Cook,+Jessica+Inclusion+Strategies+in+Math

=Welcome to my ED 571 Inclusion Strategies Wiki Site. =

Something that I want you to know about me.
My name is Jessica Cook and I am from the Rogue Valley. I was born in Ashland, Oregon and have lived most of my life in the Valley. I lived in Yreka, CA from the time I was in kindergarten and up through December of my third grade year. My husband and I are started classes in February to adopt children through the foster care system. We love being around children and spending time with them.

Education and career goals.
I graduated from Phoenix high School in 1999. I went to school at RCC off and on for a few years with the intention of transferring . I was a store manager at Ashland Dairy Queen and was paying my way through school. I was accepted to a golf school in Arizona to learn how to design and maintain courses, and how to run tournaments. I was hesitant to go and I am glad that I didn't because I met my future husband in 2003. His name is Justin Cook and he was working at SOU and persuaded me to start attending classes there. I began going to SOU in the fall of 2004 and had a very hard first term. I came down with pneumonia  and then about four weeks before finals I got sick again. This time I was nauseous  for weeks and we found out that we were expecting our first child together, our daughter Kylee. I was extremely emotional because I was expecting when I was told by doctors all my life that I would probably never have children and I received my first 'F'. We already had a boy named Parker, because  Justin had a child when he was a teenager. During my time at SOU we had two miscarriages, got married and had our son Cameron. Our children are currently thirteen, six and four years old. Due to our busy life, I finally graduated with my <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 25px;">bachelor <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;"> of science degree in mathematics and a minor in mathematics education on June 11, 2011. I am currently in the MAT program at SOU and I want to teach at the middle or high school level. I want to teach mathematics classes and I would love to be apart of a club that promotes diversity, healthy choices and academics. Part of me wants to move when I am done with school since I have always lived in the valley. I would love to live closer to the Portland area or Astoria, however, I will probably try to get a job in the area since my husband loves his job at SOU, our oldest will be starting high school, and we have family in the area.

What brings me joy.
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> For entertainment we love to go camping and fishing, to the coast, zoo, Wild Life Safari, Wild Life Images, library, we love to play games and sports and bikes. When my husband and I get time to ourselves we love to go out to eat and shopping at Barnes and Noble. I love taking walks with my dogs, friends and family. I love watching my daughter dance ballet, my oldest run at meets and my youngest one using his imagination.

My greatest fear about being a teacher.
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 25px;">My greatest fear about being a teacher is discouraging students and having them give up academically and/or on life in general. I want to help bring out all the strengths in my students and help them to see their potential. I do not want any student to leave my classroom feeling like they cannot amount to anything or that they just cannot ever figure out math. I want my students to learn that through hard work and determination they can find success in all aspects of life. I want them to see failure as a chance to learn and grow. I don't want them to see failure as a reflection of their inadequacies. My goal is to reach all of my students and help them where they need it most, for example a stronger mathematical foundation, organizational skill, structure, acceptance, and support.

A time when something was difficult for me to learn and how it made me feel. How this piece of my history will help me connect to students.
I had an extremely hard time learning to read. I was very frustrated not understanding the sounds of the letters and I felt like I could never figure out all of the rules and the exceptions to the rules. While struggling to learn how to read, I was also struggling with writing. I had come into school knowing how to write, but I was left handed. My teacher made me start all over and I had to learn how to write with my right hand. To make matters worse, once I finally learned how to write with my right hand, my teacher noticed that I did not hold my pencil correctly and wanted me to change again. Then she complained that my hand writing was no longer legible. At this point my mom stepped in and said "NO! You made her change enough and she can hold the pencil how she wants as long as her hand writing is legible." I was very happy that it finally stopped, however I still struggled with reading. I had to visit my "special friend" a few times a week to get help with reading. I got very good at memorizing books and avoided reading whenever possible. I eventually learned how to read, but my hard start always had an effect on my confidence as a reader. I rarely chose to read for fun and I avoided reading out loud in class whenever possible. I used every excuse that I could think of because I did not want to be embarrassed if I struggled and I always felt anxious reading aloud. As I get to know my students, I will look for similar tactics that I used to avoid what made me uncomfortable. I will talk to those students individually and we will come up with a plan so they know what to expect, and we will come up with a system so they know when they will be put in that position of anxiety/fear. I will work with them so that they will develop skills that will allow them to gain confidence and participate more fully.

