Skip to main content

100 Powerful Learning Specialist and Educational Therapy Materials

This week I wanted to tell you about my online store, Good Sensory Learning. I’m Dr. Erica Warren, and I established this site so I could share all the materials that I have created over the last 20+ years as a learning specialist and educational therapist. When I first began my private practice, Learning to Learn, I had great difficulty finding fun and multisensory materials for my students that were effective and engaging. So back in 2005, I made it my mission to design and distribute high-end, remedial products as well as memorable, motivating lessons that bring delight to learning. If you would like to try a free sampling of my activities , CLICK HERE . How Are the Products Organized at Good Sensory Learning? You can download my Free Printable Catalog or you can browse the site using the grey “search all products” bar in the top right of any page with keywords such as dyslexia, working memory, and executive functioning. What’s more, drop down menus in the red banner allow you t

Are We Grading or Degrading our Students? Let's Shift Paradigms

Over the 15 years that I have worked as a learning specialist and educational therapist, I have never had a student come into my office with a poor test grade and ask me to help them to learn the material that they clearly did not master. Instead of nurturing a desire to learn, our current paradigm instills a fear of failure. As a result, when a student receives what they believe to be a poor grade on a test or assignment, they often feel degraded and ashamed. Oftentimes, these tests and assignments are hidden or thrown away, and learning takes a nosedive. In fact, when a student does unexpectedly poorly on a test, they are often so mortified that they learn little to nothing the rest of the day. Instead they tend to internally ruminate and stress about the grade. Sadly, it is the high test grades that students love to share and celebrate, as students quickly learn that they are rewarded for perfection. 
Are we grading or degrading
Traditional Grading Only Points Out the Errors:

When teachers limit feedback to pointing out errors on assignments and tests, this can be both demoralizing and discouraging for learners. Can you imagine working in an environment that only points out errors? Too much criticism can be discouraging and can cause kids to dislike school and ultimately learning.

Where Does This Leave the Average Student or Struggling Learners?

Average students and struggling learners are often disempowered and frustrated, as they rarely, if ever, get to experience the grades they desire. As a result, many of these learners can fall prey to a sense of learned helplessness. Learned helplessness is a condition in which a person suffers from a sense of powerlessness, arising from persistence failure. They learn to give up quickly as past efforts have failed. It is thought to be one of the underlying causes of depression, acting out in school and even juvenile delinquency.

Learning to Embrace Mistakes Builds Resilience:

Conversely, we should thank our students for sharing their misconceptions and mistakes and offer rewards for learning from them. We should teach them the value of, "giving it another try" and learning from mishaps. They should know that most of our greatest inventions were the result of repeated mistakes. In fact, it was reported that Thomas Edison made 1000 unsuccessful attempts at inventing the light bulb. When asked about it, Edison allegedly said, "I have not failed 1000 times. I have successfully discovered 1000 ways NOT to make a light bulb."
How Can We Shift Paradigms to an Environment that Helps Students Embrace and Celebrate Learning?
  • Teach students that you love hearing about their mistakes and misconceptions. You can even offer a locked box where students can safely and anonymously ask questions or request the review or reteaching of a topic.
  • When students make a mistake, guide them to the correct answer. Use words like:
  • "You're getting there."
  • "Almost."
  • "You're getting warmer."
  • "Give it another try."
  • Reward students for effort instead of intelligence. As Winston Churchill professed, "Continuous effort - not strength or intelligence - is the key to unlocking our potential."
  • Let go of grades and only make comments. Begin by telling students what they did right, and then point out a few things they can do to improve their abilities. Try to offer more feedback on what you liked and limit negative feedback, so students do not get overwhelmed.
  • Allow students to always earn back partial credit for doing assignment and test corrections.
  • Share your own past mistakes and misconceptions.
  • If you don't know an answer to a question, admit it. Then demonstrate for your students how to find the answer.
  • When students make a mistake, do not give them the answer. Instead, guide them to the correct response. You can even turn it into a game like, "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" - where students can ask for one the following lifelines: 50:50 (give them a choice of two options), ask the class (poll the class), or ask a peer.

I hope you found this blog helpful. If you have some other suggestions, please make a comment below this posting.

Cheers, Dr. Erica Warren
Dr. Erica Warren is the author, illustrator, and publisher of multisensory educational materials at Good Sensory Learning and Dyslexia Materials. She is also the director of Learning to Learn and Learning Specialist Courses.

· Blog: https://learningspecialistmaterials.blogspot.com/
· YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/warrenerica1
· Podcast: https://godyslexia.com/
· Store: http://www.Goodsensorylearning.com/ & www.dyslexiamaterials.com
· Courses: http://www.learningspecialistcourses.com/
· Newsletter Sign-up: https://app.convertkit.com/landing_pages/69400

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

10 Free Ways to Improving Visual Tracking for Weak Readers

While reading, tracking across the page from one line to the next can be tricky when the text is small, but for students with dyslexia or weak reading skills, it can be a problem regardless of the font size.  So why is this the case?  Perhaps one of the problems is poor tracking skills. What Exactly is Tracking? Tracking is the ability for one's eyes to move smoothly across the page from one line of text to another. Tracking difficulties happen when eyes jump backward and forward and struggle to stay on a single line of text.  This results in problems such as word omissions, reversals, eye fatigue, losing your place while reading and most importantly it can impact normal reading development.   Can Tracking be Improved? Tracking can be improved by strengthening eye muscles as well as getting your eyes and brain to work cooperatively.  There are three eye movements that need to be developed:   Fixations: The ability to hold one's eyes steady without moving

Do I have dyslexia - Explaining Symptoms and Myths for Kids

What do you do when you learn that your child has dyslexia? Should you hide this diagnosis to protect them from labels and misunderstandings, or should you tell them? If you do decide to tell them, how do you do this? Can you help them to overcome any potential fears or misunderstandings? These are the questions that I will answer in this blog that includes kid-friendly graphics. What are the Benefits of Telling Your Child That He or She Has Dyslexia? Educating your child with dyslexia about the common signs and misconceptions can help them to: understand that they learn in a different way than other kids that don’t have dyslexia.  shed negative labels such as stupid, careless, unmotivated and lazy. correct any misunderstandings. identify with other successful people that have or had dyslexia. acquire the needed intervention and instruction in school. learn that many people with dyslexia have strengths that others do not have. Individuals with dyslexia are often: great

Remediating Dyslexia with Orton Gillingham Based Reading Games

Students with dyslexia and other language-based learning disabilities often learn differently and require an alternative approach to learning basic reading. In addition, most of these young learners are working full tilt while sitting in the classroom and by the time they get home and have to complete their homework, they are mentally spent. As a result, tagging on remedial reading lessons to a cup that is already overflowing can be enough to turn these kids off to learning altogether. How Can We Help These Students Learn the Core Skills Needed to be Successful Readers? First, employ an individualized approach as each student has unique challenges and gaps in knowledge. If you need to assess the areas that require remediation be sure to use an assessment tool such as the Good Sensory Learning Reading Assessment Second, the process needs to be fun and engaging. Many programs require students to slog through boring lessons, complicated rules, and bland workbook pages. Many o