Succeeding at Teaching Secondary Mathematics by Roddick Cheryl D.; Sliva Spitzer Julie A.;

Author:Roddick, Cheryl D.; Sliva Spitzer, Julie A.;
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 1077648
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Published: 2012-07-14T16:00:00+00:00

In this chapter we will discuss the following:

The Special Needs Learner

The Gifted Learner

The English Language Learner

* * *

VIGNETTE 1: DISPARATE LEARNERS IN ALGEBRA I

Mrs. Penny is quite frustrated as her Algebra I class comes to an end. This particular lesson did not go well. Today she was teaching how to graph linear equations. Her students were required to take equations in standard form, place them in slope intercept form, and graph them on a coordinate plane. She knew this was going to be difficult when she began the class, as many students in the class were still struggling with fractions, solving equations with one variable, coordinate graphing, and standard form. It was also going to be challenging because she knows there are several students who will understand what she is saying immediately and others who will not even begin to grasp what she is teaching. However, she does not feel she has the time to go back and reteach the prerequisite skills necessary for all of her students to be ready for this lesson. She also feels that to do so would hold back her other students who are ready to learn this material.

Additionally, she knows several of her students could use more than one day to learn the material due to learning challenges as well as language barriers. In this class she has 32 students—about half the students understood the concept and will be successful with their homework; about 8 of them could use more help, but could get it with a little more help and time; and the rest she fears may never understand what she taught, as they are so far behind and she does not know where she will get the time needed to remediate. In this last group of students, four are special needs students, each of whom has an Individualized Education Program (IEP), and two others are English language learners.

On the other end of the spectrum, of the half that understood the material she presented today, at least three understood it immediately and likely could have moved on to a new concept during this class period; they don’t need a great deal of practice.

This is a familiar feeling for Mrs. Penny, a feeling of frustration and helplessness with the vast variability in her students’ backgrounds and abilities.

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