Storytelling in Math for Dyslexia [Premium]

In our book, The Dyslexic Advantage, storytelling is a strength that we discovered after all our in-depth interviews and study of dyslexic people. Cultivation of this super power might seem obvious for creative writing or entrepreneurship or other aspect of workplace role, but it should also be used and developed in subjects like math.   I remember talking with a middle grade student who was having troubles in math. I asked her if she was having trouble with word problems because the reading challenges are greater with these types of problems. “No,” she said. In fact, she found that word problems were the easiest – it was the straight number problems that were the most difficult. Dr. Candace Walkington has been on a quest to […]

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Understanding Conceptual vs. Procedural Knowledge in Math [Premium]

With math scores lagging tremendously due to pandemic-related school, many of us may suddenly find ourselves responsible for supervising (if not tutoring) math.   If that’s the case, it’s important to keep in mind the big picture of math learning. Of course the issue of conceptual and procedural learning apply to all subjects, not just math, but it especially becomes relevant when problem solving can become complex; symbols and abstractions must be used, and multiple steps for problem solving are necessary. There’s an especially nice description of the differences between conceptual and procedural knowledge in math from Ruthie Sloan’s Teach Math Literacy blog. Many of us learned math only through procedural learning. We didn’t learn “why” we did certain steps like “flip upside-down and multiply,” […]

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Math: Multiple Representations [Premium]

If you have a lot of ground to cover for the coming school year, consider the use of multiple representations to improve the efficiency of learning.     First, as a person who is math-challenged herself and was tasked at one time with tutoring one of our kids with similar math difficulties, I am sympathetic to people who are tasked with teaching math. The truth is, I wasn’t good at it myself, so I found myself getting frustrated when my student didn’t understand. I had little flexibility between math representations – and as a result tended to teach math the way I was taught it…rote memory of sequenced steps – which I was to find was the last thing my student should have been trying […]

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Helping With Homework If You’re Not A Wiz Yourself [Premium]

These are strange times and even if you’re not accustomed to helping with homework (including different types of homework), it may help a lot if you can help. Even pre-pandemic, when parents were surveyed about their helping with homework and trouble lending help, about 50% said they had difficulty… so you’re not alone. There are healthy debates about whether you as a parent should help with homework…and that doesn’t even consider whether a child might be dyslexic, dysgraphic, or dyscalculic, or all three. Helping with homework is not a good idea if the student doesn’t learn how to do the work. Now if a student is drowning, and no one is around to help, then a little help might not seem to be a terrible […]

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Math Strategies Without Anxiety with Stanford Prof Jo Boaler

If you anticipate working with a student on math this coming year, what approach will you take?   Dr. Jo Boaler has tips that can help create a positive atmosphere for learning.         To read the entire handout with the excerpt above (including links), click HERE.

In the video below, see how Jo taught students how to become comfortable with consider multiple strategies when solving math problems.         Bookmark Please login to bookmark ClosePlease login to access.

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Discrepancies in Math [Premium]

“For as long as I can remember, numbers have not been my friend. Words are easy as there can be only so many permutations of letters to make sense. Words do not suddenly divide, fractionalize, have remainders or turn into complete gibberish because if they do, they are gibberish. Even treating numbers like words doesn’t work because they make even less sense. Of course numbers have sequences and patterns but I can’t see them. Numbers are slippery.” – Jess Blackburn     Although it’s been estimated that 40% of dyslexic individuals are also dyscalculic, dyscalculia is rarely formally identified in schools. As neuroscience studies have uncovered more differences in mathematical processing, the problem of identification has not become simpler. But although it appears that there […]

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Hands-on Math and Games with Ronit Bird [Premium]

Recently, I discovered the math activities of Ronit Bird.   Ronit Bird is the author of several books about Dyscalculia. She has helpful tips for parents and teachers about concrete manipulatives and building up a sense of number through activities more than worksheets. I confess, I wish I had had this more when I was a kid. The tricky thing about math and activities even if you’re home schooling or home-enriching is that students who are weak in an area will often not want to do it, even if it’s something that would be beneficial for them to do. In our family, we had one child who was very, very good at all types of speed-based computer games, and another who was decidedly not good […]

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Algebra: What Students See and What Mathematicians See [Premium]

  Ben Orlin is the author of Math with Bad Drawings and Change is the only Constant: The Wisdom of Calculus in a Madcap World.       Besides have a good sense of humor, Ben is good at recognizing the differences in the way students and mathematicians see math problems. Take for example, the math problem, What is 7 x 11 x 13. What goes through your mind when you see a problem like that? I reach for my calculator, or might try 7 x 11 first, then look for a pen a paper, but what Ben suggests is that mathematicians imagine this.   The following examples Ben shared about Algebra had me laughing aloud:   The mathematician’s simplification involves recognizing a pattern. But […]

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Diagramming Math [Premium]

When we tested older students in our clinic who were in college on STEM tracks, I often asked students who were proficient in mathematics, what strategies were most helpful to them. Many of them found their own ways of solving problems – often using spatial and mental math strategies or diagrams. How did they learn these approaches? Most said they figured it out themselves.   In my search for math curricula that emphasized deeper understanding and diagrammatic thinking, I came across two resources that may be valuable for you – Illustrative Mathematics and Japanese Math. Often, we may be reminded that mathematics has its own language. There are words and symbols that mean different things in every day speaking, reading, and writing vs. math. If […]

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Spatial Intelligence: Developing One of the Dyslexic Super Powers [Premium]

    Although spatial intelligence is often a “dyslexic super power” and associated with famous architects, filmmakers, inventors, and engineers, it gets surprising little education in K-12 education. What that might mean in a practical way is that many of the young members of this community might only stumble into their greatest talents by chance, or worse, not at all.   MOST CURRICULA ONLY SPECIFY NAMING AND SORTING SHAPES Math educator David Fielker noticed a surprising blind spot when it comes to math instruction with shapes: typically students are led to practice sorting and verbally classifying shapes, rather than working with them, building, adding, and taking away. It’s physically working with them, “composing and decomposing shapes, comparing and mentally manipulating two- and three-dimensional figures, and […]

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