Week Three

    I had the opportunity to attend a workshop in my school district this past Friday. The morning's focus was on Dyslexia. The afternoon's focus was on diversity in the classroom with a focus on the learning disabled student and what it's like for such a student in school.  The presenters were very informative and I was very intrigued and moved by the topic.

     I can honestly say that there is always a situation that I find myself in where I really struggle to figure out how to help a student learn. I always imagine how difficult it must be for those students to conform to our rigorous curriculum. It can be challenging, in this day and age when the push is to "pass a test",  to try and find ways to make learning fun. As an educator, I do agree that it's so important to build confidence and excitement within all students. We all need to be patient and have compassion when helping anyone, especially those who struggle with any type of learning disability. Someone once said that we might forget what we say to a student after a few seconds, but the student will remember for a lifetime.

   I wanted to share a short video clip about an amazing person who has a inspirational story. His name is Willard Wigan. In this video, Willard talks about growing up with Dyslexia and he shares a sad memory about how his teacher made him feel when he was in high school. Interestingly enough, Willard used the pain that he felt from his teachers comment to serve as motivation to become the artist that he is today. Now, Willard has an amazing talent that he is sharing with the world.

     My son Scott shared his favorite quote with me just a few minutes ago. I feel that this is a great way to end my blog for this week.