Specialist dyslexia and dyscalculia education consultant, Judy Hornigold shares some tips on how to make classrooms friendlier for dyslexic learners.
Coming up in November will be one of the first opportunities in 2021 for educational professionals who would like to network with colleagues and share ideas whilst gaining CPD credits listening to dyslexia thoughts leaders. At the Positive Dyslexia Conference, one of the speakers will be Judy Hornigold an independent education consultant who specialises in dyslexia and dyscalculia.
Judy Hornigold - Educational Consultant
Judy once delivered a workshop on Dyscalculia at the SEN Jigsaw Conference that I co-organised a few years ago and I found her style of teaching engaging and really informative so I was delighted to see that she also shares resources on her website that teachers can use now.
One of these resources are her comments about how to make classrooms dyslexic friendly.
Judy states on her dyslexia page that people with dyslexia often struggle with:
Reading
Writing
Spelling
Maths
Telling the time
Hearing certain sounds
Handwriting
Speech and language
Remembering instructions
Organisation
Getting their ideas on to paper
Processing information quickly
With the above challenges in mind, how does Judy think teachers can make their classrooms friendlier for dyslexic pupils?
Judy Hornigold’s Top Ten Tips For Making Classrooms Dyslexic Friendly.
Use a multisensory approach to teaching: graphics, diagrams, flowcharts, mind maps, colours, video, and sound.
Use poster displays to support key vocabulary.
Include creative, problem solving activities.
Provide tasks in which students can express creativity in their thinking and reward this thinking
Avoid copying from the board
If pupils can’t spell a word, spell it loud for them and, at the same time, write it on the board- provide key spellings
Use coloured dots/ pens if board work cannot be avoided.
Check that students have understood instructions.
Make learning an active process and interactive process.
Vary your style of teaching and be aware of different learning styles.
Whilst a lot of these tips will seem straightforward, we have to remember how busy classrooms are as well as recognise the current challenges of teaching during this time of pandemic so it is useful to see these tips.
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Come and see Judy Hornigold as she delivers her training to education professionals across the UK at The Positive Dyslexia Conference, November 11th 2021, Liverpool.