Teacher doesn't get 2e - 11/25/08 02:00 AM
Ugh. DD's teacher just does not seem to get 2E. She is okay with DD getting a B+ in writing because her mechanics "balance out" her content.
One thing I asked the teacher to do was grade DD's spelling tests personally. She had been having the kids correct each other's spelling tests and told them if there were any errors, they should let her know. Well, DD can't really tell if there are errors because she doesn't see letter reversals. So several times she has brought home tests where she had spelled something correctly but the other student grading it had marked her wrong. DD didn't notice the error.
Also, on spelling pretests, the teacher has the kids correct their own spelling tests. DD cannot perform that task with any kind of accuracy. So she thinks she knows words that she actually doesn't know!
The teacher was also telling me that she is having a hard time getting DD to indent her paragraphs. I pointed out that DD still can't even do proper letter and word spacing because she doesn't perceive the words on the page normally. That her letters are all different sizes and she gets printing mixed up with cursive.
Finally, I said, "Have you heard of dyslexia?" The teacher said she had. I said, "DD has dysgraphia. It's like dyslexia but for writing." That isn't precisely the diagnosis that DD was given, but the teacher seemed to get the analogy...said she would talk to the resource teacher for some strategies. I hope she does! Arg.
One thing I asked the teacher to do was grade DD's spelling tests personally. She had been having the kids correct each other's spelling tests and told them if there were any errors, they should let her know. Well, DD can't really tell if there are errors because she doesn't see letter reversals. So several times she has brought home tests where she had spelled something correctly but the other student grading it had marked her wrong. DD didn't notice the error.
Also, on spelling pretests, the teacher has the kids correct their own spelling tests. DD cannot perform that task with any kind of accuracy. So she thinks she knows words that she actually doesn't know!
The teacher was also telling me that she is having a hard time getting DD to indent her paragraphs. I pointed out that DD still can't even do proper letter and word spacing because she doesn't perceive the words on the page normally. That her letters are all different sizes and she gets printing mixed up with cursive.
Finally, I said, "Have you heard of dyslexia?" The teacher said she had. I said, "DD has dysgraphia. It's like dyslexia but for writing." That isn't precisely the diagnosis that DD was given, but the teacher seemed to get the analogy...said she would talk to the resource teacher for some strategies. I hope she does! Arg.