As we go into the summer, a huge ‘thank you’ goes to teachers, students and parents. To the students, you’ve practiced focus and attention and this is no easy feat. It takes hard work to build and exercise an efficient brain. To our parents, you ensured your children had a good night’s sleep and a…
Tag: intervention
Interventions – Positive Steps in the Right Direction
Those pesky red flags made your heart sink. And they were doing so well. At some point every student reaches this wall. Actually this can be seen as a good thing. It means that both the student and the program have located the area of need, that point where the student missed along the journey…
Secret to the Universe When Motivation Wanes
Many times I’ve been asked “how do you motivate students”? This is usually during the time when the newness of the exercises wear off and it’s clearly drudgery that takes over. This might happen during week one (sigh) or perhaps pop up in week three. If you’re lucky, you won’t see the effects for quite…
Connecting the Dots
It’s definitely spring. Everyone is in high gear especially with the good weather. Our final session of “Connect the Dots” happened last week with a gathering of folks at Schou. Along with some interventions, we were able to review the latest information on MyScilearn (teacher area). The Results tab now houses the individual graphs and…
Reading Connections and Interventions
Many of you have taken advantage of accessing Reading Levels. These products focus on elements that bridge to reading – decoding, spelling, sentence and paragraph comprehension. As well, practice with word play, categorization and comprehension strategies serve to enhance areas that are weak. The program follows the same protocols as Fast ForWord and interventions are…
Accessible Reading and Writing with iPad Apps
For those of you with access to iPads, you might wish to consider using the following free apps. Reading text online is just as challenging as reading a book if your students struggle with reading. Try Voice Dream Reader Lite. This handy app reads online webpages, documents, pdf, text, powerpoint, ebooks, Pocket, using text- to -speech…
Quick Markers As Evidence Along the Way
We all understand that having current information about a student’s learning help in guiding our ongoing practice. When there are so many things that compete for time in our day, sometimes it’s difficult to get to those formative assessments. And it’s in these times that I find efficiency and speed is my friend. Even though…
Happy New Year – September 2012
Welcome back. This is a very exciting year with the transition to our new online platform. This has allowed us some flexible options in how we deliver the program, how we support more students, and how we engage in deeper conversations about our students’ learning journey. In anticipation of the process, this blog has been…
Growing Readers
I just finished rereading A Corner of the Universe (A. Martin), an intermediate novel for Literature Circles next term. I was reminded once again how meaning can be taken to a whole new level just by the manipulation of words. What happens when there are monstrous barriers that make words impossible to decipher? Make no…
Fireside Conversations on Interventions (webinar)
Sometimes you just need a place to voice those questions, comments or situations that don’t appear to have any answers. I’m reminded that having ‘partners in learning’ help to enrich and see things in different ways. With all the busy-ness of school, it’s difficult to get away. Enter ‘technology’… The webinar approach was a good…
Launching Reading Levels Series
We’re thrilled to be able to provide Reading Series to every Fast ForWord site. Last year, three of our sites piloted this series with some students who completed Fast ForWord processing exercises. The positive responses from both students and teachers have moved us forward in this opportunity. Reading Levels takes the same approach as Fast ForWord…
A New Look for 2011-2012
You might have already taken a peek at your Fast ForWord stations and discovered a new look to the Gateway icon and program. All sites have been upgraded to version 5, which offers not only a sleeker view but some differences in the way the program launches. Click here for instructions about launching the new Demo….
Prevention is easier than Intervention
Imagine a week where no red flags appear in Progress Tracker – those crazy hints that you may have to readjust your teaching. This is one of the reasons that it is important to work through the exercises yourself so that you get a feel for any problems that may crop up for your students. …
Why No Progress! Intervention layers…
A small group recently got together to tackle Progress Tracker – the reporting engine that provides an incredible amount of data to sift through. Here are some of the highlights of what was gleaned at our Interventions learning session (January 18, 2011): Prior to an intervention process, assess the situation: direct observation of student (what…
It’s All About Reading – Learning Session
Our learning session on the new Reading Series is on Tuesday January 11 (3:30-5:30) at Schou – TLC. Our connecting questions: How does the new Reading exercises help to bridge students to gaining reading skills? What practices provided in the exercises can be shared in larger groups with classroom teachers? What students can best benefit…