“In Structured Word Inquiry we say, 'you can't step in the same river twice.' Sometimes when we revisit a word family, we discover something new about it that we hadn't noticed before. This love doesn’t come from mastery, but instead a respect and understanding of the humanity, and at times inhumanity, of our language.Īfter receiving an email from Unicorn’s teacher about her spelling box idea, I wrote: Loving words, loving the richness of our language. Not, she is magically no longer dyslexic and can spell all the things! No. Not, she has mastered an arbitrary list of 12th grade spelling words. She loves words!” What a powerful sentiment, “She loves words!” Not, she has yet to encounter a word she can’t spell. Her mom writes, “Whatever path she takes in life, I know she will now be successful. What if instead of focusing on being the know-it-all speller with never a spelling blunder, we shifted to working towards understanding our language? How does it work, where did it come from and, what are its relatives? What if instead of reaching towards mastery of spelling, we worked to build a reverence for our language that leaves us wanting to learn more? I saved a quote sent to me from a former student’s mom, as we were preparing for our final session before she went off to college. Spelling is something that shines and then fades, but the understanding, the picture, the history of words and the story of humanity…that will always be there. Just ask any dyslexic how their spelling has been throughout this pandemic, I’d bet you $10 they’d say it has gotten worse. For most, if not all, dyslexics, spelling is skill that comes and goes depending on the cognitive load you’re carrying.

Part of being dyslexic is making spelling mistakes, even when we've studied the word before.

Too often, we put pressure on our dyslexics to perform, or ‘demonstrate mastery’ without allowing space for the dyslexic experience. As Douglas Harper writes, “In the broadest sense, ‘one who has power to control, use, or dispose (of something or some quality) at will.’” And in it’s darkest hours has been used with a sense of “owner of a living creature” (dog, horse, slave) in the 1700’s, only to rear its ugly head again in the 1930’s, having the sense of a “master race.”Īlthough I am certain that educators do not use the word master in the sense that it has been given in its darkest days, even the sentiment that one has authority over orthographic representation is a sentiment that I find unsettling. It comes from late Old English mægester meaning “a man having control or authority over a place a teacher or tutor of children” (as referenced by etymonline). Yet I couldn’t shake the weight of the word and the implications it has had on dyslexics (like myself) as well as humanity as a whole.Īs you could predict, the word mastery has a ghastly history. I knew that for the ten years I spent teaching in the classroom that I, too, have used the word mastery countless times. I knew that Unicorn’s teacher is a lovely person who is working in creative ways to help Unicorn succeed. The teacher shared this idea with me and I immediately felt awry with the idea of mastery. In lieu of a classroom spelling test, Unicorn’s teacher had the great idea to give her an index card box labeled “Unicorn’s Magic Spelling Box” where she could collect her mastered words in the contents of the box. I spent an hour with this teacher and in that time was able to give her some brief basics of Structured Word Inquiry and how she could help further the work I have been doing with Unicorn in the classroom. We both recognized the tremendously hard work Unicorn puts forth and wanted to see her soar. Unicorn’s teacher was equally eager to help our shared student. Each time you interact with Unicorn, her infectious enthusiasm for learning, despite the subject matter having a history of being less than forgiving, is a rare and precious find. Unicorn is an apt name because she is one of those students who must have been formed from the stuff of teachers’ dreams. Recently, I had the opportunity to meet with the classroom teacher of a student of mine, who I’ll call Unicorn.

Yanjaa memory master