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Differentiation

  • Prerequisite Skills and Current Content

    The effort to provide intervention to fill in gaps is challenging for different reasons. One reason is the effort to balance support for current content while filling in gaps. This post shows an example of how to fill in gaps while working through the current topic. Overview Various rubrics used to assess teacher instruction includes…

  • Viability of a Grade Level in Math

    Viability of a Grade Level in Math

    When I am asked to consult or evaluate a student, often the student is years behind in math. As a result, I am often asked to determine the grade level of the student’s achievement. Regressing the math achievement to a single number is not viable. This post provides an explanation. Common Scenario Here is a…

  • Enrichment Resources for Math

    Enrichment Resources for Math

    When I work with advanced or talented and gifted students, I recommend that enrichment be used to “go wide, not deep.” The point is not to simply move the students vertically, but challenge them to go deeper with current content or use critical thinking activities. Here is an online resource of problems from the Paul Erdős International…

  • Inclusion vs Proximity

    Inclusion vs Proximity

    Some educators and parents of students with special needs are unclear about what is meant by the term inclusion. Some think it is having the student with a disability in the same location as “nondisabled peers.” Some think it involves doing the same exact tasks or academic work. Sesame Street figured this question out years…

  • IXL.com – Excellent Tool for Differentiation

    IXL.com – Excellent Tool for Differentiation

    IXL.com is a site that provides online practice for math (and other topics). It has a hidden feature that allows for very effective differentiation. This can be highly useful in a general ed math class and in settings for special education services. This includes special ed settings with students working on a wide ranges of…

  • Simplifying not so Simple Equation Solving

    Several special ed teachers identified solving multi-step equations as the most challenging math topic to teach in middle school math. Here is my approach to teaching multi-step equations like 3m + 4m + 1 = 15. . First, I use a task analysis approach to break down the math topic like we cut up a…

  • Problems with Determining Math Grade Level for a Student

    A common scenario involves a school official reporting out the grade level in math for a student. For example, a 7th grade student I was helping had tested at a 4th grade level. As a result, the student spent much of her 7th grade year working on 4th grade math. There are a couple problems…

  • Wicked Cool Simulation Site

    I used this site, Explorelearning, with a 7th grader with Aspergers who tested at a 1st grade math and reading level. We used the Photo Synthesis Lab (screen shot below) to gather experimental data on the hypothesis “what helps flowers grow?” He won at the school level and went on to district competition. (As of…

  • Randy on Dana Jonson’s Podcast: Lots of Information about Math

    I was a guest on special ed attorney Dana Jonson‘s podcast. Below are links to items I cited in the discussion. There is a contact information form in this post. Strategy to individualize instruction Tandem of Online Resources: IXL.com and Google Classroom Online Worksheets I recommend Concepts vs Skills

  • IXL and Google Classroom

    Here is what we are doing at home during school closure time. I created a Google Classroom (anyone with Google account can create a class on the Google Classroom app) and posted links to IXL topics (photo at bottom). (NOTE: this is one method I use to differentiate at school.) If the school is providing…