I want to be trained in this SO BADLY. But the week long workshop is $975 and CPS is so broke right now. Wilson training is a little cheaper, but not cheap enough. I know my school has this kit though. Can I did through it and teach myself how to use it? I have 2 severely dyslexic students and I need to figure out some specific interventions for them. :help:
If your school has a Wilson kit, I would assume that means someone there has already trained in it. May be better to have that one on one assistance when you have a question. Send your Principal or whoever in the school would know an email asking if anyone has trained in it's use. I would expect that after being sent on the training, they are supposed to train others. If you like the other program better and think it will be beneficial for your students which will ultimately benefit you, bite the bullet and pay for the course yourself. As someone who bought 3 computers for my classroom myself last year, making your life easier is worth the expense (in my case around $450 for the refurbished computers and various supplies). I also paid $500 for the Tools for Teaching DVD's because I wanted a good classroom management resource and couldn't find a good workshop in my area.
I have never used Orton-Gillingham, but I have used Wilson, and it is very easy to understand and teach yourself. Wilson is an awesome program.
You can buy OG materials online for pretty cheap. I bought some of them last year so I could use them in my class since the materials I'd been trained with belonged to my old school. I went to a very short workshop and I thought it was pretty simple. If you buy the instructional book that goes along with it you should be fine. I would worry about using it with 7th graders though...a big part of it is drawing letters/sounds in sand and saying sounds/using motions for sounds...I would be afraid it's just too babyish for them.
I think you can teach yourself Wilson. It would help if you could buy or borrow (university library, perhaps?) a DVD where you could see at least some of it in action. I know they make them. You could still accomplish something by reading the manual yourself. It wouldn't be the same as being trained live, but you certainly stand to gain from it. Anything that seems babyish can be adapted to make it look more exciting. But IME kids appreciate success at any age, whatever it looks like.
I agree with trying to find the teacher who is trained in Wilson or seeking out a reading specialist with OG training. It is always best to work with someone with the training if you cannot go yourself.
I am not worried about being too babyish with my kids. When I am doing those "sensitive" activities, it's usually one on one and I have established very clear reasons for doing so. Everybody got a long lecture about the journey of reading and how everyone's at a different place and that's A-okay. :lol: They have to be willing to acknowledge where they're at...and the reality is that I have about 4 kids still figuring out phonics. It distresses ME more than anyone. I moved a ton of my kids last year....but like from 1st grade levels to solid 3rd/beginning of 4th levels. AND THEY'RE 12. :| Oh, SPED!
