Talk about Dys_teacher-teacher

how to talk about learning disorders...

...as a teacher with other teachers?

Use the information you have on the child’s disorder or find some useful documents to help you and your colleagues. It is important that at least one of the teachers talk to the student’s parent to have more information about their specific situation before organizing a meeting with the other teachers. It will then be easier to set a common strategy to help the child. You can also talk to the school’s technical experts who might be able to give you some additional information and advice.

Gather useful information

Talking to the child’s other teachers is of course very important. However, you should not forget that some teachers who don’t know the Dys child you are teaching might still have some valuable experience with other Dys children as well. Don’t hesitate to talk to them and see if they can advise you to use some strategies you hadn’t thought of.

Get as much help as you can

The best way to start this discussion with the child’s other teachers would be to organize a meeting at the beginning of the school year to discuss the child’s situation. This meeting could be organized after each teacher has had the chance to observe the student in their classroom. It would be the time to share the information you have on the child’s disorder to try to understand what their needs are. The school’s technical experts could also participate in this meeting to share their opinion on the matter.

Try to organize a meeting

Share your ideas on how to help the child and establish some strategies to overcome their difficulties. Using a computer program or notebook or organizing frequent meetings to talk about the child with Dys can be helpful to follow their development all along the school year. Seeing how the child progresses in different school subjects can help you highlight their strengths and adapt your teaching style.

Discuss strategies

When trying the discussed strategies in your classroom, don’t forget to keep track of what has worked or not for each student. Share that information with your colleagues through the media you have agreed on. That way you will be able to quickly establish the most efficient method with all the other teachers.

Keep track of what has/hasn’t worked

You can also use a notebook with the student to write about the progress they make. Tell your colleagues that you use this method to make sure they also can fill it in. This technique can help you see all the positive change and motivate the student to keep doing their best.

Keep track of the student’s progress

The latin saying “nothing about us without us” perfectly describe that solutions to the problem should be searched with the people directly involved in. Encourage the student to talk with the other teachers about what strategy is effective and what is not. It empowers them to be advocate for themselves which is an important skill for the future.

Encourage Dys youngster to actively participate in the process

THANK YOU!