All posts by Marilyn Wardrop

Teaching Math? Give up Perfectionism.

“If you always make the right decision, the safe decision, the one most people make, you will be the same as everyone else.” 

Paul Arden

Give up Perfectionism. Some strategies may be effective but without a long-term plan math difficulties will never get better.

Read more or go here to watch and listen.

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I can remember times when fear of failure or to put it another way, fear of letting my student down, prevented me from integrating a new plan into our lessons. I like routine, and my student can count on and trust the cumulative system in OG Math.  By the time they are enrolled in OG Academic Math my students have already experienced frustration and failure with math.

I have confidence in the theories that support Orton Gillingham (OG) Math, so the solution to my fear and perfectionist apprehension is to trust the OG Approach. One key OG procedure  is to spiral back, connect new math information to what is already known, and count on the structure and VAKT instruction to solidify learning and confidence. So, with evidence-based OG theory behind me and a solid approach in front of me, I developed and taught the approach to my students and they progressed.

I didn’t jump in blindly by any means and a few times, yes, I had to have a talk with myself when the individualized pace dictated by my student’s needs wasn’t a match for my wishes for him or her. 

Margaret Rawson, an Orton-Gillingham pioneer understood the challenges faced by struggling students entering OG classes for the first time. She inspired and directed teachers and OG Practitioners to, “Go as fast as we can, taking all the time, we need. “

Ms. Rawson meant that to reach our goals for our students, we need to be keenly aware of the students’  learning pace, not our timeline.That’s good advice for the perfectionist in me. And I’m guessing it applies to some of you too. Otherwise  a lot of successful learning opportunities will be lost while you and I wait for things to be right

Marilyn Wardrop is a gifted trainer & mentor who helps educators replace or surpass their current math teaching strategies for struggling math students or those children learning math for the first time.

Marilyn’s OG Academic Math training programs have been called the secret weapon of frustrated math instructors. Hundreds…even thousands of educators use OG Math every single day.

Is There a Magic Math Bullet?

Magic Bullet: A quick and easy solution to a difficult problem.

It’s a new year! Here in the north west of British Columbia, we are at that time in the school year when the first 4 months have passed. Some of our math students are right on track with the curriculum, some are getting it, and others are struggling. This is the group I’ve made it my mission to help: those students who are struggling with math or those learning math for the first time. 

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Once again, it has inspired me to wade into the beginning of a new year with some tips to become successful teaching basic math skills. You don’t always need to add more things — sometimes you need to give some of them up. 

Read about it here or check the video here.

Give Up Believing in the “Magic Math Bullet.”

An old Chinese proverb says,  “It is better to take many small steps in the right direction than to make a great leap forward only to stumble backward.”

Yes, it’s true! No matter how much you hope for the one new idea, math worksheet or online math software that will help your struggling students finally “grasp and remember” the math they’ve been toiling with over and over again, it’s probably not going to happen without a solid plan and ongoing practice.

Hey, I know. I’ve been there! I remember teaching my students math tricks that I used myself. I thought they were clever and easy to use. That was my first mistake. In my enthusiasm to help out, I didn’t make certain that my student had the solid underlying math concepts to understand and use the nifty strategy I was trying to teach.

Then there are the snappy new worksheets. In the past, I purchased books of them thinking maybe there was a magical idea in them, or if nothing else, the worksheets would be colorful and fascinating enough to motivate my student toward new learning. But it often wasn’t so.

The wish for overnight transformation is like a fairytale. It has an inspirational plot, some drama and a successful resolution. It goes like this….

My student couldn’t ———!

He was really struggling and discouraged with ……!

Then we found …………..!

And overnight, he was transformed into — a budding mathematician?

That scenario is not too likely. At least not in my experience.

Let’s face it. I can be a perfectionist at times. However, when I’ve tried every strategy and trick I know to teach a student the basics of math and it’s not working, I know it’s time to look at a sustainable ongoing plan. Successful teachers know that making small continuous improvements every day will be compounded over time and give them desired results. That is why I suggest that you plan for the future, but focus on the lesson that’s ahead of you, and help your student improve just 1% every day. 

