Around a quarter of my class was struggling silently

There was a moment in my teaching career when I quite literally went cold.

I remember it clearly. The colour drained from my face.

I realised, all at once, that around a quarter of the kids in my class could not learn in the way I was teaching them.
Not because they weren’t bright.
Not because they weren’t trying.
But because their brains worked differently.

And in that moment, I knew something else too.

It wasn’t their fault.
It was mine.

These were wonderful children. Intelligent. Sporty. Creative. Curious. The kind of kids you enjoy teaching. And yet I had unknowingly let them down, simply because I didn’t yet understand how they learned.

They had been coping. Masking. Working far harder than anyone realised.

Including me.

Like many teachers, I had absorbed the belief that when learning was hard, the difficulty lived inside the child. More practice followed. More pressure followed. Quiet comparisons followed. And confidence slowly slipped away.

But the truth was confronting.

These children were not incapable of learning.
They were perfectly capable learners being asked to learn in ways that didn’t work for them.

And when that happens, the system responds by pushing harder, not by pausing to understand.

That realisation changed everything for me.

It’s why I couldn’t stay silent.
And it’s why Dyslexia Unpuzzled exists.

Not to fix children.
But to change how we see learning.

If this reflection resonates, I’ve explored this idea further in two pieces I’ve shared this week:

Watch the YouTube presentation here
Read the LinkedIn article: Smart Kids Who Hate Reading: What’s Really Going On
 

A thoughtful piece I’ve been following this week

Before I finish, I also wanted to mention how much I appreciated watching the documentary Who Knew Dyslexia Is a Way of Thinking.

I was able to join one of the recent online screenings, and it stayed with me. It reflected so many of my own experiences, and the experiences I see every day in the children, teens, and adults I work with.

What struck me most was how clearly it showed the intelligence, creativity, and depth that can sit alongside learning challenges, particularly when those differences are understood rather than pushed aside or misunderstood.

I’m now looking into ways to offer a screening of the film here in New Zealand, so families and educators have the opportunity to view it and talk about it together.

There’s also a short trailer available if you’d like a sense of the film before watching it.
 

And if reading is stressful in your household right now, I’ve also created a free guide called:

 Discover the Secrets to Stress-Free Reading

It’s designed to help you understand what might be getting in the way and what actually helps.

Until next time,
Nikki

P.S. If you’re doing some quiet thinking about learning or confidence this year and want to talk it through, you’re very welcome to get in touch.