Personalized Learning Part 2: Case Study Update
My first day working with this 2nd grade learning disabled student, we’ll call John, I realized I would have to go back to the drawing board. I needed to revise the personalized learning plan for math I had made for him. Some parts would have to be thrown away for the plan to have any positive, long-lasting effect on him. The first day was a one-on-one assessment of John. I sat with him to go through a basic two-digit addition sheet without regrouping.
Together, we looked at the first problem. I set him up for success by drawing the lines to split the vertically stacked addition problem into tens and ones. Then I labeled the columns. He needed to add 1+0. I could tell how hard he was working to process the question. He couldn’t give me an answer other than 0, and that was after using manipulatives and drawings to help him.
Back to the Beginning
I literally pulled out one of my favorite math teaching strategy books as I was sitting there with him. I wanted this encounter to end successfully for him. The book recommended learning a doubles math fact a day. I wrote a fact on an index card. For the rest of the day he carried the card around with him. The first fact was 1+1. He succeeded in telling me what was on the card without having to look at it. At this rate, we were not going to make much progress on our goal.
We are at the halfway mark in the school year. John works daily with an ESE teacher and has help in the classroom. However, our focus has been to get him to master the new math curriculum. It is so complex and the strategies are so tightly weaved together, I don’t believe he will master it this year.
The next day, I gave him a 2+2 addition card to work on throughout the day until we met later. He couldn’t produce the fact without reading it off the card whenever I asked. The Pokemon skill centered challenge I planned to get him to reach mastery of two-digit addition facts was on hold. Instead, I decided to try some card games to practice several learning strategies that would add to his math toolbelt.
Why I Chose Cards
Playing card games is associated with fun. I wanted him to associate working with me as fun. In no way did I want it even resemble math. We were just having fun. And if we were learning math incidentally, well, that couldn’t be helped. 😉
We ended that first day together with a simple card game. We both flip over a card. He counts his and mine and tells me who has more. The winner keeps the cards. At the end of the game, we count how many we have. This is a simple practice of counting and comparing one and two digit numbers.
Counting On
The next day, we started with the same game. For the next round, we flipped two cards a piece. All of a sudden, the game is much more complicated. I am monitoring hime for any signs of stress. I want zero affective filter here. Stress interferes with comprehension so I am prepared to return to the easier game.
I watched him count each number on each card. Once he counted one card, sometimes he would start over instead of combining the numbers. So, for example, if he had a 3 and a 2, he would say, “1, 2, 3, 1, 2.” I taught him to slap the larger card and point to the symbols on the smaller card to get the answer. He actually showed a preference to having the larger card on his right. He’d move it into place to get ready to count on.
After we’d flip two cards apiece, he’d count his, using the counting on strategy, then mine. Sometimes, he’d forget his and have to count it again. Then, he would tell me who won.
I made a big deal about how he kept winning. He was grinning, gesticulating when he’d beat me yet again, but most importantly, he was adding!
Making a Ten
We also played a quick Making a Ten match game. I pulled out maybe five sets of cards that would equal ten. Again, I wan’t no stress to interfere with his learning.
Throughout the game, I did not get a sense that he knew which number he was looking for to match up. However, when he’d count the numbers on the cards, he knew without me telling him whether he had made ten. I think with more practice, he will be able to tell me the number he needs as his number sense develops.
Wins for Today
By the end of the games, I no longer had to model counting on. He was doing it like a pro. He could add and compare two sets of numbers simultaneously. He could make a ten. Also, I noticed he stopped skipping numbers. He would skip either 15 or 16 when counting on. By the end of the game, he was confidently counting on without skipping any numbers. I plan to build on that success. Stay tuned for part three of my personalized learning case study. Here is a link to Part One of the study.