Each small increment of improvement and change will lead to success in the long term.

Marilyn Wardrop is a gifted trainer & mentor who helps educators replace or surpass their current math teaching strategies for struggling math students or those children learning math for the first time.

Marilyn’s OG Academic Math training programs have been called the secret weapon of frustrated math instructors. Hundreds…even thousands of educators use OG Math every single day.

Contact Marilyn here anytime. 

Meg and Greg an Orton Gillingham Resource

The holidays have come and gone. For most of us, life is getting back to the usual pace and routine.

Remember back in a previous article, I wrote how early math skills are a predictor of reading skills? Well of course it’s important to teach and practice reading skills along with basic math concepts. 

So as a long time Orton-Gillingham Practitioner, I was excited to receive a copy of a new reading resource that fits perfectly with Orton Gillingham instruction.

The big idea with the book, A Duck in a Sock: Four Phonics Storiesis that it’s designed for shared reading between two people.

How it works: An adult or buddy reads more complex text that keeps the story interesting, while the child reads a simpler level of text that uses a phonics approach. A kid learning to read at an older-than-average age no longer needs to feel bored and demoralized by being given books written for a younger child. It helps in reducing debility in any part of the spine, cialis cheap online but chest and the lower section of the back are the most common areas. Clogged arteries are basically the situation where erectile dysfunction and viagra doctor heart health may help one to recognize signs and symptoms of heart disease early on and get treatment before heart problems become a serious issue.The actual link between Erectile Dysfunction(ED) and heart attack is still not well understood by medical practitioners as well as the men who suffer from erectile dysfunction. Do not just rely on what people have best online cialis http://appalachianmagazine.com/2018/10/15/the-fearsome-fairies-of-the-dark-woodlands/ to say about these products. Take small but frequent meals, so that your stomach secretes less amount of acid cialis 5mg price at a time to foster digestion. 4. This is the debut book for the much-needed new Meg and Greg series. I love it and the book and the OG Practitioners who tired it like it too.

The book was created by Elspeth & Rowena Rae along with the talents of Vancouver-based illustrator Elisa Gutiérrez. More information can be found here. www.tworeadbooks.com

If you’re interested in getting a copy of the book yourself, it is now available in print and e-book versions. You can find it online at AmazonIndigoBarnes & Noble, iBooks, and Kobo

Good reading resources are hard to find and this one is definitely worth purchasing.

Yes! You Should Teach Orton-Gillingham Math to Preschool Children.

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Young children love to touch and feel concrete objects. They love to move and immerse themselves in their surroundings. They are curious about everything around them. Maria Montessori knew this and incorporated sensory activities into early learning lessons. 

Deborah Stipek, a Stanford University professor and former dean of education, has researched how children learn math and best teaching practices for success with math.  She has long predicted that we are not paying enough attention to math instruction in schools. Early math instruction provides children with a strong foundation to build on just as it does for literacy. Her research as well as that of others, points out how, “Math can predict reading success and failure.” 

The research is supporting the statement, but so far the reason is not really confirmed. It is thought that perhaps it is related to executive function.  Further research points to how high school math failure begins with early number knowledge in first grade. Preschool children and first graders can learn to love math if it is taught through multisensory methods. 

This is where a passion for math begins, or at the least it eliminates failure. Learn more about Stipek’s research and recommendations for early learners here.

Learn more about Multisensory OG Math.

Goldilocks and the “Just Right” Math Lesson Plan

A Goldilocks Lesson Plan
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You care about your students, so you know it’s important to plan your instruction well.

When your student or child struggles with basic math concepts, that uncertain feeling in the pit of your stomach starts to simmer when the help you are trying to give doesn’t change the situation.

 You’re trying to help your student catch up, but here’s how it goes; today the focus in the classroom may be addition or subtraction.

You jot down a lesson plan and hunker down for some drill and practice with addition. Ah, it is familiar to your student! So you find some rhythm with your practice and it seems like she gets it. Yes, maybe you are both making some progress! After all, she should know this. Right?

Well yes, she may be familiar with addition and yes, she may know some of the addition facts.

