Spelling

[agsiul]

Does anyone else have a problem with spelling? I work in learning support so I spend my day helping children to learn how to spell and the programme we use is brilliant. As a result my spelling in English has improved a lot but in Irish is still brutal. Irish phonics are really difficult. The sounds in English are reasonably consistant but in Irish the sounds change depending where the letters are in the word and there are so many options for the same sounds. And don't even get me started on the grammar and standard Irish. I don't know if the spelling difficulties are related to the Dyspraxia so am wondering if other people have the same problems.

[Osymandus]

I do .. but i have Dyslexia as well . Theres about 50% of having both . Some parts can overlap as well .

[abby]

i find spelling difficult as well. i found the best way to learn is repitition. i don't have a diagnosis of dyslexia, but i seem to have irlen syndrome or something similar, which is a sensory processing difficulty. i know sensory processing difficulties can be associated with dyspraxia, and this can be a cuse of poor spelling for some. http://www.irlenuk.com/ is a good place to start.

[agsiul]

Thanks for the info on irlen syndrome. There might be something in that because I'm photosensetive I did an assessment for Dyslexia a couple of years ago but didn't like the psychologist at all. He was very condecending as if I would go to him, as a teacher, if I didn't think there was a problem. Because of the type of work I do my English spelling is a lot better. He wasn't Irish so couldn't see that as a native speaker that my Irish should be better but he just poo pooed me when I said it. He did the same when I mentioned that I couldn't learn to read music even though i'd been learning for years. I was really upset afterwards. Yeah I find repetition is good and there is also a programme that we use in work that helps with phonological awarenss. It's a laugh doing it with the kids because I'd notice kids that I'd be keeping an eye on in the future and they'd say things like "Give me word" like a sort of a challenge or they'd come in and say that they've been practicing at home. They keep telling us that the like spelling. Who in their right mind would like spelling! Did you know that there aren't as many children with dyslexic tendencies in French and Italian and maybe Spanish. They say that the letters are more consistant but I can't see how. Do you both have the same problmes with maths as well?

[Grackle]

I'm terrible at spelling too. I think that computers are the greatest inventions in the world just because of spell check. It can be difficult with Canadian spelling because spell checkers are often American or UK and we use a bit of both. I am fortunate that I don't normally have to write things that people will see - usually I can take my notes, type them on the computer and use spell check to fix it. My writing is so small (and I only print) that I can usually scribble on the uncertain letters so they can look like anything. I find it really embarrassing sometimes because I work with faculty members at a university. It's worse when people watch too because I have an awkward grip on the pen and I make more mistakes. I even have trouble signing my name sometimes. Strangely, I was pretty good at spelling when I was a kid. I think that having the teacher say the word and spell it out helped because I learn better by hearing.

[agsiul]

I agree. The spellcheck for Engish is the most wonderful thing. I have a spellcheck for Irish but it is not great because there are so many exceptions or gramatical rules that it changes the spelling so it makes it less dependable than the English spell check. OMG I kwow what you mean about people looking at you when you are writing. Or talking at you when you are trying to fill in a form in the bank or somewhere. At the minute I am not teaching in a mainstream class so it reduces my stress levels for the spelling because I'm not having to write on the board as much as I would have to normally. It means that I can have a lot of the work prepared in advance and I od a lot of oral work as it suits my kids better anyway. Unfortunately I doesn't look like I'm going to have much choice in the matter and that I will be moved to a different school in the near future. The idea of it stresses me out no end. Most of the parents in my school are fine but I've been in situations before where I made spelling mistakes when writing and some smart ares kid came in the following day and said....my mammy said you spelled this wrong....or when a parent is in my class and sees a mistake and points it out, not to be helpful but to have a dig. It just brings me straight back to when I was a kid and teachers and my mother went on and on about my writing and spelling as if I was delibartely doing it badly. Have no idea how to deal with that situation. Any suggestions?

[Grackle]

Sorry to hear that you're having so much stress

At the minute I am not teaching in a mainstream class so it reduces my stress levels for the spelling because I'm not having to write on the board as much as I would have to normally. It means that I can have a lot of the work prepared in advance and I od a lot of oral work as it suits my kids better anyway. Unfortunately I doesn't look like I'm going to have much choice in the matter and that I will be moved to a different school in the near future. The idea of it stresses me out no end.

