A New Year At the Academy At SOAR- Mike Lefko, Academic Director

Hello parents, family members and family friends,

This is the first issue of  "AView From The Teacher's Desk", a new component to the SOAR blogs this year. The idea behind " A View From the Teacher's Desk" is to help keep you connected to things happening in the classrooms of the SOAR Academy, in much the same way your children blog to you, to keep you up on what is new and exciting in the world of SOAR, from your child's perspective.

As I eagerly await feedback from our field staff on the expeditions with Appalachian Trail Team One and Yellowstone team one, and prepare for their arrival for their first base phase, we are in the middle of Appalachian Trail Team Two's first base phase. I am excited as I get to know each of your kids, and their strengths and needs academically. I have been particularly impressed with the level of maturity shown by all members of this team, and how committed they seem to be to their academics.

As you are aware, this is our first year trying Dragon Naturally Speaking, a piece of voice recognition software that allows students to dictate to the computer, and have the computer do the writing/ typing for them. This is something I have been looking for and waiting for, for years; something to help students who struggled with written output.

Before I go any further, I think it is essential that I inform you that I cannot take credit for the idea of using Dragon in the classrooms at SOAR. The idea belongs to none other than our own John Willson, who had seen the program in action at other schools, and suggested to me that he would like to try it at the Academy At SOAR. Thanks John for a brilliant idea. All the students thank you as well.

We didn't have the students trained at the first day of class for obvious reasons, but many students had played with the program at home. For this reason,  I was going to delay using the program until later in the week. When I told the students they would be doing their first blog by hand, I was greeted by sighs and moans, to which I replied, " Ok, you can use the Dragon software."

We've completed 1/2 the training, and will complete the overall initial training on Friday, but students on this team, who have confessed that they hate writing, have blossomed on only day two, demonstrating to me the talents they have for writing, and the plethora of creative ideas they have, just dying to get out. When I asked each student if they prefer using Dragon, over handwriting, and even typing, I got a resounding, "Yes!"  I even had one student, who said he didn't need Dragon, and preferred to type himself, change his mind, after catching some of the training and seeing all that the software could do.

Do I believe that dictation software is the only answer for students struggling with writing? No. I have, however, been amazed with the quality and content of student's writing, when they are given the opportunity to use the software. Hopefully, it will serve as a tool, in this technological age, to allow students to compensate for their challenges in writing, while at the same time improving their writing skills, as well as the pre-requisite skills students need to be effective writers.

So, thank you John Willson, for providing me with such a great idea. Thank you to all the parents who purchased the software for your child, and made another investment, that I believe will make a significant difference in your child's academic lives and their success.

Until next time, when I have more exciting news to report from the teacher's desk, thanks for reading. Please respond to this blog if you wish, or call me at any time. Again my numbers are C: 704-534-1736, W: 828-456-3315 and my email address is michael@soarnc.org. I will be in touch, but you also do the same, if you need me for anything.

Sincerely,

Mike

Academic Director
The Academy At Soar