It covers a wide perspective of possibilities on how to work with different kind of students, mainly with students with learning differences, although also takes a small section of working with gifted students, which are, kind of, the two ends of the students spectrum a teacher can find in the classroom. And all is focused on math teaching.
Although, I am not sure about the validity of this previous statement -that is completely mine, about the ends of the spectrum. But the article talks about different types of student with special needs (can we say that?), and then gives some advice and, in some cases, more specific examples of how to work and help these students.
The article starts with some statements of a certain student that is critic and is still frustrated with the type of mathematics education he received. He is now a freshman in college, and he is 21 y.o.
The article goes on how these days, "the emphasis in mathematics instruction should be on problem solving and activity-based learning... The goal is to increase the emphasis on teaching students to solve problems effectively".
Under the aspect of Difficult in Learning Mathematics, it mentions that, according to Kosc (1981), there are four kind of factors that influence the mathematics ability of all students:
a. Cognitive factors
b. Educational factors
c. Personality factors, and
d. Neuropsychological patterns.
The reading also mentions that "for many students mathematics are heritable".
And talking about problems associated with non verbal math abilities, considers these other factors:
- Social immaturity
- Disorientation
- Deficit in visual, motor, and self-help skills
- Problems estimating distance and time.
One of the main statements of the article refers that "students can display poor math performance for several reasons", and states that "the one that can be most readily corrected is the inadequate instruction in mathematics that many students receive".
Then the reading goes on with extensive recommendations on how to improve ones teaching: assessments, setting expectations, peer tutoring, being a model in math, curriculum based measurement, 'student goal setting and self-monitoring', varied practice, motivation, using games and manipulatives, teaching to estimate, familiar subject matter, etc., focusing especially in how to incorporate, reach and help the success of students with special needs.
And as I said at the beginning, it is inspirational, and at the same time a little overwhelming.
Thank you.
1 comment:
First, re: the validity of your "two ends of the student spectrum" supposition. I can't say whether this is valid or not, it really has to do with how you see the world in your classroom. For my own part, I tend to see student learning less linearly, which is entirely the result of my own learning disabilities. Because I had learning disabilities (mine were mostly in reading and visual/auditory processing, not math) I tend to see students with similar challenges as both burdened and gifted. In my own case, because of the deficits I was facing, I was forced to develop strategies to compensate. This led to aspects of my performance as a student that were, in many cases, superior to those of my peers (think of the example of the blind person who develops an acute sense of hearing, or the deaf person who learns to read lips and body language). On the flip side, "gifted students," or students who have an aptitude for math, may also come with bad habits. Perhaps math has been too easy so they are not accustomed to being challenged. Perhaps their aptitude is in remembering procedures and they have not developed conceptual understanding (and my struggle in this area, I think of the students I had when I taught algebra: "just tell me how to do it...")
Second, I will be interested in seeing how the elements of math instruction described in your conclusion (assessment, expectations, peer tutoring, modelling math, measurement, student self-monitoring, varied practice, motivation, and use of manipulatives - and granted, many of these overlap) show up in your end of seminar self-evaluation...
After these readings, doing the UbD unit, and our discussions in the seminars, are you more overwhelmed by all of these dimensions, or less?
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