Mgaic
Posted on Jun 15th, 2008
by 
kcidybom
kcidybom
Adrconicg to eprxet oniiopn lses tahn fftiy pcernet of the patlpuooin wlil be albe to raed tihs, and olny twtney pcernet wtih any seped. Leartite aseltcenods wlil bset altuds. I'm gsnieusg taht the pcernetgaes wlil be hgheir hreh on Giaa. We wlil see.
I am trierlby bsuy, but usntnadred taht I am lninareg so mcuh mroe aoubt jsut how azinamg the biarn ralely is so the bdreun is bbarleae. All rghit, I wnat to aovid finyrg my own biarn so I wlil stiwch to 'naorml' lteter seuqcene. Bdeseis, my selpl ckceehr is ninareg mowdletn.
I'm in this training, you see. Orton-Gillingham. And it's a challenge intellectually, physically, and emotionally. I'm thinking of language and learning differences 24 by 7 and am in class for eight hours a day and have about that much reading and homework to do each night. I'm working with my first 'demonstration' student,' a big old Iowa farm boy who speaks with clarity and ease on complex agricultural and business topics, but who cannot read or write above the second grade level. His eyes light up when I tell him that our goal is to get his reading and writing up to the same level as his speaking. I remind him of this at the start of every class. The first time I told him he said that that's what he's always wanted and started to cry. It turns out that his public school classmates made fun of him for years and called him Dim Tim. With a WISC full-scale of 145+ he's not dim by any measure.
The fact that the 'teaching the teachers' class I'm in is being taught by an ex-partner of mine, an ex of the wifely persuasion and the mother of my daughters, is exceedingly strange. For whatever difficulties this person may have with close relationships, she is a gifted teacher of the first rank. I understand why her students, child and adult, think so highly of her. I always thought her writing was overly dense, even pretentious, but her knowledge of the language, and her ability to analyze and synthesize complex issues in this domain and come up with perfect examples on the spot, is astounding.
Three of my old group graduated the school's 'regular' program Friday, regular in the sense of wilderness, academic, and therapeutic elements combined. It was a surprisingly emotional experience. I'm beginning to understand how teachers feel when they send their charges off into the world and wonder how they'll do, wonder if they learned all they need. I'm going to miss them, and I know they'll miss me. <sigh>
On top of all that, the school asked me to do the engineering and installation of a new fiber-optic computer network on campus. I'll have help but most of the work will fall to me.
So between now and July 21, when I'm officially on the academic side of the school, all I have to do is complete the OG training, work with my demonstration student, see another of my guys graduate, and engineer and install a fiber optic data network.
Piece of cake.
I'd write more but I'm gonna go do a nap-in-advance now.
Access: Public
life
July 2008 
This is grand, I had no trouble, but then again many of my students write like this!
LOL
spellchecker meltdown?
wonderful that you can give hope to people who have been crushed
Thanks everybody. I really miss everyone here. Soon, within a few weeks anyway, I hope to have the time to get back to Gaia more regularly. I'm only 3-4 weeks behind reading all your posts. I look forward to catching up.
And yeah Dawn - spell checker slag heap at the least…;-)
Love and hugs all around…Albert
I understand the first part of your sharing and that's scarey ….
this incredible sharing and whey do I keep correcitng my typos when I know you can reed what a wirte!??? ;-)
wow … trippy being taught by your ex … You share very nice accolades about her!!! I am sure she is amazing … and of course - because the 2 of you to have created and parented such beautiful and amazing daughters! I hope you share more about what you've learned - I'm very interested … working with kids who struggle w/ learning, knowing how to interact with others, anger issues yadda yadda yadda!!!
I miss your genius, wit, creativity and all around good sense of fun here on Gaia …
but actually I have to say … you are still very much present and here in spirit and with your great energy.
Yes Albert I did understand the first paragraphs too…there was a thing I read about spelling words the way they sound and how people can make sense of them. In that test i could read every word! :-)
You do good work Albert to be sure…Makes me want to just give you a huge hug in admiration. Dont wear yourself out dear friend…the woods need you too! :-)
much love always
Thanks Peri and Julia - your comments make me all melty and snabberflubbeled.
I plan to write more on what I've learned sometime - but I think I'd better actually learn something first. Whatever made me think that physics is the most difficult thing to learn?
