Understanding the Pieces of the Literacy Puzzle-Week 2

The question of ‘nature versus nurture’ is constantly present in unravelling the mysteries of how the brain functions across various key stages of development, including in understanding how a person not only learns to read but how they become successful and confident readers.
For many families reading is deeply entrenched in their routines from bedtime stories to the morning newspaper, children see others reading, are read to and are encouraged to explore the process themselves, however this nurturing does not guarantee their success with being literate. Beneath the nurturing, there are complex biological aspects which must occur in correct succession in order for the process of being literate to be successful.

Throughout my teaching methods courses in Language Arts the theme of ‘nurture’ was continually covered and reflected upon, however the roots to successful literacy were never examined carefully from the perspective of ‘nature’. In my opinion, the ‘nature’ elements behind literacy are extremely important to understand since educators should be aware of the complex biological process that is literacy. Reading, as noted in class, requires vision, short-term memory, attention and long-term processing skills. Difficulties at any of these levels will make the process of reading more difficult and potentially impossible. Understanding the reasons behind a person’s struggle with gaining literacy skills is first element in this ‘best fit’ model, yet as a new educator I was not exposed to a clear understanding of these processes or the influence these processes would have on learning to read.

In my opinion, it is important to educate the teacher, student (at a developmentally appropriate level) and family to the reasons why the student is struggling with mastering literacy skills. With a clear understanding of what is happening to impede the reading process, the implementation of intervention will be more empowering for all individuals involved. While a diagnosis may be viewed by some as stigmatism, I believe it should not be but rather viewed as a key to allowing others to understand the students’ experiences.

The website “Misunderstood Minds” (sponsored by PBS) supports the notion that understanding the students experience and diagnosis is the key to providing meaningful support to the student. Through the website I was able to reflect upon the ease at which I learned to read, attend and compute. I was also able to gain a clearer understanding of the laborious process reading, writing, attending and mathematical computing can be for others. I could not help but reflect upon the various students I work with daily who have received diagnoses of dyslexia, disgraphia, attention problems or unknown learning problems. For these students, especially at the upper elementary level, I realized even more the importance of incorporating effective Assistive Technologies to assist them in completing their daily work. Furthermore, I have gained a further understanding of the importance of empowering these students to advocate for the incorporation of their aids across all aspects of their lives.

During class, the question of when remediation for a learning problem should be replaced with providing strategies and technologies to deal with the learning problem arose. After examining the website, reflecting upon the film “The Secret Life of the Brain” and the various students I see as a classroom and Program Support teacher I feel students in early elementary should receive as much remediation as possible to assist them in developing strategies to deal with their learning problem. For example, students identified as having difficulty with phemonic awareness should have access to programs like “Simon Sounds it Out” and direct instructional programming like LiPS to assist in providing another “wiring” input system for the brain. However, I believe by upper elementary students should be focusing on strategies which will enable them to complete their class work in an efficient and productive manner. I think by upper elementary students should be introduced to programs which will assist them in reading, and effectively expressing themselves with their writing such as “Kurzweil” and portable writers. The focus of support at this level should shift to learning how to use the programs, how to incorporate these into their everyday classroom needs and providing students with associated supports like learning to quickly type.

Overall, both ‘nature and nurture’ are key elements to developing literacy skills. It is important however not to over emphasize the importance of ‘nature’ in the process. I believe students diagnosesed with learning problems require explicit teaching of skills and appropriate Assistive Technologies which reflect their strengths and areas of need.