After reading a lot of these posts, I must say that i agree with most of them in the sense that we need to bear in mind certain characteristics at the moment of teaching. I particularly become interested in one of Tomlinson's principles: the necessity of students to be engaged affectively and cognitively in the language experience.
I believe it is absolutely helpful but also challenging to create materials following this principle. From my experience, I have two kids with dyslexia in one of the classes, so we need to revise everything at the moment of giving out activities. We need to follow certain formats and be aware of their previous schemas in order to engage them. At the same time, we realize that if we contemplate every aspects of their process of learning, they do a great job in the English classes.
Anyway, sometimes we feel that we are not prepare ... or at least we do not know much about these issues. I feel that we need to be so flexible to engage in the aspects related to learning disabilities. If we are true to ourselves, the results are amazingly comforting.
Thanks for your comments Eugenia. Having students with Dyslexia is challenging but it's also an opportunity for you to develop specific skills in terms of materials writing, especially when it comes to layout and design. Small changes can be a huge help. I'm just learning about this kind of thing myself. It's fascinating. I agree that flexibility is key and a willingness to learn and adapt. Your students are lucky to have you as their teacher.
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