Math is a challenge for almost every student as the world recovers from disruptions due to the pandemic. Although almost all community colleges waive some math requirements, only a few colleges completely waive them. One list I found was here, but do check individual college sites for current information. 1. University of Arizona – Substitution allowed 2. University of the Ozarks – Substitution for College Algebra 3. California Polytechnic State University – Substitution for non-math majors 4. Cal State Fullerton – Math substitution 5. Cal State Long Beach – Math substitution 6. Cal State San Bernadino – Math substitution 7. Menlo College – Math substitution 8. Santa Monica College – Math substitution 9. Sierra College – Math waiver 10. UC Berkley – Math waiver 11. […]
New Ways to Hack Learning [Premium]
Almost every structured literacy program uses letter tiles and flashcards. The reason for this is that there are so many word parts and whole words to learn and the use of tiles and cards can give students visual support as they focus on various letters, letter groups, and their sounds while building up reading fluency. Some students may have difficulty learning with tiles and cards if the lessons or demonstrations proceed too quickly, or if working memory is easily overloaded or motor challenges make hands-on activities more difficult than less kinesthetic ones. Activities like word sorts may also provide a little physical activity that help students stay alert and engaged whereas more passive study may have them drifting off. For college kids and adults, flashcards […]
Not Over Hurdles, But Around Them
If you have moderate to severe dyslexia, chances are that you've encountered many obstacles on path to higher education and career. The farther one gets in education, the more one can recognize that much of education deals with writing about things rather than doing...
Tips for Heading Back to School with Dyslexia
Question: How Do I Help My Student Go Back to School? For many students, it will be a relief to get back to school because of all the disruptions in the past. Teachers, principals, and administrators are aware of the impact of the pandemic and school disruptions over...
Learning from Lockdown: Dyslexic Medical Students
"The learning experiences of dyslexic medical students during the COVID-19 pandemic: a phenomenological study. This study has explored the learning experiences of dyslexic medical students during the COVID-19 pandemic... Generally, it fostered a culture of...
The Power of Ask [Premium]
One of the benefits of being able to interview so many fascinating dyslexic people over the years is that I can learn about how they navigated challenging educational and workplace settings. Some had supportive families while others had the complete opposite of supportive families – but almost all were trailblazers at some point in their lives because so much of the world and its institutions can put obstacles in their way to success. THE POWER OF ASK In the National Transitional Longitudinal Study-2, only 24% of students qualifying for accommodations in high school, made the decision to disclose their LD at the college or university level. So even as demands for coursework reading and writing increased, they did not disclose or ask for accommodations […]
The Highs and Lows of Remote Learning
"I don’t know how I’ll get through this. I know I must, but I am beyond exhausted." - a parent, APM Reports "What did we do to deserve this torture?" - a student about I-Ready By now, many school children and university students around the world have had some...
Education During the Pandemic: Preparing for the Unpreparable [Premium]
As I am writing this, omicron cases have not reached their peak in the US, and calls for schools to close again because of the extreme contagiousness of this variant. How do parents, teachers, and tutors prepare for another unpredictable year? ONE STUDENT AT A TIME If pandemic education has told us anything thus far, it’s that students will tell us what they need as much as any best laid plans. No matter what you decided for your students for the past year, reviewing what worked and what didn’t can be valuable going forward. If you have several children, you might have seen something work for one student, but not another. As before, the goals should be focusing on reasonable fits and not inflexible […]
Auditory Processing and Remote and Hybrid Learning
"Children with dyslexia often exhibit increased variability in sensory and cognitive aspects of hearing relative to typically developing peers." - Hornickel et al., 2012 PNAS There is a long research history establishing auditory processing difficulties among...
Understanding Conceptual vs. Procedural Knowledge in Math [Premium]
With math scores lagging tremendously due to pandemic-related school, many of us may suddenly find ourselves responsible for supervising (if not tutoring) math. If that’s the case, it’s important to keep in mind the big picture of math learning. Of course the issue of conceptual and procedural learning apply to all subjects, not just math, but it especially becomes relevant when problem solving can become complex; symbols and abstractions must be used, and multiple steps for problem solving are necessary. There’s an especially nice description of the differences between conceptual and procedural knowledge in math from Ruthie Sloan’s Teach Math Literacy blog. Many of us learned math only through procedural learning. We didn’t learn “why” we did certain steps like “flip upside-down and multiply,” […]
Reading Fluency for College [Premium]
Recently we were contacted by a student who wanted to improve his reading fluency before attending college. He had completed a full course of “Wilson and Orton-Gillingham” yet his reading was still slow and effortful. He asked, “Is there anything I can do to improve my reading to help me be successful in college?” ANSWER: First of all, good for you for looking ahead and preparing yourself for college. It is possible to get through college with slow effortful reading, but probably only if you’re competent with assistive technology and can listen to all of your books instead of reading them traditionally. Although most colleges and universities are required to make “reasonable accommodations,” schools and individual faculty members can vary, and practical issues – […]
College Success: Strategies
"One half of all students who begin college fail to complete their degrees, resulting in wasted talents, time, and resources... Educating students on learning skills only solves part of the problem for students at risk for dropping out of college. According to this...