Chapter Assignments
Please have following chapters read and comments blogged by the listed due dates.
Chapters 1 & 2 - by February 3, 2012
Chapter 3 - by February 10, 2012
Chapter 4 - by February 17, 2012
Chapter 5 - by February 24, 2012
Chapter 6 - by March 2, 2012
Chapter 7 - by March 9, 2012
Chapters 8 & 9 - by March 16, 2012
Chapter 10 - by March 23, 2012
Chapter 11 - by March 30, 2012
Happy Reading!
It just amazes us how one small incident (teasing from a peer) can have a life long lasting effect. (This is in reference to Russell being teased from a family member with regards to his genitalia).
ReplyDeleteOn pg 17 the doctor does a test on Russell using his fingers, just to let you all know....I can do it!
ReplyDeleteI tried several times and finally did it. Boy, that was difficult! Still, tall man bends a bit too. :)
DeleteTall man bends a bit here too!
DeleteI’m not really sure if I should post all my thoughts or just pick a few. I guess I’ll just post a few thoughts that I had in the order of the first two chapters:
ReplyDeleteFirst, I completely agree that difficulty with writing is the most common cause of output failure. (pg.6) It is definitely a complex task and is often used as a tool so that kids can cement their own learning as well as a tool for teachers to assess student performance, so it’s important that kids are successful with it. (What are other ideas to help kids cement learning and teachers assess students? It’s awfully difficult to have many children dictate thoughts to you… sometimes pictures work, but often not for the kids that have these grapho-motor difficulties???)
As I was reading about Russell and his difficulties with motor function many students came to mind. I thought it was interesting that a big part of Russell’s problem was his self-esteem due to physical appearance and physical performance. It seems that when Dr. Mel discussed how Russell had improved, it was only in the area of self esteem. It said that he was using a computer to do his writing now, but that he is still struggling with it. (pg.37)So now I am thinking that there is no way to really help kids improve in writing skills if they have these grapho-motor difficulties? I did read some tips about copying words before bed and using different writing instruments, but it seems that these tricks or tools were not proven to be effective. It’s also disheartening to hear that the computer still isn’t a place where Russell can effectively put his thoughts into writing.
I felt the urgency to improve my teaching methods as I read pg. 8 when he discusses that kids who experience chronic success deprivation are more likely to get into serious trouble. I can see many of our kids going down this path. I also “got the message” that praise and positive self concept is a very big part of helping kids to become successful and happy and that maybe not all kids are going to be successful at writing???? This doesn’t seem to be the “right” message. Help?
Okay, I think I wrote too much... DOn't worry I'll get the hang of this soon.
Oh, don't worry about how much you wrote. They are all great thoughts and I see a lot of output failure in the area of writing and I even am seeing it in my first graders. It's like they have all these ideas and it takes too long to get it all out before they lose their ideas. But it is also hard to hear that there are no easy solutions to "fix" our students, even if we really want them.
DeleteHow do I follow Nicole? :-) I'll just say....DITTO! Just kidding!
ReplyDeleteThis chapter was interesting because I could totally see why Russell struggled as much as he did! This is why it's so important for us to have that positive relationship with kiddos that they can talk to us, or at least be honest if we start asking them "feeling type" questions. I can't imagine what may have happened to Russell had he not made that comment to his parents about ending his life! I wonder how many of our kiddos feel that way, or may feel that way at some point in their life?
If our kiddos had "professional parents" that were able to pay for their child to go to a facility to be assessed, we would know our kiddos in and out. I guess we ALL are the facility! :-)
I think we make a darn good facility!
ReplyDelete