My Journey to becoming a Specialist Teacher and Assessor of Dyslexia




A walk down memory lane...

Today, was the first time in 20 years that I have visited Canterbury Christchurch University. It really was a little trip down memory lane, as I walked from the train station to meet my tutors. So many memories came flooding back, nights out, crashing on friends floors and learning my trade. However, this was also a period of great sadness for me as my mum, the most caring, loving and kind person anyone could ever meet, sadly passed away at the end of my first year. When I look back, I'm not sure how I continued with my studies as I was completely heart broken as were my dad and sister. Times were hard, tears were shed, time seemed to stop for a while and sadness engulfed us all. I will always be eternally grateful to my dad, sister and my Anchorians Family, they are without doubt the reason why I finished my studies. 

So here I am 20 years on, returning to uni to start my journey on becoming a Specialist Teacher and Assessor for Dyslexia. The facilities look amazing, the halls of residence look inviting (cinema room and gym - yes please) and the coffee is cheap! I'm excited what the next 18 months will bring.

 

I'm 8 months in.....

Thursday, May 16, 2024 by Sarah Webb | Uncategorized

I've just looked back and seen that I haven't written about my dyslexia course for ages - I'm really not sure where the time has gone. 


Since my last post I have had my first block of specialist teaching signed off and I achieved the highest mark in all areas - go me! I worked with the most wonderful pupil for 10 weeks; she was completely engaged with her learning and was so happy to see me each week, which is always such a great feeling. I was a little sad to stop working with her as I could see that it was having a positive impact on her but unfortunately, the course requires me to work with another child after 10 weeks so we can gain as much experience as we can. 

Late night essay writing


I have not only been teaching but essay writing as well...


If you follow me on social media, you probably saw my post last Friday night when I was working hard on my essay. I honestly can not tell you how challenging I find essay writing, it was tough going, all 4000 words of it! I think this is the longest amount of time that I have ever spent on writing an essay, I wouldn't like to say how many hours I spent planning, drafting writing and rewriting it. I am just so relieved that it is over and submitted.


Action Research Project
The next part of my journey is to gather all the relevant data from from action research project and to present the findings to my tutor and colleagues, at the end of June. I feel more confident about presenting to a group of people than I do writing an essay so I'm not dreading that part of the course as much. Over the next few months, I will be working on improving my multi-sensory training so I am able to offer it to schools as a way of up-skilling their staff - watch this space.


Anyway, I must run as the school run is calling and, for once, the rain has actually stopped in time!