I think that you said that you don't have a dyslexia diagnosis. If you can get diagnosed would it mean that accommodations would be available to you? I'm at a university so there is usually more technology and I have access to overhead projectors, digital projectors and laptops which makes things easier for me. I'm usually doing prepared presentations though so I'm not under the same kind of pressure as you. Could you get diagnosed by a psychologist in Irish since that seems to be more of a problem for you?

Most of the parents in my school are fine but I've been in situations before where I made spelling mistakes when writing and some smart ares kid came in the following day and said....my mammy said you spelled this wrong....or when a parent is in my class and sees a mistake and points it out, not to be helpful but to have a dig. It just brings me straight back to when I was a kid and teachers and my mother went on and on about my writing and spelling as if I was delibartely doing it badly. Have no idea how to deal with that situation. Any suggestions?

I don't know how old the kids that you teach are. Can you make them write on the board when it needs to be done? Or make it a lesson for the kids to tell you when you make mistakes (you could even make intentional errors as a teaching technique -then they wouldn't know if you did it on purpose or not).

What works for me in my job is to make light of the problems. Like, I tell people that I take lousy notes so if they complain I tell them to fix it themselves since they made me do it despite my warnings. I make jokes about my writing before anyone else can. I make jokes about the quality and size of my handwriting (very small and I only print) and say that I only use computers so I'm out of practice. I work really hard to not show how I really feel (embarrassed, frustrated, inadequate) and to make jokes about it instead. I readily admit that I am a lousy speller. People tend to be kinder and more helpful when I have already made light of the problem.

Do you know the specific words or kind of words that you have trouble with (or is it more random)? I have the most trouble remember how to spell certain words and types of words (words that end in y that I have to change the tense or pluralize, words that have double letters, which vowel goes in specific words and so on). I try to find a different word or change the sentence tense or ask someone. If you are better with hearing, can you spell the words to you or make rhymes to remember them?

I hope that something helps. I sometimes think that our emotional reactions and past frustrations make everything worse. If people could just be nicer and less critical, we would all have less problems I think.

[agsiul]

Thanks for the really long message & with all the suggestions. I'm going to look into some of them. & thanks for the hug. You're right of course. It is more my own history that is stressing me out. I'm getting a sore head just thinking aobut it but in hind site the dyspraxia caused as much of a problem for me when I was in mainstream. I have a problem blocking out noise so had to bring home a huge amount of work to do at home. I work all the time because my time managenet is just awful. You know back then I used to say that if I won the lotto I'd get a nine to five job. People think we have it so easy if only they knew. the way it is right now I can focus on one project and keep going until I get it finished (not good when I've too manythings on at once). I just remember how awful the whole bloody thing was back then.....and they're going back again to she same shite. Big classes, no SNA (special needs assistants for the children with special needs, different class levels together, not being able to use the photocopier because the photocopying cost too much, etc. I just have to calm down and maybe talk to the Occupational Therapist to see if they could help me. I feel like a floating balloon. I've no control over what is happening. I hate that feeling.

[Grackle]

Another long-winded reply from Grackle...

Sorry that you're dealing with this. It might not be as bad as you think. With the occupational therapist, you might find ways to accommodate so that it isn't so bad (maybe even better then now). I don't deal very well with change. When everything is always the same, I know what to expect, how to act and what to do and I feel calmer. I don't deal well with new situations. I try to relate anything new to things that I've experienced before that I've dealt with successfully. You know how to teach already. So really it's just the environment that is changing. Maybe you'll have better kids or better kid's parents or more understand supervisors and coworkers and a fresh start. I know that it's easy for me to say because if it was me it would be hard to look at it that way. I have a script in my head from my childhood that helps. My mum used to read "The Little Engine that Could" to me when I was small particularly when I'd been having difficulty with new skills. The engine has to go up a large hill that seems impossible but he says "I think I can, I think I can" and then all the way up. My whole life when things seem really impossible, I can hear her voice in my head saying "I think I can, I think I can" and it gives me hope. I know that it sounds kind of stupid or weird but I think that what we say to ourselves can effect how well we cope with things. You can cope with this.

