EDR 251: Case Studies in Reading

This summer I have decided to enroll in EDR 251 whose course description is Case Studies in Reading. In this course I am supposed to:
1. develop an understanding of the principles of assessment, diagnosis and remediation of literacy difficulties;
2. gain competence in the conduct of diagnostic, assessment and evaluation processes in reading instruction;
3. develop competence and confidence in teaching children experiencing literacy difficulties.

During our first week, my classmates and I recalled the basics of the reading process and were given a background on different learning difficulties. I was able to put myself in the shoes of those students who have learning difficulties through the varied activities that Teacher Hazelle, our professor, made us experience. The activities were  fun at first but tended to get tedious and frustrating as time passed. I realized that considering my personality I might be one of the passive types that would stay silent about a difficulty. I would not tell anyone that I am having problems. If there are students with learning difficulties in my class that have the same personality as I do, then they are suffering in silence. I realized that I need to reach out more to these students so that I could help them more in their studies.

We also had an orientation on the tools used for assessment and had a practice administering these tools. For me, the practice administration helped me much on understanding the feelings of a person taking the test.  The experience was indeed humbling because I realized that even though I am a teacher, there are certain words that I find hard to spell out or to pronounce properly. When I was taking the Gray Oral Test, I was sleepy and find it hard to focus. So, many of the comprehension questions I could not answer properly. I could not remember the details in the paragraphs that I had read. Thus, I realized that the state of mind of the test takers can affect their test results.