What I want to gain from this course.
I want to gain an understanding of inclusion and the benefits of an inclusive classroom. I want to learn how to teach appropriately to all of my students so that they all get what they need from my classroom. I also want to know how to set up my class so that everyone feels accepted and able to participate no matter their background or type of disability they may have. = = = Inclusion Strategies in Mathematics Classroom =



Introduction to the importance of inclusion strategies in mathematics classrooms and why I chose this topic:
Inclusion strategies in a mathematics classroom is highly important because students need to be proficient in mathematics to succeed in their everyday life. Since our students will all come to the classroom with different knowledge packages, strengths , weaknesses, and interest, we as teachers need to be prepared to teach to all of our students so they get what they need. Math can be a hard or intimidating subject for many students, especially students with disabilities since they are required to remember so many facts, rules, vocabulary, etc. Mathematics curriculum needs to be effectively designed so that each individual student is learning to the best of their abilities.

I chose inclusion strategies in mathematics classrooms, because I want to be an highly effective mathematics teacher. I came into the class not entirely sure what inclusions was or how to implement lessons that were inclusive. Therefore, I wanted to look into inclusion strategies that I could use in my own classroom and how to implement them.

The top 5 things that I learned:
1. Dyscalculia is a disability that affects the persons ability to learn mathematical skills. People who have dyscalculia can have difficulty understanding simple number skills and concepts, they may lack an understanding of numbers, and have significant problems learning number facts and procedures. Most people with dyscalculia will only have difficulty with numbers and they tend to have normal cognitive and language abilities. Not much is known yet about the causes or treatments of dyscalculia. However, there are things that can be done to help students make progress. Students with disabilities in general will benefit from having extra time, modified work, they will greatly benefit from using manipulatives often and using calculators. The students tend to do better if they have examples of problems completely worked out for them, so they can refer to it whenever they need it. They need to see examples of mathematics being used in the real world. The students can be involved more in the discussions by asking them questions that are more basic and concrete. The main goal is to maximize the students' learning capacity, and the greatest resource is to plan and meet with the special education teacher to make sure the teacher is meeting the needs of the student.

2. To develop mathematical understanding, for all students but especially students with disabilities, it is essential that the students progress from concrete models, to semi-concrete models, and then to abstract models. While helping the students gain these different understandings, their performance and comprehension will develop further if the teacher gives direct instruction and reinforcement, helps the students utilize the use of mnemonics, and assists them in developing cognitive strategies. Cognitive strategies can be taught by providing the students with a step by step check list for problem solving.

3. When designing effective mathematical instruction there are some key components to remember. First, focus on the big idea, make sure to generalize the concepts instead of giving individual details. Then teach obvious strategies for solving operations and problems. You do not want to give the student too broad or too specific details, because they may have a hard time applying this knowledge to different situations. Communicate in a clear and explicit manner and make use of time wisely. Prioritize your lesson and spend more time on the core concepts. Provide the students time to practice concepts and procedures, and review the concepts frequently to help maintain retention.

4. There is research based guild-lines for selecting mathematics curriculum that supports inclusion of all students. The curriculum should: put emphasis on the big ideas, give explicit strategies, provide a sufficient range of examples, scaffold the strategies, deliberate integration of concepts, build on the prerequisite skills before introducing new concepts, and the review should be sufficient, distributed, and cumulative.

5. When using universal design, the accommodations are built into the math curriculum and instructions from the start. Universal design provides less work for the teacher, since the lesson plan is designed to accommodate the needs of the entire range of learners in the classroom. The Teacher does not have to design the lessons and then go back and make accommodations. When using universal design, the methods and activities can be adaptive and address multiple learning styles. This form of instruction provides alternative access to information, multiple representations of information, and illustrates expert performance to guide the students learning. Universal design provides equitable information, uses errors as a learning experience, and the entire range of learners is considered during the set-up of the environment, what materials are used, and what methods are used in the specially designed curriculum.

My top resource:
[|The inclusive classroom: Mathematics and science instruction for students with learning disabilities]

This is a book that introduces learning disabilities and inclusion. Its chapters cover cultural diversity and the inclusive classroom, science instructional strategies, structured inquiry, mathematical instruction strategies, and textbook adaptions. The chapters draw on key principles of inclusion, special education and multiculturalism. This book is designed to empower teachers to meet the needs of every student. Some of the subtopics that it covers are classroom arrangment, peer tutors, and special education teachers. The math chapter covers instruction strategies such as teaching the big ideas. When the students understand the big ideas in mathematics, it enables them to solve diverse problems which may seem unrelated, but are in fact connected to the larger mathematical concepts. It also covers the topics of calculators. When used properly calculators can empower students with learning disabilites to explore mathematical relationships. When students struggle with computational skills, they will struggle with engaging in higher level mathematics. If they have access to use calculators, then they can engage in higher level mathematical thinking and problems.