But does she really get it?

The next day tells the tale. Although addition was familiar, it was not secure for mastery. So today you are back to where you were before; reviewing basic addition facts.

Only today, the class is practicing subtraction. Now, you are forced to make a timely decision.

Today’s lesson had better shortcut addition practice and get right into subtraction so she can keep up with the class. But you can’t help having that nagging feeling that you’ve taken a wrong turn. You’ve made a necessary switch, but maybe not one that your student is ready to make.

And it is here where you find out that subtraction is an even less secure skill for her than addition. Your experience tells you that a solid understanding of addition is imperative if your student will truly understand subtraction.  And so it goes. You are unwittingly using the Goldilocks method of lesson planning.

The Goldilocks principle is derived from the children’s story “The Three Bears” in which a little girl named Goldilocks finds a house owned by three bears. Each bear has its own favourite porridge, chair and comfortable bed. After testing all three examples of all three items, Goldilocks determines that one of them is always too much in one extreme (porridge too hot, chair too large or bed too hard), one is too much in the opposite extreme (porridge too cold, or bed too soft), and one is “just right”.

Similarly, the first plan I described is often intended as a  “catch up plan” which jumps right into the classroom curriculum so the student is up to speed with math concepts lickety-split. Goldilocks would tell you that plan is just too much for a struggling student.  It positions the student and you into a situation of overwhelm.

A second approach is to place the student in an alternate curriculum workbook that is at his own skill level.  But often the struggling student is below the class level. Still it seems like a good alternative plan. Unfortunately, because he is on a different path than the students in his class and working independently, Goldilocks would say there is just too little interaction or timely feedback to be successful.

You want your math lesson plan to be just right and Goldilocks would heartily approve.

So what is just right?

To start with, it is a lesson plan that begins with an accurate look at the skill level of your student as she is right now. That is the diagnostic aspect of the Orton-Gillingham Math Approach. Once you have established a clear idea of your students skill level, you can develop a lesson plan just for her that will review what she knows and includes the next concept that needs to be taught, or in some cases, re-taught. 

But it is not yet a plan that is just right!

Because you need to evaluate how successful the current lesson was before you can plan the next one. That is the prescriptive aspect of Orton Gillingham Math. And that is how we move forward building what we refer to as “tiny habits”. I’ll talk more about them in the next blog article.

Go to this link to learn more about OG (Orton Gillingham) Academic Math.

Or contact OG Math for a private link to the OG Math Online Training Course.

“YES, VIRGINIA, There is An Orton-Gillingham Math”

There is a Santa Claus
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About Virginia

On Sept. 21, 1897 and eight-year-old girl, Virginia O’Hanlon, wrote a letter to the editor of New York’s Sun Newspaper.  It said,

DEAR EDITOR: 

I am 8 years old. Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus. Papa says, ‘If you see it in THE SUN it’s so.

Please tell me the truth; is there a Santa Claus?

Virginia O’Hanlon. 

115 West Ninety-Fifth Street, NY

The quick response was printed as an unsigned editorial.

“YES, VIRGINIA, THERE IS A SANTA CLAUS”

VIRGINIA, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men’s or children’s, are little. In this great universe of ours man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect, as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge. Yes Virginia, there is a Santa Claus…..”

It was later discovered that the response to Virginia was the work of veteran newsman Francis Church. It has since become history’s most reprinted newspaper editorial, appearing in part or whole in dozens of languages in books, movies, and other editorials, on posters, stamps and the Antiques Roadshow …… and now here in an OG Academic Math blog post.

About Orton-Gillingham Math

Time-and-time-again, people contact me asking if there really is an approach to teaching that can be called Orton-Gillingham Math.

Some people think of Orton-Gillingham only as a structured phonics approach for teaching reading to students with dyslexia and learning disabilities.

Other more informed individuals know Orton-Gillingham as an interactive, multisensory, dynamic approach for teaching all aspects of literacy: reading, writing, comprehension and advanced language structures.  The Orton-Gillingham Approach is – and should always be – adaptable, versatile and flexible to individual needs.

