Jodi DeVries is an educator who is passionate about using evidence-based practices in her classroom and about equipping others with current research so they can do the same. After teaching middle school students at Foundations for the Future Charter Academy in Calgary for over a decade, she faced a growing desire to expand her understanding of cognitive neuroscience, developmental psychology, and atypical neurological development as related to dyslexia. This led her to the Harvard Graduate School of Education, where she obtained a Master’s of Education in Mind, Brain, and Education. She focused her studies there on literacy development, and she then spent a year teaching at Landmark High School, a well-known school for students with language-based learning disabilities. Having resumed teaching in Calgary, Jodi seeks to increase student learning through the application of cognitive neuroscience and desires to find ways to better serve students with dyslexia who are in regular classrooms.
Learning Opportunities
Cognitive Neuroscience and Reading: What does Research Say and How Can It Inform our Practice?
Presented By
Jodi DeVriesSession Details
| Date | Time |
|---|---|
| October 21, 2019 | 9:00 am to 3:30 pm |
Location
Grade Levels
All*Note: The following session is part of a Neuroscience for Literacy series designed to deepen understanding of the application of research about how the brain works and literacy learning. By exploring how knowledge transfer, new skill development, and behavioral change occurs in the brain, this can clarify existing assumptions of how students read, write and numerate.
Between 5-17% of the population struggles with reading disabilities. Our classrooms are home to many students with diagnosed and undiagnosed challenges with reading; how do we support these students while also tending to the needs of the other students in our classes? It is messy and there are no easy answers, but it is necessary and urgent that struggling students receive the support they require.
This workshop will enable participants to:
- clarify their understanding of reading disabilities
- gain understanding about the neurological processes that underlie typical reading
- learn about the structural and functional neurological differences in those with dyslexia
- appreciate the critical importance of early diagnosis and intervention
- recognize the role that reading interventions can play in shaping the brain circuitry
- identify components of effective intervention
- take away some immediately usable ideas to support students who have reading disabilities
This session will build a strong case for the “why” and the “when” of reading intervention and will offer opportunities to collectively brainstorm how this research can inform practice.
No prior scientific knowledge is necessary. Although this session will use cognitive neuroscience to examine reading, it will be presented with the layperson as the intended audience.
You might also be interested in:
- The Neuropsychology of Reading and Written Language Disorders
- The Neuropsychology of Mathematics
- Neuropsychology of Reading: Differentiating Literacy Instruction
Target Audience
Instructional/ Learning Coaches, District Leaders/Consultants, Reading Specialists
Also Recommended For
K-12 Teachers