WORKING WITH SLOWER PACED MATH STUDENTS
By Lori MacKinder, M.A. 2006
In
the Autumn 2005 issue of the Research Bulletin, I wrote about the three
distinct qualities of the slower paced/hands-on math student. To
briefly recap, this type of math student is typically a feeling-based
person. This means their feeling life dominates their will and
thinking. Secondly, they are highly intuitive. This points to the fact
that they often somatically sense their surroundings and they are
impacted and swayed by impressions they receive. Thirdly,
they commonly are picture-image learners who frequently need to form
mental pictures or stories before they can understand a concept. As
a teacher, it is helpful to be aware of the special qualities of these
students who commonly are identified as dyslexic, diagnosed with
ADD/ADHD, are subjected to emotional issues or have experienced a
trauma in their earlier years. However, the more pressing question teachers have about these students is regarding how to teach them. In other words, what is required for the feeling-based, intuitive, picture-image math students to succeed?
Unfortunately, there is not one quick and easy answer to this seemingly simple question. From the teacher’s side, the choice between various teaching methods is the issue. Some
common methods for teaching are self-paced student work groups where
the grade is dependant upon number of completed assignments, one-on-one
teaching from students to adult in individualized sessions, or regular
classroom instruction with groups of 6 to 20 students. In this report,
let’s take a look at how to build a strong lower level math class from
the regular classroom instruction method in the area of pre-class
preparation. To begin, it is fundamentally important that the
slower-paced math teacher focus in on everything through the lens of assessment and have willingness to change. It
is beneficial when the teacher assess the following before each class
begins: self, classroom, materials, warm ups, and content.
*Self - How am I this year, this month, this week, today and in this moment? Am I healthy and loving? Do I enjoy what I do?
As mentioned earlier, many slower paced math students are highly intuitive. Many
scientists have written about being intuitive as a counter gift to the
struggle of ADD or dyslexia. Ronald D. Davis and Eldon M. Braun
concluded in their book, The Gift of Dyslexia, that dyslexics
have special talents of perception, imagination, and intuition . They
sited talented and brilliant figures from Einstein and Leonardo da
Vinci to Churchill and Walt Disney to support their claim. In the
classroom setting, these special talents mean that these students may
be able to intuit the moods, including that of the teacher’s. It
is therefore very important for the teacher to work at becoming a
welcoming space. When an open student reads un-health or dis-ease in
another, they often shut down, deeming the environment or person
unsafe. Self care and nurturing is key to having a healthful inner
world. As Waldorf teachers, time for self-care can be
challenging to find and yet so very important to a productive learning
environment for our students. In this vein, wellness of the teacher is an essential part of classroom preparation.
*
Classroom - How is the space in terms of cleanliness, light,
circulation, warmth, aesthetics, spaciousness, smell, sound, etc? How
does the environment affect the twelve senses: touch, life,
self-movement, balance, smell, taste, sight, temperature, hearing,
speech, concept and ego. How are these senses affected or nurtured in
the classroom?
I
have experienced a complete unwillingness to begin a days learning from
my students on days when our classroom has been recently sanitized with
Softscrubä. The odor in the room feels
repelling to these sensitive students. On some summer days, leaving the
lights off brings about greater participation and awareness than
turning the lights on. Colored chalk has a way of keeping students
attention at the board when used in an organized manner. There
is a way in which the teacher can open up their own senses and be in
the classroom beforehand from the students perspective in order to get
a feel for what the students might be experiencing.
*
Materials - How will I meet the needs of my students with books,
supplies, writing utensils, paper, compass, straight edge, colors, etc.?
Have back-up supplies! It
is so important for the slower paced math student who tends to be
disorganized and forgetful to have a safe backup supply of what is
needed to learn during a day of math. Many of these students struggle with remembering to bring their backpack and supplies to school each day. It
can greatly add to the ease of the room if the students know that they
can still do the work assigned using borrowed books, paper and pencils
for a day.