I miss you two too. I'll be back more regularly soon. I love the conversations.
Albert
snabberflubbeled how glorious a word/ did you make that up? :)
You mean it's not a word? I think I did. I must have…..Oooo.
I saw a parallel between the Iowa farm boy and your “ex.” Both are highly intelligent. Both have experienced a “disconnect” - in his case, between what he can articulate and how he can express it in writing. etc. In the case of your ex. , the disconnect took place somewhere along the line in your marriage. The bridge between the two of them is found in the way you see them. Your writing reflects how compassion allows us to celebrate strength, while accepting and embracing ones challenges. I was warmed by your tender and appreciative point of view. Our “Oneness” lies in this kind of world view - seeing value in each other, rather than what is missing. Beautiful. Miss ya, Albert. I haven't been around as often as I would like either. It's a busy time, isn't it?
I love that we all check in and say hi when we can and we are all still here and still having very full lives that are not online all the time.
albert – I would LOVE to know more about helping people get better with reading and writing. jordan is highly intelligent, but reading and writing are not fun for him because they are SO challenging. I would like to know how to help them become fun for him. also, I am working with a person right now who is very smart and very good at this job, but not such a good reader or speller, which presents her with unique challenges. I don't suppose there is an easy way to make it better? please share when you get a chance.
I always love your blog. I'm glad you could drop in.
and I like what you've said here too otter– about our “oneness”. I love it.
otter - Hey, it's so good to hear from you. I don't know if I, personally, am as compassionate as I want to be, but maybe because I want to be I see where I fall short and try harder. Or maybe I'm just grasping at straws here.
Dawn - The conversation threads here on Gaia give me sustenance. I love their random nature and unexpected turns. I'll put together an info packet and send it to you. There definitely is help available for both Jordan and your co-worker, although it takes adults a little longer to cover the same ground. I'll email in a day or two. Gotta go do my homework now…;-)
gaia is so awesome! yay!! hugs all around
Albert - I checked out the Orton-Gillingham website. I’m intrigued. I’ll be looking forward to your packet. Make sure you are taking care of yourself and getting plenty of sleep and exercise and good nutrition while you are in this busy time. The brain needs more than one kind of sustenance, eh? And thanks for being a person in the world who cares. -Dawn
Yup Nicole…definitely awesome.
Dawn…zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz…;-)
Welcome Albert so happy to see you here this weekend. You are in line for a Melting Hug too.
Leartite aseltcenods wlil bset altuds.
I could read all the paragraph except I have NO idea what this says.
I used to be a special education teacher, and I workshopped Orton-Gillingham and some of its offshoot programs. I was a fine student of the program, felt like I could leave the workshop and work miracles in my classroom. but alas I was not a very good teacher of the O-G or any other method. I am too rebellious to follow a system and people who have to reroute their natural thinking processes to learn to read need that consistent structural approach to help them find their way. I was also teaching middle schoolers with emotional and every other kind of trouble. I finally decided I was not special enough and walked away. There's more to it than that, but that is enough.
You dear Albert have all indications of being special enough to help your students find their way. I wish you all the best. I send you on your way with lots of hugs and kisses for the next month, as you do the impossible.
Your joyousness shines through. I really appreciate reading your stories today.
By the way, I tried to write about cicadas, but my post fell down a hole.
All I can say is mmmm crunchy… and you have a leg stuck in your teeth. Here's a toothpick.
Hello Carla - so good to hear your voice! “Literate adolescents will best adults.” Actually, I'm amazed that anyone can read this kind of thing. I didn't make it easy. The first and last letters have to remain in place but the intermediate letters shouldn't form vowel-consonant sequences that make 'sense,' otherwise your eye gets stuck on those and you can't 'see' the intended word. I didn't pay much attention to that part of it.
I understand what you say about it being difficult to stay within a system. I imagine I'll have a few problems in this area as well. I'm pinning my hopes on the OG concept of 'structured flexibility' and the implied (or at least inferred by me) idea that I can dynamically react to the student's needs in an organic fashion. Time will tell.
Thanks so much - your words are a balm.
Albert
Wow! Thanks for the link and for telling us what you are learning! It's SO good to know there are positive ways to support the needs of dyslexic learners. Albert, you are an amazing guy! Thank you for being on the earth!
Thank you martha - and I enjoy the earth, although Venus and Mars are cool too!