[agsiul]

Thanks for the really long message and I also apologise for my long rambling message. There is truth in what you say. I think that the problem might be that it's beyond my control. I have a huge problem with change as well.... in a way but on the other hand I get bored quickly and like to shake it up which is completely not what I used to be like but I got quite adventerous as I got older and travelled. But in work I'm like you. I need to know what to expect.....liek when I used to go on the school tours and I'd have all kinds of things ready in advance. The girls in my house thought it was hilarious....I said that even though I had everything prepared the kids would think of something new and stressful to do to me on the tour! I think part of the problem is that I remember how bad things were when I started work. Some of that is completely unrealated to dyspraxia and is actually lack of resourses, having no special needs assistant to help with children with special needs, big classes with mixed grades, working in a tiny school, etc. The problem is that that is the way the country is going again with big huge cuts and a morotorium on recruitment in the public service, etc.

I'm definately thinking that it would be worth talking to the OT to see if they can help me with the time management problems. The other problem is that the kids I have now are great, the parents are great and the job suits me because I'm in the best situation for me in that it is in Learning Support so most of the material is prepared in advance, I dont' use the borad much and if I spell something wrong I tell them that it's not the end of the world! Also I have an insite into the problems because of my own. So it works very well for the kids. I'm good at this job and wanted to stay in it for now. It's the longest I've been in any job.

I deicded today to relax, make a list of all of the problems I had in the past, take the things off the list that now I can do on the computer that I had to do by hand then, the things that are resource related, I'm going to grill any of the teacher I know who can help me with planning or notes....I love lists.....once the things are on the list I can take them out of my head so that they are not floating aroud there.

Thanks again for the support and you are right. I can do this....might make a list of all the things I have achieved until now....oh goody ...another list. I thought I could send you an powerpoint presentation about snow in Russia....that's you right? that had to dig out the van? you would have liked it....the pictures are unreal but I couldn't send it.There's no way to attach it to a message on the blog.

[Evasura]

Hi, I'm also a teacher (finally on holiday - yey!) and I also a mess when writing on the board. I teach Spanish and French, where the probles with sdpelling are less. Howerver, I tend to jumble letters and I have to keep on rubbing off. Also, I have problesm with organising the infromation clearly on the board. I have a tendency to staert writing in the middle of the board, so then the rest doesn't fit in and I make a complete mess. The solutions that I've put to it:
- Use hte normal whiteboard as little as possible. I rely a lot on the electronic board. Thanks to the person who invented them, because they are a miracle. I prepare really cool power points, where I have the stuff typed in, with anuimations and pictures. It doesn't only help me, but also my students (as I can add pictures, sounds and videos on the power points, the information is much better presented). It obviously takes me longer to prapare lessons than other people, but the result is of quite good quality. When we are brainstorming information or correcting exercises when the answers need to be written on the borad, me or some student do it in a word document and display it on the electronic board. That way, everything is neat adn also the ideas can be stored afterwards, and just printed out for slowe writing people (that's how we call ourselves , me and my slow writing students). For mistakes (which I do quite a few even on the power points that I've checked and rechecked), I play "spot the mistake" with the studnets. I've actually turned that inbto a learning tec hnique. It makes the students more engaged as they are all trying to spot the mistakes (everyone loves to catch a mistake from the teacher) and it actually helps them remember information better.Also, we have the rule that MISTAKES ARE OK as In MFL you learn a lot by making mistakes and learning from them.
Hope this helps.

[agsiul]

It does indeed....am trying to contact the union to find out if I can make the department of education buy me a whiteboard and laptop. At the minute it doesn't matter because I don't need it in my own room and we have them in the mainstream classes. very unlikely they'd be in many other schools as they are hideously expensive and schools never have the money but if I can make the department spend the money on them it would be of advantage to the school as well and might be a positive thing of the dyspraxia!

[agsiul]

I'm so annoyed. I rang the union to find out what that phrase "reasonable accomodation" would mean for me. Could I get the department to get me a white board and laptop? Not likely....the legislation isn't worth the paper it is written on. For the purposes of the legislation I have been told that the school are my employer and therefor they are resonsobile for this. They would have to pay for a laptop and whiteboard but they could say that they couldn't pay for it. which wouldn't be a lie because money is really tight right now. As well as that any time I've mentioned problems before I've been poo-pooed and made fun of and not alone that but it has been used to bully and control me so really it would be in my worst interests to disclose my problems. The union is next to useless in fact I don't know why I'm even paying them a subscription.

[JamesWebb]

Theres about 50% of having both .

[hanna]

I think is deff related..Spelling is my main problem academically