Dyslexia Observation Report

I visited four different stations at the dyslexia stimulation. At the first station, the group I was in was asked to write with our non dominant hand. With my left hand, I attempted to make designs, put dots in the squares, write the alphabet, and trace designs. While I was trying to write and trace, the teacher for the group was constantly fussing and calling individual people names. The second station I visited had us all in a circle with a story. The teacher for this station would call on students to read part of the story. However, the words in the story were very had to read and understand. The teacher also told us what the book was about and some words we may see therefore, some of us were able to decode the sentences. Trying to decode the book was a difficult and time consuming process. The teacher would get aggravated with a student if they did not know the word, which was very discouraging. Mirror writing was the third station I attended. At this station, each person had a mirror standing up in front of them. We were told to cover our writing hand, to look in the mirror, and try to trace between the lines of a star. Then, we
had write multiple numbers the teacher had called out. While trying to write, the teacher would praise the students who were going quickly and yell at the students who were going slow. She would also call out students with very sloppy work. It was very frustrating and embarrassing to be called out. At the last station, the teacher would hold up a card. The card would have a letter such as, p, d, b, or d. The teacher would then ask a student what the card said, but the card would be flipped or changed for the next student. The card being flipped for the next student made the student before feel as if they were wrong. Then, we were all given a story on a piece of paper. The words looked as if my paper was turned the wrong way, but turning it would not help. The teacher called on students to read and we had to try and decode the text as quick as we could. Some of the words were easy to figure out and others were not. The teacher would also call a student out for any mistakes. Participating in each of the tasks was very frustrating and discouraging. I felt as if I was unintelligent and could not do anything right. It was also upsetting when a teacher would criticize me as I was trying my best to complete the task. To help me achieve the tasks I often found myself asking my neighbor questions, or quickly writing to compensate on time. Also, I would look ahead or use context clues to try and read the stories. The stimulation gave me an insight as to how a child with dyslexia feels when trying to accomplish certain tasks. Also, the stimulation gave me a chance to see what students with dyslexia
see.
As a future teacher, it showed me why I should always remain patient and encouraging with my students. The program also made me realize that children with dyslexia have to work twice as hard to accomplish things that I can do without any work, which I imagine can be very tiring. My mother and younger sister both have dyslexia and I have seen the effects of it, mainly from my sister. I have seen her come home from school in tears and never wanting to go back. I have witnessed my parents stay up half the night helping her with homework and she would still fail the test. My most memorable experience from the stimulation was the sadness I felt at the end for her and every child with this disability. However, as a future educator, this sadness has also motivated me to become more aware of dyslexia and the effects it has on
students.