Good Sensory Learning Blog

Many parents, teachers and administrators worry about whether academic accommodations offer an unfair advantage to some students. They are concerned that providing services such as extended time on tests, the use of a computer with a spell check, a reader or a copy of the teacher's notes provides an uneven playing field.  Fair Shouldn't be About All Students Getting the Same Thing: If all students came to the classroom with the same brains and experiences, offering them equivalent expectations and an identical curriculum would make sense. However, that is not even close to the truth. In fact, each student offers...

Every student processes information and learns differently because we each have our own, individual cognitive makeup as well as strengths and weaknesses.  As a result, the key to successful remedial outcomes is to celebrate, understand, and accommodate the unique ways that each student thinks.  How Can Educational Therapists and Learning Specialists Uncover How Each Student Thinks? There are a number of things that professionals can do to reveal how each individual processes information. Read comprehensive psycho-educational evaluations and progress reports. Talk to parents, teachers and other professionals that know this student well. Ask the student. COME LEARN ABOUT BECOMING AND EDUCATIONAL THERAPIST OR LEARNING SPECIALIST:  CLICK HERE...

Over the 15 years that I have worked as a learning specialist and educational therapist, I have never had a student come into my office with a poor test grade and ask me to help them to learn the material that they clearly did not master. Instead of nurturing a desire to learn, our current paradigm instills a fear of failure. As a result, when a student receives what they believe to be a poor grade on a test or assignment, they often feel degraded and ashamed. Oftentimes, these tests and assignments are hidden or thrown away, and learning takes a...

Teachers are always trying to reach more learners and improve retention. One of the best ways to do this is to employ a variety of teaching methods. This involves integrating the 12 ways of learning into instruction.  Here is an infographic that reviews the 12 ways of learning and provides some statistics on how learning improves when teachers implement multisensory instruction.   How Can I Learn Multisensory Teaching? The Student Processing Inventory unites the theories of information processing, cognitive styles, multiple intelligences, and multisensory learning to reveal 12 diverse and unique ways of processing or encoding information. All of these learning modalities...

Over the summer, many students experience the "summer slide" phenomenon and lose both cognitive and academic gains from the prior school year. In fact, those who are already behind can be the ones that stand to lose the most. However, this doesn't have to be the case! With as little as an hour a day, students can maintain and even improve their knowledge and abilities. So what can we do to help our young learners fight the slide and make significant gains while having fun? 12 Activities that Help Children Improve Learning and Cognition Over Vactions Design a fun learning nook...