Math is a language. It is a precise language. A student’s ability to learn math language and ideas is made more difficult if the student has dyslexia, dyscalculia or a language-based learning disability.

My experience developing and teaching an Orton-Gillingham or OG Approach for Math has allowed me to see many discouraged students blossom in math. Those students who were failing at math leave OG Math lessons not only confident in basic math skills, but also ready and able to build higher math skills on a sturdy math foundation. The students and their OG Math instructors know for certain, there is an Orton-Gillingham Math Approach. And yes, Virginia it really does work!

OG Math Online Training Course

Is it just too challenging to travel to our classroom  training courses?

Contact us here to receive a private link to our OG Math Online Training Course.

Are you interested in learning more about OG Academic Math?

Enter your  name and email here and I’ll be sure to send you a link.

Best wishes for a wonderful holiday season and Math Success  in 2017. 

When You Don’t Take Action

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The Effect of Not Doing or Why Not Teach OG Math?

Our actions shape our lives, but when we don’t take action it can be just as powerful.

I know! I was reluctant in the beginning of my OG Math journey. In fact I was completely resistant. 

I knew that I was secure in my ability to teach students to read and write fairly confidently with the Orton- Gillingham or OG Approach. But Math! That was for someone else – like maybe a specialized math teacher.

 So I confidently turned down opportunities to assist the students who approached me for help with math. My thinking was that someone else was more qualified to help. Gradually, bit by bit my eyes were opened and my thinking started to change.

Whether you realize it or not, every one of the thoughts you think, the words you speak, and the actions you take contributes to the complex quality of your interactions with your students who count on you for learning support. It simply is not possible to be alive without making an impact on people around us. It is particularly so with our students. If they trust you enough to ask for math help, how can you turn them down?

Every action taken affects your students as greatly as every action not taken. And when it comes to teaching students who struggle with the basics of math, what you choose not to do can be just as important as what you choose to do.

Another way of putting this is if you don’t think you can do it, how will your students believe they can do it? For example, when you sometimes neglect to speak up, vote, or help somebody in immediate need, you are denying yourself the opportunity to be an agent for positive change. Instead, you among others are enabling a particular course to continue unchallenged, picking up speed even as it goes along. By holding the belief that your actions don’t make much of a difference, you may find that you often tend to forego opportunities for involvement. On the other hand, if you see yourself as an important participant in the ever-evolving world of your students’ needs, you may feel more inspired to contribute your unique perspective and gifts to carefully structured multisensory math lessons. It is wise to be selective about how and where you are using your energy in order to keep yourself from becoming scattered in your Orton Gillingham lessons. Your OG lessons follow a carefully developed plan. Not every action is appropriate for every person. When a student’s situation catches your attention, however, and speaks to your heart, it is important that you consider how to honor your impulse to help and take the action that feels right for you.

That happened to me when I attended a conference many years ago and heard Dr. Stanley Antonoff speak about how many students with dyslexia were hampered in graduate and professional education by their weak math skills. But what really hit home for me was Dr. Antonoff’s declaration that math is a language.

And very importantly, he stated that people like me who teach students with dyslexia and language based learning challenges, need to acknowledge and address this need.

No matter how proficient a student is in reading and writing, it is not enough if they are failing mathematics.

Orton Gillingham  works wonders for reading and writing skills and often many people don’t think of it for math. But OG Math has the same multisensory, interactive, structured approach as OG language. It may be the answer to your student’s math success. And maybe you’ll feel better knowing you are doing what you can, when it’s needed. Sometimes, it may be your one contribution that makes all the difference. If it seems like something you would like to explore you can contact me here at this

Email or why not take a look here!

Be Aware of Educational Promises Too Good to be True!

The Good News for Effective Help and Warning Signs to Avoid Getting Off Track.

College Students
Photo courtesy of CollegeDegrees360(CC ShareALike)
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The school year is up and running. 

It’s the perfect time for parents and teachers of students who struggle with reading, writing and math skills to think about finding the very best help for their children and students.   It is also Dyslexia Month; a time to focus on children whose reading and math skills often do not keep up with their peers, or only do so with an extraordinary amount of hard work.  The International Dyslexia Association or IDA provides excellent guidelines to help parents and teachers find appropriate instruction for these children. 

