Book Report on "Students With Disabilities and Their Mathematics Instruction"

Book Report 7 pages (2630 words) Sources: 1+

[EXCERPT] . . . .

There are three main tiers of intervention, they can range from mere class room intervention to some more serious, personalized assistance. The more the teachers watch their students learn, the more they see the obstacles and challenges students face. This situation calls for a more balanced and challenging mathematics curriculum for all students with need for specialized education services in order to meet all their needs.

Using common diagnostic tool, computational fluency, conceptual understanding, disposition, and problem solving was put under assessment in order to understand the student's instructional needs. While it is possible to use a tool for determining the above, the main challenge is to consider the duration of time the teacher will require to spend on the main expectations at different levels. Spotlight learning areas for level four and broad overview exposed the different areas that needs to be covered by the mathematics teacher. Every teacher is expected to make use of a number of assessments to interpret the understanding of students, carry out analysis on students work, and evaluate their progress. Any teacher can employ either the formative or summative assessment method. Subsequently, the teachers must make use of the formative and summative assessment results to spot students with undetected learning problems and to keep an eye on the progress of every student (Fennel, 2011).

Summary 2 Learning: A Framework

Aaron was a glaring academic failure. Even in early 2nd grade, it was very clear he was a very poor achiever and labeling him a disabled child is imminent. He would always be seen counting his own fingers, trying to sneak out of the class or hiding in order to be disregarded, but it seldom worked.

Due to the fact that he was still operating at the kindergarten stage, extra help with the special education teacher was scheduled for him. On one occasion, when he was asked to subtract 79 from 405, he came up with 474 as his answer. After a number of practices and homework, he still could not get things right. He was identified as a behavioral disorder patient and a good example of a child with learning disability. For a child like Aaron, the need to gain mathematical skill was critical. Mathematical skill involves conceptual understanding, adaptive and strategic mathematical thinking, procedural fluency, as well as productive disposition.

Due to a number of reasons, there have been recommendations by the NTCM that the method of teaching mathematics ought to be changed. The cognitive limitation of disabled students like Aaron can be said to be solely responsible for the difficulties they have with learning. A learning disability is today defined as an important developmental delay (achievement 2 years behind ones age-mates) which can be linked to cognitive disabilities that hinders the ability of students to understand procedures and concepts. In as much as there have been several studies on difficulties with reading, but very little attention has been given to mathematical difficulties. This mostly applies to conceptual knowledge and adaptive and strategic mathematical reasoning. Additionally, insufficient attention has been focused on the development of instructional techniques for the implementation of all standard-based reforms with all children with learning disabilities.

Hence, the main reason why some students experience learning difficulties is the way they are taught (psychologically unsuitable instruction), and not their mental makeup (organic or cognitive dysfunction).

Some major cause of behavioral and learning disabilities include: inability to promote conceptual learning, inability to promote procedural understanding, inability to promote adaptive and strategic mathematical reasoning, and the inability to promote a more productive outlook. Just like in children undergoing typical development, there is need to teach children with special needs mathematics in such as a way that they can use it very flexibly, intelligently and productively. One way of maximizing the mathematical ability of children with such learning disabilities is for teachers to employ some basic guidelines that explain the planning and implementation of very helpful instruction with the disabled children (Baroody, 2011).

Summary 3 Instruction: Yesterday I learned to Add, Today I Forget

A large number of specialized education teachers find it hard to learn and understand mathematics. The teachers may be more interested in loving the children and helping them develop good reading skills. In summary, these teachers are good at teaching their students any other subject than mathematics. Furthermore, some teachers who majored in fields not related to mathematics find themselves teaching mathematics in middle and high schools. In spite of these limitations, most of the teachers desire and long to teach the students adequately; but they face the challenge of not knowing how they can do this. This chapter deals with instructional techniques that can help the teachers lend their supports for schematics learning to their students with some learning limitations. The key to meeting the goals of mathematics for everyone is to combine these techniques and the opportunities for improved teacher content understanding.

Another very effective means of meeting students' diverse needs in the classroom today is the use of different symbols of mathematical ideas. This will increase the possibility that the teachers will employ an effective and efficient learning style to reach the students. The use of multiple representations does not in any way imply the bombardment with different ideas at the same time. There should be moderation in the number of modalities teachers make use of, especially at those early learning stages. Students that have some learning difficulties always encounter some problems with maintaining the relationships that exist among different systems without complicating issues by making comparisons across representational systems. However, from a cognitive point-of-view, the teachers must device different means of representing mathematical ideas as a way of expanding the understanding of students about core ideas to enable them discover the links among the ideas. It is rare for students with learning disabilities to learn from only hearing or seeing.

Following different steps aimed at solving problems is one way of addressing the issue of difficulties among students with learning disabilities. The use of anchored instruction is one of such problem-solving steps. One way to be accustomed to instructions is through scaffolding, homework, time adjustments, and adaption with the use of technology instructions. There could also be a need to get materials adapted by either rewording directions orally, rewriting, and explanations (Shih, William, & Babbitt, 201211).

References

Baroody, A...(2011). Learning: A Framework. In N.C. Mathematics. Maryland: National Council of Teachers of Mathematics.

Fennel, F.(2011). All Means All. In N.C. Mathematics, Achieving Fluency: Special Education and Mathematics. Maryland: National Council of Teachers of Mathematics.

Shih, J., William, R., & Babbitt, B.C. (2011). Instruction: Yesterday I learned to add,… READ MORE

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