As we roll out Behavioural Reading™ techniques to teachers in primary and secondary schools across QLD and NSW, we use the same techniques for all grades. Notably though, we certainly take a different approach with grade eight and up.
In the higher grades, students tend to be solo performers. That is, they are less part of a 'class', more an individual. That's where one of Behavioural Reading's™ core elements comes into play. Choice & Control.
Choice and Control are primal urges. Without them we can feel bound and lacking purpose. We give these older students 'choice & control' by teaching them:
~ how their brain works and how to get the most out of it
~ that their brain is the same at the 'A' grade student
~ how the grades they are achieving are driven by their personal choice of mindset and study habits
~ how they can still enjoy life by choosing a 'B' over and 'A' if preferred
~ how they can enhance their thinking and manipulating power with practise
While BR™ is not a 'brain training program', it does train the neurological connections in areas such as multi-thinking, memory management, visual manipulation, sequencing, etc.
We still introduce the BR™ techniques, but we also coach them in the neurological benefits they will achieve from practising them.
The onus is put squarely on the student's shoulders - to take on new reading techniques in order to change their poor reading behaviours. Certainly the teacher still plays an important role, but if the student chooses not to engage then a teacher can only impact the student on the the student's terms.
With high school students we take more of a 'learning' approach, rather than a 'reading' approach. Students prefer knowing - how their brain works, as opposed to - how they can't read. In fact many secondary school students stubbornly deny they have a problem, even when they stutter at the words, get frustrated and can't keep up with the rest of the class. They have been in denial so long that we must open that door and let them see what's possible.
Never be shy about telling a student they have poor reading behaviours. The concept of treading lightly, by not discussing the problem openly, does not help the student to accept and move on. Letting them know that we can fix these poor behaviours, that are getting in the way of achieving higher grades, makes the difficulties they are having easier to acknowledge.
Discussing their reading behaviours in a group with similar behaviours helps the most stubborn to understand that they are not alone. It may not be acceptable to them immediately, but persistence in encouraging the practise of the techniques definately pays off.