First the Good News:

Most Reading Difficulties can be resolved or diminished. IDA has established knowledge and practice standards to inform and develop knowledgeable and skilled teachers so that all students in every classroom can benefit from successful literacy instruction. The need for good teaching instruction in every classroom has been clearly documented.

The Bad News:

Not all educational promises meet the knowledge and practice standards. Some make promises of a quick fix that are just too good to be true. Others while meaning well, do not provide long term gains that translate into academic success. IDA cautions parents and teachers to:
  1. Be Aware: parents and educators will do almost anything to help a child who is struggling in school. This makes it all too easy to get taken in by treatments and programs that make big promises, but do little except waste valuable time and resources.
  2. Be Wary of: Exaggerated claims, false guarantees, pseudo science and quick fix claims. Be  wary of any approach  that focuses on fixing a single underlying condition to address complex difficulties.

And There is More Good News:

IDA provides guidelines to evaluate treatments and programs for struggling students.
  1. Ask questions. Do treatments and skills gains actually transfer into improved reading, writing, math or study skills?
  2. Invest time well for the long term. When a child fails to progress, frustration and loss of self-esteem can be devastating. Time is lost and hopes are dashed.  Best practices and interventions are most effective when the brain is most plastic (or young). Wasting time during the early years can have life-long consequences.
It ‘s important to recognise a solid structured approach to reading and math instruction that will move your child or student forward this school year and those to come. Take some time to ask the questions you need to ask and consider your educational options without pressure. We wish you great success in your education journey.  Marilyn Wardrop and the OG Academic Team

Do You Talk Too Much When You’re Teaching Math?

Do you talk too much during your math lessons?

It’s easy to for you to do, and I understand why!

Teach Students MATH
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It is hard to be comfortable with silence. A word of caution, watch for out for this! Watch this short video  or continue reading…. As I’ve mentioned before, many students who struggle with math have processing difficulties or working memory problems. They need time – a lot of time – to process information and take the required action or respond. So we wait ………  and wait ……….. and wait …..  and ……  Sometimes this can look like they are not paying attention or they are daydreaming. If you know a student has a processing problem then it is important for you to respond with patience and sometimes it means tremendous patience and watchful waiting. That is why instructors like you and me need to practice  I.A. P. It is short for Intentional Awkward Pause is so named because until it becomes automatic or second nature, it truly does feel awkward for instructors to allow the extra amount of time these students need for processing language and math concepts. 
Time and time again, I have been patiently waiting for a student to respond and just when I am ready to interject a comment, the student responds. Yes, sometimes it really does that long! I know you and I worry that we will just run out of time to complete a lesson.  That can happen. In this instance it means an adaptation or adjustment must be made to your math lesson and lesson plan. It is better to delay or skip a task in your current plan and carry it forward until next time in order to end with a successful math lesson.  It may be that you misjudged the appropriate pacing for the student, or it can mean they are just experiencing and off day. Simply say, “We’ll skip that part today and allow more time for it next time.” This approach acknowledges that there is an expectation and the task will be completed the next time, and it will be! Because now your lesson plan has been adapted to incorporate the I.A.P. technique. Keep in touch with OG Math 

Teaching Students Who Struggle With Math: How I Found My OG Math Confidence!

