SPOTLIGHT ON SEND
Remember, remember… In her regular column
for Education Today this month, independent Specialist Teacher and Assessor JOANNE GLADDERS looks at the notion of working memory, and examines how best to get young learners to use their working memory skills and how to develop strategies to support them.
As this new term progresses and we acclimatize to our new way of working we must remember to take care of ourselves and to find time for our own nurture and growth. It is also important to cascade this message to our learners and help them to continue to focus on moving their learning forward. As a Dyslexia Specialist I enjoy piecing together a young person’s strengths and areas of difficulty to determine if they have a specific learning difficulty. The aspect of this I enjoy the most is the discussions that take place, encouraging the young person to unpick their own strategies and consider how will they overcome their barriers to learning. I believe that this is something that we can all do within our learning environments. Key to learning is the ability to utilise our working memory. The current SASC guidance defines ‘working memory’ as:
The term ‘working memory’ refers to ‘the ability to maintain and manipulate information in active attention’ (SASC 2019:9)
Working Memory is fundamental to all our learning. Many of our young people have difficulties retaining the information they need to work with. In addition, processing difficulties can also impact upon their ability to work with the information they are given.
Processing Speed is the ‘ability to perform relatively simple repetitive cognitive tasks, quickly, accurately and fluently.’ (SASC 2019: 9)
Take time to observe how your young people attempt tasks; question them about how they attempted to solve a problem, encourage them to explain what strategies they used. Do they visualise the problem in their head? Break it into manageable chunks visually. Do they count the number of steps on their fingers? Whisper the information under their breath so that they can aurally hear the information? Do they benefit from a ‘scribble pad’ where they can make notes to help them retain the information? Do they recall the last piece of information they are given but forget the first piece of information? Does additional information get slotted in accidentally as they get confused with the task in hand? Does a task planner for specific operations aid the retention of the steps?
There are so many elements to consider and for many of us this comes naturally but for others, it doesn’t. How do we address this issue? In addition to modelling different strategies we can help our young people to determine what works for them. This will equip them with the tools that they can then apply to all aspects of the curriculum. I challenge you this month to consider how some of your learners utilise their working memory skills and to look for ways to develop strategies to support them.
Signs a child is struggling
with reading In her column this month regular contributor HANNAH RIX, SEND English teacher and co-founder of Readingmate Ltd, offers advice on identifying and addressing reading problems early.
As a keen reader, it can be quite easy to underestimate the complexities of learning to read. Like many habits, you forget what it took to develop it. But
for some children, reading does not come naturally because of their environment or ability. For these learners, it can feel like an impossible and even terrifying task.
To prevent learners from being traumatised, it’s imperative teachers spot any issues early. And it’s equally important for parents to highlight them too. Early intervention is the best and most efficient way of supporting or even preventing reading problems. This will ensure that their confidence and attitude towards reading won’t be entirely dismantled and there’s a greater chance of overcoming it.
Here are some areas to look out for with your struggling readers:
• Has a difficulty with rhyming words (hat / sat / pat) – making links between these words and saying them correctly is not something that comes naturally and certainly needs practice. But if you notice your child has difficulty processing the sounds of language after working on it, this could be a sign of dyslexia or apraxia of speech (motor speech disorder). • Can’t remember sight words (the / a / her / to / it / was / for) – children should recognise these words instantly. They’re taught these words so they can easily read sentences without having to stop and sound them out each time. • Doesn’t read the ending of words (-s / -ing / -ed) – if you notice your child is missing the ending of words in their speech, this could be a signifier of a phonological or articulation disorder. • Cannot remember what they’ve read or what was read to them – if your child takes a long time processing a story or decoding words on a page this can be simply a sign of a short attention span. However, if their long-term memory and working memory is lacking this could be a sign of dyslexia. • Spells the same word differently in one document (because = becuz / bekaus / becus) – it’s very common for children to misspell a word consistently. But if your child is spelling the same word wrong in different variations this could be a sign of a language-based issue. • Doesn’t remember letter sounds (/d/ as in dog) – if your child isn’t remembering the phonemes (letter sounds) it could indicate an auditory problem, processing issue or another learning issue. • Muddles look-alike letters (b / d / p) or sound-alike letters (f / v) – this is perfectly normal for early readers to get these letters confused. If this is still occurring after age 7, it could be an indicator of a bigger learning issue.
To be clear, a lot of these mistakes or signs are very common in the early stages of learning to read. It does not in any way mean their intelligence is lacking or you’ve not done a good job teaching. Addressing your concerns or worries straight away will ensure the learner has the best toolkit for tackling it which should prevent it being a barrier to their learning.
October 2022
www.education-today.co.uk 19
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