2022 - Professional Growth Cycle - Dysgraphia Inquiry - Hypothesising & Reflecting

The first step is to see if my hypothesis of dysgraphia is correct, if I'm on the right track etc. The issue is I am unable to get a formal diagnoses of dysgraphia without my tamariki being able to access sessions with an educational psychologist on a private basis or being referred with months (potentially) years of waiting on a public list to get a diagnoses.

My kids cannot wait that long NOR should they have to, but that is another issue for another day. In the meantime there are several online "tests" and I have approached the RTLB for her assistance. She has recommended several written tests as well which all could indicate that the child might  have dysgraphia.

I filled in an online questionnaire: https://www.lexercise.com/tests/dysgraphia-test

and also got my tamariki to fill out a handwritten set of exercises. All tested as having a high probability of dysgraphia. These came from the RTLB for me to use. As this is my only option to "diagnose" them, I am working on the assumption they have dysgraphia at some, if not different levels. 

I then enrolled and paid for an online seminar from Tammy McMillan, https://www.shareshapeandshine.org/  Based in Australia. This seminar discussed what dysgraphia is, how to identify it, and most importantly, what to do about it in the classroom.

The biggest takeaway from this seminar was that I needed to let go of the expectations that I could teach them to write and then everything would be ok. These kids can learn to write, but in fact, is it necessary? Is the stress that is induced in the children, and myself, necessary to go through when there are accommodations that I could use?

These boys all have reasonable reading skills. They are at Gold level. How can I know that of my boy with mutism? Because he can type answers to questions that are basic but understandable and which show me he can read. He cannot however make simple inferences but works more at a fact and literal level. This is probably a symptom of his autism diagnoses and he may pick this up as he gets older, but right now this is something I not concerned with.

What have I changed in the classroom?

• I have stopped requiring them from answering in writing, they can choose to talk to me about their understanding of something, or draw a picture or record something.
• I am working more one on one with them (when I can) to check their understanding more frequently during a lesson.
• I am offering more drag and drop options for these three so they don't have to type their answers, they can choose an answer and drag it to where it should be.
• I am continuing with handwriting lessons that I just let them join in at the moment to encourage hand strength. I will be correcting them on formation, but not pushing them to be perfect.
• I have purchases grips for pencils and pens to see if that helps with grip as they are all poor tool handlers. They tend to hover over the page and to hold the pencil quite high without their hands touching the paper sometimes. This is particularly true with my autistic boy which may be a sensory thing, I do not know. Again, if it helps it helps!
• Writing - these kids have great stories to tell, but they are currently unable to do anything but verbalise them. They are unable to access assessments such as asttle or other writing assessments.
• The kids have been introduced to speech to text (well, two of them!) and they are able to write short sentences with them. Whilst this helps somewhat, the lack of ability to focus and stay on task means they still get very little work done without someone over their shoulder keeping them going. This is very difficult with others in the class. It also needs to be done in a quiet environment which is all good as we have quiet break out rooms. However, this means leaving them alone to do their work which they are not capable of doing for any length of time. A catch 22. Especially when the mute boy won't do anything while I am with him, but can't do it on his own without me!
• Being able to let go of the THEY MUST WRITE OR THEY AREN'T ACHIEVING paradigm I was desperately hanging on to is a big relief. These kids can achieve without being able to physically write.

I believe this has changed my relationship with these boys, learning is more enjoyable from both sides of the teacher's table.

I will be constantly monitoring their progress and their abilities to ensure that I am meeting their needs and if something changes with their writing, that's great! We will celebrate it, but their worth as a writer won't hinge on this occurring.

It also has made me more aware of issues that children may face that I am not able to fix. I think as a teacher you believe you can do anything and it can be disheartening to see children not progress as you expect. But with a bit of jinking and jiving, an accommodation here or there, and alternative assessment options show that they are indeed progressing and are learning, just not as I may have formerly wanted or expected them to do. This is still valid.

2022 - Professional Growth Cycle - Dysgraphia - Noticing & Investigating

2022 is my 5th year of teaching. It has been a huge learning curve after my 12 months of studying to be a teacher. Over this time in classrooms, I am becoming increasingly interested in learning issues my ākonga face. 

My cohort I teach is year 5 & 6. At this level students "should" be able to read well enough to access the curriculum and do learning in more subject areas. Their comprehension of what they are reading is vital for them to be able to learn about more complex ideas and their writing should be able to demonstrate that knowledge.

This year I have several students whose writing is several years below what is expected of the average student at this level. Handwriting is poor, construction of sentences are weak and even copying down text is difficult. Their reading is slightly behind, but is not of major concern and they understand clearly what they are reading. I am finding it difficult to consistently differentiate my teaching whereby what I am expecting of them to "create" to demonstrate mastery of the knowledge is within their abilities.

What is going on? 

There are three tamariki that fall into this group. 

• One is a selective mute and will not talk to many adults. 
• One has a lot of absences put down to anxiety by his whānau. He is also easily distracted.
• One has also had a lot of absences, and is a big procrastinator who needs constant reminders to do his work.
• Two fall outside the level required to do an asttle writing assessment and one is level 1 beginning).
• Maths levels are sitting at Stage 3 to 4 depending on the area. Fractions are proving very difficult to grasp and then retain. 
• All have very poor handwriting and find it hard to type words. They have had varying success with speech to text with Google docs.
• All play on devices at home although not extensively. They are very capable on devices at home.
• They are all unable to form letters on a consistent basis in their writing. They find it difficult to write on the line/between the lines. They have nearly normal grips.
• The two students I can talk to are embarrassed about their work and what they can achieve. They won't let others view their handwritten work and are bright enough to see that even their digital work is not as good as the rest of the classes. It is heartbreaking.

My hunch is that they may have some level of dysgraphia. I stumbled across the term and read about its manifestations in tamariki and feel that it may be involved in the process I am seeing in these children.

My inquiry question:  If these tamariki have dysgraphia or similar, what can I do as a classroom teacher to better support them in their work to better access the "create" portion of our mahi and to help them in alternative ways to demonstrate to me their learning?  This is way too wordy!

First of all I need to get better educated on what dysgraphia is. I need to talk to their whānau to get information from them and I need to get some screening done to see if this is in fact the issue. If it isn't, I will have re-look at my inquiry question and move from there. If it is, what practical steps can I take for these students to help them? What differentiation in assessment (ie work created) can I put in so they can clearly demonstrate how amazing they are?

If I can get this differentiation in place at a better level for them, I should see them grow in confidence and create work that they are proud of and which shows everyone how they understand what they are reading and learning about. 

Now to work on what dysgraphia is and getting screening in place.

Example of one child's writing: