Springer Alum Gives Back Through Adventures in Summer Learning
July 6, 2017
Do Audiobooks Enable Struggling Readers?
July 26, 2017
Remember MacGyver? That secret government agent who used everyday objects, and the ever-present Swiss Army knife, to solve complicated problems?
For the last three weeks, students in Springer’s Adventures in Summer Learning program have been learning how to MacGyver school. These are students who struggle to do what others find easy, because they may have a learning disability or ADHD. At Springer, they’ve been learning alternative ways to accomplish reading, writing and math tasks, and strategies for managing the things that hold them back from success in school.
As the program draws near to the end, students are writing down the strategies and tools they’ve learned that are helping the most. Here’s what they had to say.
- Standing desks help me with my feet and to focus.
- Speech-to-text software helps me with writing.
- Audio books help me with reading and math.
- Taking breaks helps me to focus and relax.
- Playing Multiplication Baseball helps me learn and remember multiplication.
- Using a Time Timer helps me know how much time is left.
- Breaking up words helps me read and sound it out.
- Deep breathing exercises help me calm down.
- A number grid for math helps me remember facts.
- Saving work on my laptop keeps me from having to redo my work.
- Playing the Connect the Letter game helps me with my handwriting.
- Taking breaks helps me to think and gets me on topic.
- Rhyming helps me to sound out words and to spell.
- Asking “Wh” questions helps me to understand what I’m reading.
- Fidgets help me to focus.
- Kidspiration software helps me to organize my thoughts.
- Not saying “I can’t” helps me feel hopeful.
- Sitting on a yoga ball helps me focus.
- Reviewing new information helps me remember.
- Making folders on my computer helps me keep my work organized.
- Using Command-C and Command-V helps me to copy information for research.
- Making new friends is fun!
By the end of the program, students have their own customized toolbox for learning!
Blogger Mary Ann Mulcahey, PhD, shares her expertise in assessment and diagnosis of learning disabilities and ADHD, and the social/emotional adjustment to those issues. If you have questions, please contact Mary Ann at .
