by Gina Kuntscher and Natalie
Pickering
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ModificationsSection 504 These strategies can
help accommodate emotionally disturbed children.
TUSD Section 504 Student Services http://www.tusd.k12.az.us/contents/distinfo/sect504/accomed.asp Dyscalculia: MITIGATIVE STRATEGIES
(http://www.as.wvu.edu/~scidis/dyscalcula.html)
Although
dyscalculia may be difficult to diagnose, there are strategies that teachers
and parents should know about to aid students in learning mathematics. 1. Encourage
students to work extra hard to "visualize" mathematics problems.
Draw them or have them draw a picture to help understand the problem, and
make sure that they take the time to look at any visual information that is
provided (picture, chart, graph, etc.) 2. Have the
student read problems out loud and listen very carefully. This allows them to
use their auditory skills (which may be strength). 3. Provide
examples and try to relate problems to real-life situations. 4. Provide
younger students with graph paper and encourage them to use it in order to
keep the numbers in line. 5. Provide
uncluttered worksheets so that the student is not overwhelmed by too much
visual information (visual pollution). Especially on tests, allow scrap paper
with lines and ample room for uncluttered computation. 6. Discalculia
students must spend extra time memorizing mathematics facts. Repetition is
very important. Use rhythm or music to help memorize. 7. Many
students need one-on-one attention to fully grasp certain concepts. Have
students work with a tutor, a parent, or a teacher after school hours in a
one-on-one environment. 8. If
possible, allow the student to take the exam on a one-to-one basis in the
teacher's presence. 9. The student
might like instant answers and a chance to do the problem over once s/he is
wrong. Often their mistakes are the result of "seeing" the problem
wrong. 10. In early
stages, design the test problems "pure," testing only the required
skills. In their early learning, they must be free of large numbers and
unnecessary destructive calculations. 11. Allow more
than the "common" time to complete problems and check to see that
student is not panicking (tears in eyes, mind frozen). 12. Most
importantly, be PATIENT! Never forget that the student WANTS to learn and
retain. Realize that mathematics can be a traumatic experience and is highly
emotional because of past failures. The slightest misunderstanding or break
in logic can overwhelm the student and cause emotional distress. Pity will
not help, but patience and individual attention will. It is typical for
students to work with until they know the material well and then get every
problem wrong on the test. Then 5 minutes later, they can perform the test
with just the teacher, on the chalkboard, and many times get all problems
correct. Remember that this is very frustrating for the teacher/parent as
well as the student. Patience
is essential. 13. Assign
extra problems for practice and maybe a special TA (teaching assistant) or special
education is assigned to assist the affected student. 14. When
presenting new material, make sure the student with discalculia is able to
write each step down and talk it through until they understand it well enough
to teach it back to you. 15. Go over
the upcoming lesson with so that the lecture is more of a review. |
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