Family History: language difficulties, cultural language consideration, learning difficulties/disabilites, medical history, mental heath, etc
Executive Functions: organization and planning, emotional regulation, meta cognition, attention, memory, task initiation and completion, self monitoing, etc
Memory: medical issues, organic, traumatic brain injury, developmental, neurological issues, neuropsychological issues, immediate memory, information retrieval, short term issues, long term issues, auditory, visual tracking, retrograde and anterograde difficulties, experiencial and previous learning, etc
One "A Ha" moment for me that is tied into the Reading Process is the reminder that there are so many different processes at play that we take for granted at times, and one area or aspect of the brain process that might go array can affect how students acquire the skill, knowledge and application of skills to develop good reading strategies is critical. Knowing that this difficulty or disability is happening early and providing the necessary remedial or comensatory stratagies is going to set the stage for early and effective intervention, and programming for the student can be supported through the use of assitive technology that can scaffold learning, have it at the student's fingertips, and aid in faster input and output, supoorting self-esteem and confidence, and support the WHOLE learning process for every student.
Look at you go, Donna...Queen of Technology! I wanted to just pick up quickly on your Aha moment....isn't it phenomenal how much is going on as we read...it's no wonder some children struggle with this at the early ages we are teaching them....we are putting forward some incredibly complex learning materials. What I am really noticing after moving from Primary for so many years to now teaching upper elementary is the immense amount of pressure some students are under. Not only are we trying to remediate reading for them as the continue to 'learn to read' but we also at a grade level where we expect them to 'read to learn' which is no easy task for children who struggle with any of the components of the reading process. I have a number of students in my class who are still reading at a grade 2 level. My aha moment came last week when we were talking about when we should move beyond the remediation in order to teach students in a manner that is compensatory. Many of my students are at this stage (and should have been two years ago). Sadly they struggle immensely because they are technologically disadvantaged in our school....with only two desktop computers in the room that work and a bin of virtually useless netbooks they are not being provided equitable tools to allow them to be successful....there is so little for convergence to act upon in our school.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your insights Donna. Your viewpoint and Ah Ha moment was particularly interesting, as was your breakdown of the reading process. Thanks for sharing
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