What’s one thing that happens in lots of classrooms that I would get rid of?

Copying.

Copying from the board in particular.

As a teacher I get it - and I’ve done it in the past myself, but for someone with dyslexia or working memory difficulties copying is a nightmare and it doesn’t work. The effort of holding the information in your head and the correct spellings and writing down in the correct order is often too much. The information just doesn’t sink in.

So what can be done instead? That depends on the child, their needs, age and stage of learning but in general:

• Give them a printed copy of whatever is on the board

• Ask them to do something meaningful with it, this could be:

  • making a visual representation of something

  • identifying the true statements from a series of true and false statements and making the false ones true

  • turning the information into their own notes using a flow chart or graphic organiser

There are lots of options that are more meaningful and impactful than copying!