Strengths-Based Learning Yuqi Yao, Taylor Bacon, Angelo Ramos, Priya Chatwani

Meet the team Meet the team Taylor Bacon Yuqi Yao Angelo Ramos Priya Chatwani

EDUCATION IS BROAD Children with Different Learning Abilities We narrowed our area of interest within democratizing education to trying to better understand the academic experience of children with different learning disabilities.

Different User Groups Athena Academy Students Faculty Teachers Researchers & Professionals Students Even within Athena Academy, there are different user groups who would be affected by the academic experiences of students with dyslexia.

QUESTIONS QUESTIONS Walk us through your typical day. What do you like / not like about school? Tell me about the best / worst experience you’ve had with a student. How can academic institutions for all students be inclusive of students with dyslexia? What are you nervous about with regards to your child’s academic future? Our questions clearly needed to be tailored to these different user groups.

Responses

Meet . . . LUKE BOSWELL “It feels good to be ahead” “Half of the day it’s hard to figure out what to do” 3rd grade public school student with Auditory and Visual Processing Disorder

Meet . . . ANNE BOSWELL “Most of these kids come in fourth, fifth, sixth grade, and they are just broken and beaten down...” “they all come on campus with an invisible backpack” Director of Admissions and Outreach of Athena Academy

Meet . . . KATY SIEGEL “I want to bring enjoyment & excitement back to their educational experience because so much has been drained out” Lead Middle School Teacher of Athena Academy

Meet . . . VALORIE KELLER “They all have little quirky things and then they all have their super strengths or super powers.” Mother of a 12-year-old student at Athena Academy

Master-Apprentice Model Project-based learning Everyone was working individually Each student had control over the direction of their dreams project

Empathy Map

“They can see the letters actually backwards, they can see them spinning, and so they have to do a tremendous amount of brain processing just to figure out how to spell the word correctly.” “Offering a lot of choices important because they will feel more motivated by something they can choose.” SAY “I didn't have the training around how to serve the diversity that was in my class.” “In their mind, everything is 3-D...An ‘m’ can be a ‘w’ or mountain or ‘3’...But no one ever taught them to think of letters as 2-dimensional. A super basic novel concept” “The word ‘rhinoceros’ is easy to learn - just show them a picture of a rhinoceros and they get it...the word ‘the’ though doesn’t have a visual element, and the page is covered with them” “You have to deal with their self-esteem and hope that their self-esteem remains intact through all that IEP testing”

Teacher assigned work via outlines and examples and listened to student input Students individually worked on their projects and presentations DO Students frequently used their computers in class Parents move dyslexic kids from public school Teacher gave lots of transitions and break times Students of differing levels and grades interacting with each other

THINK Appreciate the diversity within a classroom, even at Athena Games and point systems make math more fun Aubree dreams of an Oscar award Teachers want their students to succeed and advocate for their needs Anne thinks more teachers should be trained in how to teach dyslexic students Robots will kill us all

FEEL Wary of the public school system Students feel pride in their work FEEL Empathy for other students & parents affected by dyslexia Parents are happy to see that their kids have higher self-esteem and can communicate their needs at Athena Sadness for dyslexic students that fall through the cracks Hope for a future of more inclusion

Insights → Needs

Screen readers work on the assumption that the user is visually impaired Screen readers should tap into dyslexic students’ greatest strengths, often their visual reasoning

Gamification and project-based learning Kids enjoy learning when they have ownership and agency over their education Gamification and project-based learning should be accessible to all

Traditional classrooms can leave behind dyslexic children Children with dyslexia need a mechanism to help them learn at their own pace in their own way Traditional classrooms can leave behind dyslexic children

A private school for dyslexic children is expensive Leverage technology to help bring positive academic experiences to students with learning challenges A private school for dyslexic children is expensive

SUMMARY

Main Take-Aways QUESTIONS Dyslexic children struggle socially, academically, and psychologically in traditional classrooms Assistive technology can make learning easier if designed well Project-based learning and gamification of learning allows students to feel invested in their work Our questions clearly needed to be tailored to these different user groups.

Questions???