Friday, October 21, 2011

Questions from the Creative Learners at the Assets School







Hi - Dear Friends from Ms **** Classroom.

I wish I has a the time to answer all your questions by mail - individually – I have created a list of answers to many of the questions that you have sent in your letters -
Please free to share them with others in your school as you wish.

When did you first know you were dyslexic?
What grade where you when you found out your dyslexic?

When I was in 2nd grade I had fallen so far behind the other students that the school system told my parents they wanted to place me in special education classroom.  My mother who was a Professor of education pulled strings in the school system to keep me in a public school classroom.  My parents had me tested and defined as “dyslexic” by a reading tutor.

How hard was it for you?

Very hard – in 3rd grade I was only kid in my classroom that could not read.

What Grade did you learn to read?

4th Grade I begun to read with some ability.

What level were you reading in 6th and 7th grade?

In 6th grade I was reading the hardy boys and I read a copy of the hobbit in 7th grade.  I had reading comprehension and processing scores at the college level by 9th grade.

Did you not like completing an essay or could you read by then?

I did not write my first essay till 8th grade – I did not write a well written one till 10th grade.  My first term paper – 10 pages was in 11th grade.  Even today I think essays are waste of time and I don’t like writing them.  Having aid that I do believe in writing letters to the editor and letters to politicians.

How was it like being different then the other kids?

Denial is an important part of the human experience.  Denial allows us to pretend that everything is fine when it is not.  It also gets us in trouble because we try to do things that we can’t possibly complete with out tutors or writing consolers.

How old is your sister now?

She is 4 years younger then me – still.   I am 41 – she is 37

What was her favorite birthday party?

No idea…

Did the Birthday Party story really happen?

Yep and one of your legs is longer then the other because I have been pulling your leg.

What did the Cake taste like?

Sorry I didn’t eat it.

What type of Cake was it suppose to be?

Chocolate Cake with Chocolate store bought frosting – lots of store bought frosting.

How do you make such realistic stories?

To make a good tall tale you must start with the truth and build into fantasy.  Have fun with your audience believe that your story helps them and share the joy of the story with them.

Great talking to you.

Eric James Wolf
http://www.ericwolf.org

Telling Tall Tales of Dyslexic New Yorker and When Cats Could Fly...
A link to sample funny video...