Wednesday, December 02, 2015

Teaching Math: Differentiation

Now that I know my math students well, I am beginning to differentiate more. Yesterday the teaching team met and we were able to discuss math learning and teaching for many students. We came up with a large number of specialized accommodations to better instruction and practice for students.

Some of the accommodations we decided on included the following:
  • Shortlist math goals. Don't focus on too many learning goals at once.
  • Using a more targeted learning plan to reach goals.
  • More time for practice.
  • More time for one-to-one and small group support.
  • Better design of learning modules and resources. Providing enough space on the page. Focus on one skill per page. Provide high-quality resources with regard to vocabulary, number facts, and other helpful information.
  • Targeted, personalized homework mostly using the online resources we have available.
  • Using coding for enrichment.
Fortunately we have a terrific teaching team, eager students, a supportive parent group, and terrific tools and resources. The key is to manage all of this in ways that result in engagement and learning success.

Let me know if you have other ideas for moving all students ahead in math in ways that matter.