Click HERE for WordWorks Newsletter #105
It's been a challenging year for everyone, but somehow SWI has flourished in all the craziness. The vast majority of my work with teachers and students used to be through travel which was non-existant in 2021. It turns out that the shift to on-line work with public workshops, conferences and direct work with schools around the world has been even more productive.
But that is only part of the story. In this newsletter, I highlight two new books from deep orthographic experts that truly are game changers for the community of people working with SWI / Real Spelling. The Real Spelling Tool Box 2 project driven by Matt's tireless work converting the old files to the new on-line subscription system has resurrected the reference that got all this work going in the first place back in 2001.
In 2021, the influence of SWI has only grown in the research world. See my article (Bowers, 2021, Feb 5) with the fullest account of that this topic HERE. For those interested in the research, see my brother Jeff's blog with links to our published research and accounts of that world. As detailed in WW Newsletter # 104, more and more experts in SWI are creating more and more resoures to study with. Once again the Dyslexia Training Institute hosted their annual conference with good dose of SWI, and they also hosted a new "Spelling Symposium" with myself, Fiona Hamilton (WordTorque), Sue Hegland (Learning About Spelling) and Mary Beth Steven (Mrs. Steven's Classroom Blog) that was well attended and well-received.
These are just a sampling of the richness of our growing community. Perhaps even more important, though, is the way SWI is beginning to be recognized outside of our own groups. In 2021 I was invited to present on two literacy podcasts with audiences that would likely not have even heard of SWI otherwise. See links to videos of the first one in April with "Pedagogy Non-Grata" on my About WordWorks Page. In the current newsletter I point to the video of my talk with Dr. Erica Warren on her podcast "Go Dyslexia." And you'll see that SWI is even beginning to make productive forays into people in "Science of Reading" groups.
You can read the headlines of this Newsletter in the screen shot above, but you need to click HERE for the pdf to get the details.
Hope to see you in some of those upcoming January and February workshops. If you have been inspired by my worksops and work this year, please share this Newsletter and the workshops widely. Our community grows only by word of mouth!