1.
media type="custom" key="12469548" This slide show highlights the concepts from chapter 15 //The inclusive classroom 4th// by Mastropieri and Scruggs. I give this a 4 out of 5 for usefulness.

2.
This site gives reaserch based guildlines for selectin mathematics curriculum, defines universal design and dyscalculia, and strategies to help students with disabilities learn mathematics. I give this site a 5 out of 5 for effectiveness.

3.
[|PBS Parents]

This site teaches what inclusion means, the benefits of inclusive education, making inclusion a reality, reading problems, writing problems, and math problems. It also has resources for reducing challenging behavior, creating good practices and managing feelings of frustration. I give this site a 5 out of 5 for its helpfulness.

4.
[|Difficulties with mathematics]

[|Responses: How to help students with mathematics difficulties, in the classroom or at home]

Both links are from the same site Misunderstood Minds. The first link discusess the difficulties with mathematics, and the second discusses repsonces such as where to begin, talking with students about their strengths and weaknesses, suggestions and strategies, general suggestion, etc. I give this site a 5 out of 5 for versatility.

5.
[|Mathematics instruction for secondary students with learning disabilities]

This website provides examples of techniques that have been effective when used with secondary studetns who have learning disabilities in mathematics. It describes six factors that defeat efforts to increase the efectivenes of instruction. It provides examples of the components of effective instruction such as the content, examples, the opening, body, and closing of the lesson.

The next three links are from the same website, one defines math learning disabilities,the other Dyscalculia, and the third shows how to adapt instruction. I give this website 5 out of 5 for all of the valuable information that it provides.

[|Math learning disabilities]

[|Dyscalculia] [|Adapting mathematics instruction in the general education classroom for students with mathematics disabilities]

6. [|How to teach students with a math disability]

This site defines dyscalculia, common IEP modifications for a math disability and how to work with a child with a math disability. I give this site a 3 out of 5 for its usability, however it is not as detailed as the others.

7.
[|Teaching math to students with disabilities]

This webiste describes strategies for teaching problem solving, identifying problem types, authentic math rpoblems, and strategies by Russell Gersten, professor at the University of Oregon. It also has teaching and leraning center links and links to news and issues. I give this website a 4 out of 5 for the amount and quality of information.

8.
[|Adapting reading and math materials in the inclusive classroom] [|Teaching strategies for using materials in an inclusive classroom] This site provides prinables, themes, subjects, lesson plans, classroom management, and a link to making adaptaions for students with disabilities chart. It discusses appropraite and reasonable adaptaions and eight principles and explanations for making adaptations in the elementary classroom. They can be applied to the middle and high school levels. I give this site a 5 out of 5 for the valuable information it provides.

Other helpful resources that I found while doing my research.
[|Inclusionary Best Practices]

media type="youtube" key="N105TGmMkLk" height="315" width="420"

[|Planning for the inclusive classroom]

media type="custom" key="12439942" media type="custom" key="12440150" media type="custom" key="12440410"

[|Preschool math grows up: Tips for teachers]

[|Disablitites, teaching strategies, and resources]

[|Inclusive math communities: Investigations in number, data, and space]

[|Focus on Inclusion: Reciprocal teaching as a comprehension strategy for understanding mathematical word problems]

=<span style="color: #008080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 200%; line-height: 25px;">Community Based Learning Project =

For my community based learning project I chose to shadow Cindy Holloway. She provides speech articulation, fluency, and reading comprehension interventions which can be focused on vocabulary, inferences, problem solving, or grammar/syntax. She works at Talent Middle School, Phoenix High School, ATI Charter and St. Mary's High School. I shadowed Cindy at T.M.S. on January 23, 2012 from 8 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.

I began the day with Cindy by going over her schedule for the day. She began the day at T.M.S., went to P.H.S. at 1 p.m. for a social class with students that have autism and then she worked at St. Mary's H.S. in the afternoon. After going over her schedule, I conducted my interview. See the attached file below.



I observed Cindy working with three groups of students. She worked with students that had intellectual disabilities, ADHD, speech disabilities , language disabilities, and learning disabilities. See the attached file below for my observation notes.



I learned about tools and strategies that I can use in my classroom to help my students with disabilities. I learned about ways to continue my education, to keep my enthusiasm alive, and to promote growth in my teaching practices. See the attached file below for my reflection on what I learned by shadowing Cindy Holloway.