In a classroom, many students may not realize it, but they are giving in to the term, "learned helplessness". This term means that the student is used to disappointment and failure at succeeding because to them they are not reaching success and as a result, they don't try anymore because they feel that its no use to them. As a teacher, this is our worst nightmare. We never want a child to ever feel this way. We do everything in our power to let the child know that they are worthy of doing great things. However, sometimes its not what we say to a child, rather the techniques and methods we use that can help that child not feel so helpless anymore and overcome that learned aspect. Some tips for Overcoming Learned Helplessness:
Build daily expectation of communication through specific activities such as choosing the activity during recess, picking a book to read, or identifying where to eat lunch
Construct a brief daily report to parents that is communicated by the student
Allow natural consequences to occur and provide avenues for repair. This includes setups that alter the environment to provide less support or sabotage
Provide for choice making whenever possible that requires the student to use his or her augmentative communication system
Provide powerful phrases on the device for students to reject or protest something
Alright, just like I have viewed the manipulatives website, I also was directed to check out the TECHMATRIX website. Although this website may be a lot more boring from the last one (mainly because it doesn't offer cool manipulative games to play), it has a lot of important features for a teacher to reference to. On this website, you can select the grade level, subject, and disabilities your looking for and create a search of all the math products that are available to purchase. If there are numerous products that catch your eye, you can select multiple and compare them by creating a TECHMATRIX to help break down which features the products has. That way, you can line them up and compare them to one another. Teachers often like to do this because since money is tight, they like to get the most bang for their buck. Seeing products aligned next to other products can let the teacher know which is the best option for them in terms of what they are looking for ultimately in a product. Please feel free to check out the website below.
(TECHMATRIX I constructed to view numerous Math products available)
As I have mentioned in my last few blogs, there are an abundance of applications out there to use to teach important math skills. In choosing some additional activities to research and explore, I chose the National Library of Virtual Manipulatives. On this website, the site provides 5 different categories relating to math including Numbers & Operations, Algebra, Geometry, Measurement, and Data Analysis & Probability. For each of these categories, there are ages bands that provide manipulatives you can use as a teacher for each of those categories. The age bands include Pre-K to 2, 3 to 5, 6 to 8, and 9 to 12. I chose to focus on the topic of Geometry, mainly because I absolutely LOVED that subject as a student and still do. Finding resources and manipulatives to teach geometry concepts alone may not be easy but that's where this website comes into handy. This website provides many different tools to use in your class for one category alone. If a teacher chooses a specific subject manipulative and feels comfortable using and ultimately adopts it, one might ask what happens if or when he/she moves grade levels?????? Will the same manipulative work teaching geometry??? That's a very good and important question. The answer is YES. For most of these manipulatives, you'll find that they are used in numerous grade levels, including Ladybug Leaf. Ladybug Leaf, a manipulative used for teaching Geometry concepts, can be used across different age bands including Pre-K to 2, 3 to 5, and 6 to 8. Please feel free to check out the website to view other math manipulatives that just may work in your classroom. I promise you won't be disappointed. Just remember, you need Java plug-in to be able to view this website.
As mentioned in my previous blogs, AT as it relates to Math and teaching it's concepts continues. Technology that we use so frequently today has come along way from what it used to be like many years ago for students learning math concepts. Although the advancement in technology can be great and offer endless opportunities to achieve an be successful in Math, there are, however, some Low-tech as well as Mid-tech tools that can do the trick without breaking the bank. Some examples include:
Manipulatives
Fraction rubber stamps
Manipulative number line
Laminated addition/multiplication tables
Large calculators with over sized buttons
Talking calculators
And these are to name just a few. Please check out the textbook, Assistive Technology in the Classroom: Enhancing the School Experiences of Students with Disabilities for additional tools.
As I have mentioned in my previous blogs, there are an abundance of educational applications available for teachers to use as resources to assist students in Math. This blog focuses on apps that can be used to help teach and support math concepts, math skills, and problem solving. Keep in mind, there are so many ones that I have only provided just a few. If you would like more information on all of the different types of tools out there for assisting with these skills alone, please feel free to check out the textbook,Assistive Technology in the Classroom: Enhancing the School Experiences of Students with Disabilities. Some apps include but aren't limited too: 1.) Internet 4 Classrooms (http://www.internet4classrooms.com)- a FREE web portal that is designed to assist anyone who wants to find high-quality, free internet resources to use during classroom instruction. They can reinforce specific subject matter areas at home. 2.) Math Playground-provides a wealth of resources to support learning math concepts, skills, and problem solving. 3.) Conceptual Math-focuses on fractions and offers a variety of tools for teachers to use to enhance their whole class instruction.
As mentioned in my previous blogs, we are continuing the discussion with AT & Math. Just like there are many applications for assisting students with disabilities for Automaticity/Math Fact Fluency, there are also many applications that can assist students who have Visual/Spatial as well as Motor Control difficulties. There are an abundance of tools out there that can be downloaded to support this skill. I will, (for the sake of time and your eyes) just list a few that can help. *Feel free to check out the textbook Assistive Technology in the Classroom: Enhancing the School Experience of Students with Disabilitiesfor additional applications. Some include but aren't limited to: 1.) MathPad(Cambium Learning), a talking math worksheet program that allows students to perform arithmetic computations with whole numbers on the computer in much of the same way they would use pencil and paper. Students with fine motor difficulties can demonstrate their skill by simply using the keyboard or clicking the mouse and students with severe disabilities can utilize MathPad's scanning features. 2.) Virtual Pencil Arithmetic is an educational application designed for students who are, as mentioned in the words of the publisher, "pencil impaired". Makes addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division with whole numbers, fractions, and decimals accessible to students with disabilities. It allows students to solve problems much in the same way that they would using a paper pencil. 3.) Number Navigator doesn't have specialized features such as speech or scanning, but for those who need a simple "math processor" to enter and solve basic math fact problems on the computer, this FREE program can be a good solution. Remember…….Please take the time to check out the textbook for more applications. There are sooo many that can provide for and do so much for your students who have these types of disabilities and impairments. Boy has our technology gone soo far!!!!!!!!
Just like I have mentioned in my previous blog, there are certain Key questions one must consider when selecting an purchasing an appropriate educational application for math. Knowing these questions is important. Now we'll begin to talk about what applications are out there for certain types of math skills that students with disabilities still must be able to perform. Before I begin to list applications that address these skills, it's important to know what the terminology actually means. The textbook defines Automaticity as, "the fast, accurate, and effortless processing of content information" (Dell, Newton, & Petroff, 2012). *There are low-tech as well as mid-tech tools that can help and assist students with automaticity. For example, addition and multiplication charts as well as calculators compensate for a lack of automaticity. Applications for Automaticity/Math Fact Fluency: 1.) FASTT Math (Fluency and Automaticity through Systematic Teaching with Technology) is a math intervention program that helps students to acquire math fact fluency. It assesses students' command of basic facts by measuring response time and then generates customized activities based on the results. 2.) Timez Attack (Big Brainz) focuses mainly on the multiplication facts, teaching the 2 to 12 times table. It engages students in a high-tech video game environment featuring high-quality graphics. 3.) Arithm Attack is used to practice basic addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division facts. 4.) Arcademic Skill Builder math games are designed to help develop automaticity in addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, integers, fractions, and ratios.
(FASTT Math video to help students achieve automaticity and fluency skills)
