Last week I went to a reading conference. The teacher Criselda Guajardo Alvarado shared a few analogies about reading that really resonated with me. I like to share one with you.
One analogy she shared described teaching reading to most students is like traveling down a busy highway from Dallas to Frisco (a northern suburb). The teacher teaches, the students learn and they move on down the road of reading. However, when your student has a reading learning disability like dyslexia, reading is more like taking all the back roads to that same destination. It might take a little longer, you might get a little lost, but ultimately this student arrives at the same destination – the destination of reading.
I thought of my students and I like this picture. When I am teaching my dyslexia students, it does take longer to reach the destination and sometimes we do have to backtrack and practice a reading skill over again, but ultimately my students learn to read. I teach in a different way, different from the normal approach.
Another reason I like this analogy is that the way I teach is so interesting to my students because it is an approach that they need and it works for them. I personally like to drive down back roads to places. It is more peaceful and so much more interesting to me.
I will definitely be sharing this with my students and their parents this coming school year. I hope it encourages them like it did for me.
~Susie Word Nerd
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