Comments on Teacherscreech: What I learned from Sarah

Kathy said... LyndaI really like your way of getti...

2008-01-09T22:50:00.000-08:00

Kathy said...
Lynda
I really like your way of getting the kids to keep thinking after they put up their hands... sometimes the best ideas are piggy backed on first thoughts.
I think it's important for kids to learn that they shouldn't stop at the first idea that seems right. Sometimes I would do divergent thinking exercises and say to the students:
"List (or yell out, depending on my mood) all the things you can do with a paintbrush, but painting can't be one of them"...
I would do this to encourage lots of ideas and creative answers and to keep the focus off correct answers. My LD kids usually liked this because there were no wrong answers!

Hi LyndaYes indeed it is one and the same. The Bel...

2008-01-04T23:48:00.000-08:00

Hi Lynda
Yes indeed it is one and the same. The Bell part of the Lindamood Bell is Nanci Bell, who wrote the Visualizing and Verbalizing program.
Sometimes with learners like Sarah, who has trouble with language comprehension and with decoding- I do a double program.
I forget what form of my brochure I sent you- but I describe it in there.
I worked for two years with a neuropsychologist (I was just on Skype with him a few moments ago!)
and he referred many patients to me to do the V&V program. It seems stimulate the brain at a very deep level. We worked with Brain Injury, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder,Pervasive Developmental Delay Not Otherwise Stated (love that name) and Severe Language and Learning Disabilities. I have also seen dramatic improvments in math reasoning and writing skills after a 30 hour stint.
My friend is now looking for a training program for himself so he can continue to provide it. (we now live in different provinces)
Yes, I took training, and then on a 3 month trip through Australia and New Zealand with my family, I practiced on my son!
I love love love this program. If you get the book, you can learn it yourself. The practice on my son after reading the book was just as helpful as the training.

Kathy, You mentioned the Visualizing and Verbalizi...

2008-01-04T20:05:00.000-08:00

Kathy,

You mentioned the Visualizing and Verbalizing Language Comprehension Program in your post here. Is this the same as the V&V Lindamood-Bell program or is it something different? I was ordering the LiPs program manual from Amazon.com and I see that they also have a manual by almost the same name mentioned above. Did you go to a training workshop for the V&V, if not how did you get the training in order to use it in your clinic? Thanks again for your help.

Lynda

This is a great story about Sarah. It is amazing w...

2007-12-31T20:16:00.000-08:00

This is a great story about Sarah. It is amazing what each student teaches us about ourselves and the world around us!

I call this concept you have described here as "Think Time". When I am in a group setting and I ask a probing question - or any question for that matter - I always give the students "Think Time". I instruct my students to think about the question and raise their hand when they think they know, then to keep thinking about their answer to see if they can come up with something different or better. When everyone in the session/class has their hand raised THEN I call on someone - usually the one that I think really struggled with an answer (to get an idea of their thought process in finding an answer). If it is not quite right then I ask them to think again or I maybe rephrase the question another way. Everyone processes things at different speeds - children deserve the right to process the question and come up with an answer - like Sarah!

Thanks for sharing this story! It is enlightening and encouraging. Keep up the GREAT work! And share more stories!