DEALING WITH DYSLEXIA IN THE CLASSROOM
by Anna Sawa
It is not possible to cure somebody of dyslexia and nobody grows out of it. Therefore, it is necessary to teach dyslexic children how to learn and how to develop their own learning strategies. Using their talents and intelligence and with the help and support of the teacher, they can compensate and deal with their weak points.
The most important for teachers is gathering information about a student. They can start from acquainting themselves with students’ written assessments. There is not only description of a child, his strong and weak points, but also useful instructions how to work with him/her. It is also important to be in close cooperation with dyslexic student’s parents. Besides, teachers should find out student’s learning style and respect it.
Since children with dyslexia often have low motivation for learning, teachers should create pleasant and friendly atmosphere. They should also encourage students to have positive attitude towards English with the use of varied interesting tasks and materials. What is significant students ought to have opportunities to get into contact with English speaking countries’ culture. For example, they may write to a pen-friend, get in touch with native speakers or take part in student exchange.
Motivation of learners is often connected with their self-esteem. So they need a lot of positive feedback and praise. Teachers have duty not only help to overcome dyslexic children difficulties, but also emphasize their strong points. Success is motivating and causes reduction of the child’s stress. These learners also need more understanding and support than their peers. On the other hand, teachers cannot be over-protective, they should encourage the child to be independent. They should set reasonable goals and requirements and after performing a task they should praise the child for great effort even if he/she does not quite succeed with exercise.
As dyslexic children take up a lot of teacher’s time, it may cause problems with their classmates. Therefore it is necessary to explain the situation of the dyslexics to the rest of the class and promote mutual help between students.
In the classroom where dyslexics are mixed with non-dyslexics who learn easily, the dyslexic learner will only experience failure. That is why, there is a huge role of teachers to organize lessons in such a way that each student would have opportunity to show his/her strengths.