Work with the student’s classroom teacher

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The work that a student is doing in an ALiM group should support the work that they are doing in class, and vice versa. For this to happen, the ALiM teacher and the classroom teacher need to collaborate to identify opportunities for the student to apply the skills they have been working on and for ways that the ALiM teacher can prepare the student for tasks that are introduced during class.

Research shows that students who are confident in mathematics are far more likely to be given exploratory problems that require deep thinking than students who struggle in mathematics. However, working on complex tasks “is crucial for stimulating their mathematical reasoning and building durable mathematical knowledge” (Effective Pedagogy in Mathematics/Pāngarau BES, page 118). It is important to support ALiM students so that they can participate in investigative tasks along with their peers.

An interesting task is usually intrinsically motivating provided that students have enough confidence to begin it and enough skills or knowledge to progress towards a solution. If the ALiM and classroom teachers work together, the ALiM teacher can help a student to develop the knowledge they will need to draw on in class.

Easing the access to more complex problems

Planning is important if ALiM students are not to be endlessly assigned simple, procedural-type mathematical “problems” or worksheets while their fellow students are engaged in interesting and challenging tasks.

By planning up-coming tasks with the teacher, the ALiM teacher can remove crucial barriers to understanding so that the students they are supporting can gain access to and engage with them.

Adaptations might include:

  • providing a visual representation of the task
  • reducing the language demands of the task
  • making explicit the links between new concepts and what is already known
  • reducing the size of numbers or the number of steps in the task
  • providing materials for the students to use.

If suitable adaptations are planned in advance, the ALiM teacher can reasonably expect that their students will work without having them continually at their side. This is an essential first step in weaning them off dependence, and building their confidence that, like others, they can wrestle with a challenge and find a way through. Remind them that the person who does the thinking does the learning.

Opening up tasks

Planning adaptations presupposes a task that is rich enough to warrant exploration at a number of levels. A good problem should capture a student’s interest and imagination. It should certainly involve more than simply choosing which mathematical operation to use.

Changing a closed question into an open question can make it both more real and more interesting. Using open questions increases the amount of time a student can spend exploring a problem and encourages flexibility in thinking.

For example:

Mere’s mum has $10 to give her three kids as pocket money. Charlotte is five, Marcie is seven, and Mere is eight. What are some different ways that Mere’s mum could divide the money? Explain which way you think is best and why.

Wherever possible, choose contexts that interest students. For example, give students a toy catalogue and tell them they have won $120 worth of toys in a competition. Have them decide how they want to spend the money.

Back to Resource 8: Creating purposeful independent activities