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Most of us who teach students with dyslexia and learning disabilities find our way to reams of training on how to impart reading, writing and study skills. In my own search for training, I found that the Orton-Gillingham Approach for literacy instruction was the key for long-lasting results. Still, when it came to having confidence in my math teaching abilities, it used to be awful. I would sit in my office and pull my hair out. I’d pour over new textbooks until I got dizzy. Then I would look in the mirror and “pull it together” for yet another attempt at teaching math skills to my students who were lacking at a very basic level. The most I could say is, I did it, using the only methods I knew. But, I hated it and wanted to do it better. I craved a better connection with my students as they worked their way through yet another math problem. I wanted to love teaching math, linger with concepts when things were going well, and really connect. I eventually got to that point, but it wasn’t easy. Finding confidence for teaching struggling students is tricky. You wouldn’t be teaching those students without some level of confidence, but it’s usually not enough to address unmet needs with basic math gaps that have been missed. If it was enough, you would have that feeling. We’ve all had the feeling of knowing that you’re not responding, answering, deciding, doing and being exactly what your students need right now, even if it was generated by someone else. Creating confidence for yourself, by yourself, using math tools that you have control over, is the ultimate freedom. I say it is a freedom we all craved when we set out on this crazy journey of teaching students who are behind in class, have dyslexia and learning disabilities. Confidence in its purest form is a way of being. You do understand what I mean by that, right? Don’t get me wrong. I mean no lack of respect, but do you?  The simple act of just “being” has been forgotten in a world that accepts multitasking as a fundamental skill for everything and the quick fix of technology as a normal way to interact with students.  But “being” is an easy thing to identify, if you know what you are looking for. Let’s take a look at some ways of “being:” Be present: Having presence is allowing your mind to turn off its inner voice and allowing your ears to open up to what others are saying. It means listening without anticipating what’s going to said before it is actually voiced. In fact, listening without assumption is perhaps the most important skill to cultivate if you want to create presence.   It’s probably natural for our minds to assume what students know, what they are going to say, already creating judgements and then reactions. We then worry what we will do next or say in response, and, before we know it, we haven’t really listened, heard, felt or experienced that student at all. We use all of our senses, of course, but listening (hearing) is the easiest one to use and the first one that will create presence. Honour the time you created for a teaching moment and use it for that, nothing more. Multitasking has its purpose. I use it all the time in my teaching preparation and office tasks. But multitasking won’t help you build confidence. It leads to a lack of attention to what you are doing with your student at that moment, and that means your assessments are off. Build confidence in yourself through being present. Listen stronger.

Be intentional:Once you recognize this, many of you will see that intention is all about honest actions that focus on the current topic, cause, conversation and student. You can only be intentional if you listen—which is starting to turn into a theme for this article. Bringing intention to your interactions will make you show up and respond in ways that make students feel heard and important. You gain respect.You are appreciated for your ability to be with that student, and, thereby, your confidence is built. Hone the skills you learned in OG Math training through practice. If you are teaching from notes, you have not mastered the skill yourself yet – and that’s okay! Take some time – 15 minutes per day –  to practice the new approach before teaching it to a student. Our students are counting on our practised and expert interpretation of a skill to build their confidence and competency. Be focused: To be present and to show up intentionally, you must focus. This may the hardest of all. In a society that drains our focus and steals it from us, cutting off the chatter and noise in our heads and listening with our ears and hearts takes practice. And to make it even more challenging, we work with students who have processing and working memory difficulties that impede their ability to focus for more than a short period. Ensure that when you are trying to connect and teach a student, that you are doing so in a space that is quiet. Try getting out of the halls, moving out of the classroom or, in some cases, such as tutoring, move out of the kitchen and into a space that allows you to look a student in the eye, to listen without conflicting conversations swirling around you; a space where your response can be uninhibited.  When you are finally focused, notice the difference in how you take in what the student is saying and doing. You can really be present, intentional and diagnostic. Without focus, nothing can fully take shape and, hence, the reality of what your student can take in is limited. How can you expect to confidently respond to them then? How can you confidently teach someone when you don’t really remember the next step in the new skill or why you taught what you did last time? Focusing on “being” will focus you on your competence in a new approach. Competence will result in confidence. Being able to do these three things will help you understand who you are — a foundational math instructor. Who you are, is who your students need. Try it out. You will see that confidence will come from being with students and  practicing new techniques that really work. They just want you. So, get present to focus intentionally and enjoy new OG Math learning together.
Marilyn Wardrop has been involved with teaching children with dyslexia and learning disabilities over 25 years. She has designed and taught OG Multisensory Math Training Courses and Workshops which combine a unique approach to help students be successful and independent while working on their math skills and curriculum. OG Math Training courses and  workshops are designed to provide teachers, instructional support staff, Orton-Gillingham practitioners and parents with hands-on, interactive math training.