S.T.O.P Targets - A strategy to boost productivity for dyslexic teenagers in education.
I am delighted to introduce to you our latest guest blogger, Zoe Joseph-Pennant.
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| Zoe Joseph-Pennant - CEO Dyslexia For The Wise |
Zoe runs her own charity supporting young people with dyslexia, is a life coach and a foster parent and knows how to help young people to engage with what is important to them and putting strategies in place for making sure that dyslexia doesn't get in the way.
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| Click here to visit the website for Zoe's charity. |
In the article below Zoe tells us about a strategy that she has developed, that dyslexic young people at school can use to increase engagement and be more productive.
Zoe writes...
I am the founder and Creative Managing Director for Dyslexia for the Wise. I decided to set up this charity for young people and adults as I felt there was still a negative stigma of what Dyslexia actually is.
Dyslexia is a condition that affects the brain which means Dyslexic people use the right side of the brain (the creative side) more of the time and find the left side (the academic side) challenging at times. Understanding this and doing research started to make me think....
I am a Life Coach, Mentor and Foster Parent, while working with young people I found that the Dyslexic children I was working with were finding it very difficult to complete work, take in and store information and having to remember things was a great pain.
I woke up one morning and it came to me, to create a goal setting target just like the SMART targets but one for Dyslexic people. This goal setting target would be to support with completing school work, ways to stop the brain racing, taking time and focusing on confidence and motivation, I thought to myself “ YES now let’s get all these ideas down on paper” that was the first step.
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| July 7th , Leek, Staffordshire |
Here I would like to share with you the STOP targets, each letter is a word that is very important when having this condition Dyslexia as at times a Dyslexic person can find their brain racing, when this happens errors can be made:
S
trategies
With each home work or essay, make sure strategies are put in place, making them clear and short, sometimes long pieces of work can be too much for a Dyslexic person who has challenges with their attention span.
T
ime
Take your time when completing work. The quicker you try and rush, the more errors will be made.
O
rganise
Organisation is key. The more organise you are the more your mind is clear and has the room for peace, focus and then completion.
P
atience
Be patient. There are going to be time when frustration arises, take deep breaths, go for a walk or leave it all together until later, this way your mind is fresh again to continue.
So here you have it, the STOP targets, what will you do with it? How will you integrate it into your work at school or university? Why not give it a try and see if it works for you.
Here are a couple tips on how you can include this technique for your school/college work:
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Each work you have to do, create a Mind map first to get all your ideas down on paper – this is good structure to have when you want to be organised.
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Have a vision board in your room – post stick notes or pictures of things placed on your vision board so you can remember what you want to do and put in, regarding your school work.
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Set a time/goal of when you want to complete your work (this can be stuck on your vision board also)
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Put the STOP TARGET up in your room so you remember the steps
I hope this will help you just that little bit more when doing your school or college work.
By the way I would like to share with you my gift in life.......................I am also Dyslexic.
Zoe Joseph-Pennant
C.M.D
Dyslexia for the Wise
“Nothing is impossible once you put that unique mind to it”