Wednesday, September 8, 2021

Wednesday, September 8, 2021   

 

  A wonderful, pain-free night. When I walked this morning, I started a new routine. I stopped periodically to make small squats -with my knees touching. That last part is crucial. When I start with my knees together, it impacts my back and hip placement. 

    I had an appointment with sixth grade D at 8:30 am. When I brought his story up, I discovered all the changes I had made were missing. This hasn't happened to me since Word included automatic updates. I had only planned to read him the story and check if he wanted it in the past or the habitual present. Instead, we worked on his reading.

     His mother had complained about his fluency.   I had him read out loud. The flow of his words sounded jerky. I showed him how to group words into phrases before he started reading them out loud. He still had problems. I asked him, again, if there was any movement on the pages. He said the lines jumped around. It was okay if there was only one line, but the lines jumped when there were two or more. He was constantly chasing words across the page. No wonder his reading sounded jerky.

   Later in the day, I called Mama K. We had to work on spacing the letters using primary paper. Mama K had to write the model for K to copy. She had made mistakes. Mind you, Mama K's handwriting was perfectly legible, even if it was not the standard letter formation. It wouldn't make any difference except that when K sees the letters written in two different ways and then spaced on the lines in two different ways, it creates confusion for him. He suffers enough from spatial disorientation. He needs a clear, unambiguous model.

    I gave Tommy, my tech, the go-ahead to post the 5 Stories on Bandcamp as well as YouTube.

    I got a call from Damon. He had been away for the weekend, doing his boys' weekend with his old buddies from Vassar. Damon has remained good friends with three guys all these years. The four boys and two others whose names I didn't know went to stay someplace in Massachusetts that belonged to someone one of the guys knew. I love it when I hear of folks who maintain old relationships like that. I did it for quite a while with my college buddies. Then we all fell away from each other, having become very different people. Too bad.

   After the weekend, Damon and his friend Eddie caught a live tennis match in Queens. Eddie had never seen one live before. Damon's mom would have preferred he had spent the time visiting her since he was on the east coast. 

    Damon completed his work on his film for DreamWorks. He says the company is excited about the project. They expect it to do well. They have already commissioned a script for a sequel, so they're ready to move if the first movie pans out.

  I got an email from the Step Up Tutoring tutor. I spoke with him on Monday during my reading office hours. He thanked me again for my help and told me he could see a difference using my approach. This is the first time I got to see if someone else could use my method and see a difference. This is huge.

    I had adolescent D at the end of the day. I always ask him if he did any reading in school that day. Up to now, his answer has been no – not a single word. Then in our last session, he said he's been reading all the questions the teacher hands out since the beginning of school. I don't know if he's lying or unable to remember. I ask him to remind him he has a choice to do some reading and encourage him to see small steps as significant. His resistance to this is impressive and distressing. It is wearing on me. He argues that there has been no improvement; it seems more that he feels D has always read as well as he does now. Is he reading material on grade level? No, he doesn't get it all. It isn't accurate to say he reads on grade level, just a lot better, a lot more than he used to.  

   Today he said the lines of print jumped for him. I recommended using a frame to isolate the words he is reading. No way, he says, because someone would see him doing it. I suggested he use his finger to guide his eyes. Again, no way. I told him everyone already knows he can't read. He said, "I hope not." Ego uber alles for this boy. 

   He has a consistent problem with his memory. I can repeat a rule or pattern several times in a lesson, and he won't remember it when he sees it the next time. So far, I have had no luck fixing the problem. He may have to live with it. To be successful, he must be open about it and ask for help when needed. He can't make hiding it his primary method of dealing with it. Hiding isn't something he just does with his reading. He won't allow me to see his image when we do Zoom. He is always hiding. The boy needs help. The mother has instructed me to help him, but he may be beyond my reach.