Orton-Gillingham: My Experience as a Trainee

This three week series started with an overview of Orton-Gillingham followed by a clear description of how Orton-Gillingham traning and LETRS overlap. This week will be about my experience as an Orton-Gillingham (OG) trainee at the Associate level.

Before starting this training at the beginning of last school year, I really had no idea what I was getting into. I had heard of OG and knew that it was a highly respected approach to teaching reading with high rates of success. I, also, knew you had to be trained to practice OG. Based on that, I was very excited for the opportunity.

The First Month

The first month was very overwhelming. We had been given access to start the online asynchronous portion before attending an in-person training. Unfortunately, we were unable to log in on our school laptops until the IT allowed the site. Hopefully, that will not happen to you.

I ended up starting the online portion from my home computer. Then, we had four in-person full-day training days. These days were filled with information and hands-on experiences. There was, also, homework to be completed after each session. Thankfully, our instructors were lenient on the due dates for the homework.

Once the in-person days were complete, I started looking for a student. Part of the certification process entails tutoring a student one-on-one for 100 lessons using the OG Approach with support from your Fellow-in-Training (FIT), if you have one, and Fellow. It, also, includes 10 observations. The observations do not have to be in-person. I recorded my lessons on Zoom and shared them with my FIT and Fellow.

Once my student was approved, I was able to complete the pre-assessment process. After pre-assessment I met over Zoom with my FIT and we discussed a starting point for instruction. Then, I wrote my first lesson and she checked it over. Lessons must be checked prior to teaching them until your FIT/Fellow releases you from doing that.

I taught my first lesson and realized there is definitely a learning curve to teaching using the OG Approach. My idea that I would be teaching an OG lesson a day quickly evaporated. It was decided that I would teach lessons three days a week and use the other two for reviewing and planning.

Also, during the first month I started the readings. There are 17 articles to read over the year. Once read, you must write five facts/reflections for each article.

As the amount of work was shared, I wondered how I would have the time to complete it all. With admin support, my team was able to add in a 20-30 minute per day OG work time into our schedule. This barely scratched the surface. I often ended up having to work on writing lesson plans at home.

This is not said to scare you, but to give you a realistic expectation of the time commintment for OG training.

The Next 7 Months

Over this time I completed the online asynchronous part of the training and earned a certificate. I attended three more in-person trainings (one was a half day), worked on the readings, continued to write and teach lessons plans to my OG student (upping it to five days a week once I was ready), and did my regular job of teaching students throughout the day. I, also, attended seven Zoom sessions for more training, took a lengthy OG test, and completed observations.

It is honestly A LOT, but you have support the whole way! Your FIT and Fellow give you everything you need to be successful. I was thankful that my reading intervention team was doing the training, too. We had each other to lean on as well.

And did we ever lean! We had some unusual events that occurred during the year with our selected OG students. In fact, I actually had to have three students over the course of the year!

Furthermore, the admin team at my school was super supportive, too. My principal even gave us a couple days just to work on OG requirements. Tip: Be transparent about the workload with your admin. They are often unaware of how heavy it is.

The Last Month of School

When it got to the last month, I wasn’t sure I was going to get the 100 lessons completed. Luckily, I was able to double up and do two one-on-one lessons per day for a couple of weeks. That got me to my 100! That may not be an option for you, so keep in mind when choosing a student that it is a student with good past attendance.

I, also, was getting stressed because I had so much more to do! There is a student profile report to write and a series of three lesson plans to write up in detail, with the second plan being annotated. I had barely started any of that work. At least I had the videos for my series of three, so I could work on it over the summer.

Take note if you don’t have your 100 lessons completed by the end of the school year that you have options for how to get them completed. Discuss them with your Fellow and your school principal.

Summer

Yes, you read that right. I chose to complete my OG work over the summer to be able to apply in July. There are only a few times a year that you are able to apply and I did not want to go back to school and still have to worry about getting this work done. Also, I wanted to complete it while everything was still fresh in my brain.

So, over June and a little bit of July I knocked out the work. I finished up the readings, wrote my student profile and wrote up the series of three lessons. I, also, had to fill out the application. That is something you can start ahead of time. I advise you to do so.

Throughout this time I was not without support! I had my FIT, Fellow, and another supporter to proofread my work before submission. I made it by the July deadline! Once I submitted it, a huge weight was lifted.

The hard part now is the wait. I won’t hear back until October!

Conclusion

Orton-Gillingham training is intense, demanding work. You may feel like giving up at times throughout the year, but I encourage you to push through. Because in the end, it’s worth it! I learned so much that will help my students and made some new friends along the way. And, hopefully, come October I will be a certified OG practitioner at the Associate level!

A Few Notes

• My training was through the Orton-Gillingham Academy (OGA). They are one of the most widely recognized places to train through.
• Be aware there is a yearly fee to maintain certification.
• Depending on who you are trained by through the Academy, you may be able to get college credit for teacher certification renewal. You can find a Fellow to train under by clicking on the OGA link above and searching under the Training Fellows and Locations tab.

References

Gillingham, A., & Stillman, B.W. (1997) The Gillingham Manual: Remedial Training for Children with Specific Disability in Reading, Spelling, and Penmanship (8th ed.) [Book cover]. Educators Publishing Service