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What is Specialized Math Instruction?
Specialized Math Instruction (SMI) focuses on improving instructional techniques–or pedagogy– of all educators for teaching mathematics for all students.
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A Case for High Quality Math Instruction for Students with Complex Needs
I would like to discuss a topic dear to me - the importance of high quality instruction for math students with complex cognitive needs. In the state of Vermont, these students tend to fall under the disability category of Intellectual Disability. My background in education is as a special educator. In my role as an ALN facilitator I continue to work with students with more complex needs or low incidence disabilities and the teachers and school districts who support them. (Low incidence disabilities are severe disabling conditions with an expected incidence rate of less than 1% of the total sta …
Purposeful Change: The ALN Rapid Cycle of Inquiry
A group of math coaches and I gathered for a local PLC meeting. We had been looking at student work and discussing some of the problems of practice facing the teachers in our buildings. In any gathering of educators, it’s pretty easy to articulate difficulties. Parents don’t support good math instruction. The administration doesn’t understand our goals and methods. Teachers won’t try new approaches. And the children face ever steeper learning curves. Anyone who’s ever engaged with educators knows that there are many challenges that all of us face daily. But I wanted us to focus our efforts on …
Establishing Classroom Culture
Establishing a classroom culture within the first six weeks of school is crucial for the success of a learning community. To facilitate an inclusive community culture, educators should establish routines and expectations with students, use language with intention to reflect the ideal of the environment, and foster student voice, choice and ownership through authentic learning experiences.
Inclusion and MTSS
I spend a lot of time in schools in many different grade levels and while there are more differences than similarities in the goings on of a 1st grade classroom and a 10th grade one, a major similarity is the question of inclusion. How does one classroom teacher meet the needs of all their students when the needs can be quite disparate?
Establishing a Feedback Culture
Use Student Work as Feedback We are in the business of being responsive. As educators we strive to establish a thriving feedback culture in our classrooms enriched by constantly looking at formative assessment data and responding. When armed with evidence of student thinking, we can approach teaching like a constant rapid cycle of inquiry. What worked? What didn’t? How can I respond next to push my students’ thinking? The more our systems support us in being responsive and in driving our instructional decisions with evidence from student thinking, the more learning and growth for all!
Math Coaches Make an Impact
Coaches provide support for teachers who have multiple demands through job embedded professional development. One key element essential to effective math instruction, that a math coach in particular provides, is supporting teacher knowledge of mathematics content. Math coaches are able to provide feedback, planning support, and work towards goals in a timely manner with knowledge and understanding that comes from being in the classroom and working with teachers.
David’s Math Class: A Story of Inclusion
Often, when we talk about differentiation and inclusion, the responsibility is put upon the teacher to create, provide, and derive the means for low floor/high ceiling tasks (with multiple entry points) so all students may access the learning activity. I had the rare pleasure of experiencing a moment when a teacher let the students in her class, inspired by one typically marginalized student, take the lead in creating one of the most inclusive math classes I have had the privilege of experiencing. What follows is a true story:
Differentiation - What Is It?
What is differentiation and where can it be applied? A differentiated classroom is facilitated by an educator's timely and ongoing response to student needs. Educators target and implement strategies and tools that provide access and inclusion and promote student engagement, independence and growth with content, process and products. The learning environment and a balanced math block provide the structures and opportunities for all students to receive the support and just right instruction they need to achieve high levels of success. Differentiated instruction can be applied to 4 key areas of …
MTSS and the All Learners Lesson Structure
Schools and classrooms are filled with diverse learners who all have their own individual knowledge and needs when it comes to learning. A Multi-Tiered or Multi-Layered System of Support (MTSS) provides a system in which educators can meet the needs of all students through adding layers of support. All Learners Network's (ALN) All Learners Lesson Structure provides a way to incorporate the elements of MTSS within a math class/block. The All Learners Lesson Structure includes four elements: Launch, Main Lesson, Math Menu and Closure. All parts of the lesson include differentiation, inclusion fo …
