Questions to ask student before he starts a Dragon NaturallySpeaking class

Adapted from selections from the James Madison University Questionnaire
  1. Do you use a word processor when writing for your classes?
  2. Do you have difficulty writing papers and/or reports? What courses do you have difficulty with?
  3. What types of problems do you have with writing?
  4. Do you have difficulty organizing your ideas before or during your writing?
  5. Do you make an outline or do any prewriting plan before you start writing? Does that help?
  6. Do you have difficulty with your grammar?
  7. Do you proofread for errors? When proofreading, do you have difficulty finding errors?
  8. Do you edit to change the content of your writing to better express your ideas?
  9. With essay exams where you have to handwrite your answers do you have difficulties with composing? Organizing?
  10. What do you do to help you with these difficulties?

From "Helping College Students with LD & ADHD become Strategic Learners", presentation at AHEAD conference, July 2000 by David Allsopp, PhD; J. Gerald Minskoff, EdD; and Louis J. Hedrick, M.Ed.

 

 

 

Questions to ask toward the end of the Class
  1. When given his free choice, is the student using the strategies that he has been taught? Why or why not? Has he adapted them to work better for his needs?
  2. Has the studentís attitude toward writing changed?
  3. Has the student internalized the writing strategies enough so that you feel that he will continue to use them after the class is over?
  4. Does the student understand the fundamentals of voice recognition so that he can easily learn more on his own?
  5. Does the student know where to go for help when the class is over?

NOTE: It is important to use the portfolio approach so that students learn to reflect on their own progress and become self-directed learners.