*
Warm Ups - What is in my warm up bag? Do I have warm ups that could
induce laughter, connection, breath, centering, relaxation, depth or an
increase in energy if necessary? Am I ready to use them based on how the students show up?
Sometimes,
the teacher will have worked diligently on their part at preparing for
class and the math student will show up emotionally shut down and/or
intellectually blocked off. This can happen due to a number of reasons beyond the teacher’s control. For example, the student may be exhausted from the other lessons of the day, upset with a friend, hungry, sleepy, etc. It then becomes the task of the teacher to enliven the math students and reopen their feeling life and metal capacities. Nothing works better to re-open than movement coupled with laughter. Five to ten minutes of movement exercises, rhythm activities or a game can be enough. Theater and improvisational games are favorites of teenagers. Sensory integration activities, Extra Lesson exercises or simply a quick jog around the track work well here also. These
warm ups have potential to build community, trust, spaciousness and
openness where there was little or none before and offer a bit of
healing to boot. Theater Games for the Classroom : A Teacher's Handbook , by Viola Spolin is a book full of wonderful and quick games that work well as classroom warm-ups.
* Content - Am I prepared for today’s lesson with multiple teaching methods? Am I prepared to throw the lesson out the window if necessary? Am I prepared to go faster or slower today based on the student’s availability?
Teachers work hard at keeping a class on track with the required material for a year. We worry about covering enough material to prepare the student for their next educational step. There
is a way in which we can feel burdened by the responsibility of
delivering the large amount of content in the short amount of classroom
time. If a student is pushed through learning too quickly, the material becomes deadened. Finessing ones way through the balance of quantity vs. quality or content vs. synthesis is difficult. Most importantly is to simply remain in the questions above and lovingly strive for balance.
An important aspect of content is the teaching in big picture images and the use of manipulatives and colors wherever possible. High school mathematics can be heavily lopsided in the abstract realm. A
strong bridge needs to be built between the semi-abstract and the
abstract for the slower paced math student. Some examples of this type
of teaching are: Teach using stories to explain math concepts (David Berg of Making Math Realä
at U.C. Berkeley, CA, teaches an Algebra 1 course for teachers that is
wonderfully heavy in stories), work with manipulatives such as Algebra
Tiles, GeoMags or origami, color code the chalkboard work, have the
students create models of the current work whenever possible, relate
math to sports or money, and write clear and easy-to-follow steps on
the board for any problem type that requires over 3 steps to solve.
The method that I use most often and is regularly effective is the color-coding of chalkboard work. Not only is it pleasing to look at but it is also a way to organize the board for this typically disorganized students. Take
for example the difficulties of the subtraction step in polynomial long
division. The most common error for slower paced math students in this
topic is to incorrectly add or subtract. When, in the
subtraction step, all the signs change color as well as value, it is
easy for students to work correctly and spot their own errors when
made. The same is true for subtracting algebraic fractions. When
the subtraction signs are color coded first, it is easier for the
students to identify the trickier problems needing distribution.
Solving for a variable becomes quicker and easier as well when that
“unknown” is a special color throughout the equation. I often give
extra credit points to students who color code their quiz sheet before
they begin to work on the problems. I have noticed a direct correlation to this color work and a decrease in simple errors on these quizzes.
All
this said, however, with the slower paced math student, the pre-class
teaching method is only a piece of what is necessary for their success. The
other elements that contribute to success are the in areas of actual
class time and in the responsibility of the students themselves. In
many cases, the students arrive at class needing some remediation
before higher-level work can begin. Some signs to look for in this area of needed remediation are incorrect pencil grip or ear infections. I
have noticed this last year that approximately 1/3 of my slower paced
math students have an incorrect pencil grip and nearly ½ of them suffer
or suffered from frequent ear infections. More on this topic will come at a future time and why they are important to notice.
|
