This Monday, March 8, is International Women’s Day! To commemorate this day, I want to talk about a woman who has influenced my career: Anna Gillingham. Anna Gillingham was an educator and psychologist in the early 1900s who worked to develop different approaches to learning for those with different needs. Not only did she train teachers, but she also compiled and published instructional materials that are still used widely today She is most famous for her Gillingham Manual which is a compilation of her teaching methods. The Orton-Gillingham Approach has been the most influential approach to learning that is made expressly for reworking language processing in people with dyslexia. It is important to highlight the accomplishments of women like Anna Gillingham, not only to give them due praise for their accomplishments, but to also show the world, and younger generations, that women are strong, smart, and forces to be reckoned with.
With that being said, we move into this week's tutor tip, which is designed to help students with language processing deficits try to master hard concepts. This week's tutor tip will focus on the doubling rule! This is found in words like “spin.” When a vowel suffix like “-ing” is added to the base word “spin,” the consonant after the vowel (n) must be DOUBLED and it becomes “spinning.” This can be a confusing concept for students just starting to read and spell longer words. Stay tuned on Instagram and Facebook for more!
Credit: FDU/NJ Scotch Plains Dyslexia Center Resources
We are getting close to the end of Q1 of 2021! Can you believe it? And spring is just around the corner. This week, I am thankful for all of the goals I have accomplished in Q1, for the promise of warmer weather, and for all of the goals I am going to pursue in Q2! I challenge you all to reflect on the first quarter of this year. What did you accomplish? What changed? And what will you do moving forward to accomplish your goals? I’d love to hear from you! Shoot me a DM or comment on an instagram post and we can talk!
As always, I am coming at you with another #FunctionalFriday tip. This week, we are talking about social skills for school! Specifically personal space, and respecting others’ personal space!
In my school, I know that a classroom can very quickly become a hazardous maze if students throw their bags, books, and jackets all around their desks. This week, talk to your children/students about keeping their personal space neat and out of the way of walkways so that no one trips! We especially want to impress the importance of personal space and minimizing contact between one person's things and another’s in the current times. Let’s do our part to minimize the spread of germs! Talk to them about taking out the supplies they need at the beginning of class and placing their backpacks under their chairs. Also, place any outerwear on the back of the chair. Small things like this can really impact the order and effectiveness of a classroom! Find out more about this on my social media this Friday!
As always, have a wonderful week!
P.s. Don’t forget to set your clocks back for daylight savings time!