Communities of Learning
Frazer Boergadine | February 10, 2010
As you know, Bridges in Mathematics advocates building a safe, positive community of learners in every classroom. Students are more apt to share their thinking, listen carefully to others, disagree with an idea not a person, and collaborate in positive and productive ways when they feel part of something bigger than themselves that they view as beneficial and good. Jefferson County Public Schools has taken buillding learning communities to a different level as described in a recent Edutopia article at www.edutopia.org/louisville-sel-social-emotional-learning.
Of course, we choose to embed community building within the context of doing math, calling attention to behaviors that encourage effective collaboration and disposition to math at the time they occur. I wonder what the effectiveness is when developed outside and separate from experiences in a content area.
Comments
I'd like to get some feedback about how to support a child with a visual perceptual disability to learn the Bridges approach to mathematics. The school uses Bridges, which seems to be primarily geared toward visual learning as opposed to auditory learning. How can both teachers and parents provide support for a true auditory learner through Bridges?
I am a trainer for Elementary Special Ed teachers in my district and I have heard the same concerns from the Teachers of the Visually Impaired with whom I work. We understand that visual models can be made tactile, but it takes longer for students to feel something than it does for students to see something. By the time visually impaired students have made their observations the rest of the class has moved on. I read the comment on questioning below. I agree with the comments but "What did you notice? and What do you predict will happen next?" only works if the student has the ability and/or time to notice something. It would be wonderful if we could have a forum for teachers who work with students with disabilities.
In our district we also have concerns about students who are print disabled. These students are not able to write because of physical disabilities. We have students who typically complete work on the computer. The goal is to have their finished work look like their classmates, as much as possible. Has anyone adapted any of the work pages so that students can complete them on the computer?
I am looking forward to hearing from other teachers. We are excited about using Bridges!
Dawn, when you mention having a forum for teachers who work with students with disabilities, are you thinking of some kind of online webinar or the like? We are interested in providing such opportunities for teachers to share their thinking and collective expertise. Would something like that be of interest? What do other SPED teachers out there think of taking time to participate?
From Cynthia Hockman-Chupp
While it's true that one of Bridges strengths is it's visual models, it's also very powerful for auditory learners. Students are frequently asked to share their strategies and mathematical thinking aloud. Students discuss and debate problems. Make and share conjectures. Explain their thinking both orally and in writing. In Getting Started workshops we talk about questioning strategies that are particularly powerful. These questions (and their answers) engage students of all abilities and encourage students to use words to clarify what they know. Both teachers and parents can use these questions as they talk to children about math. A few examples: What do you notice? What do you think? What might come next? What do you predict will happen? How did you figure it out? Does anyone have a different way to solve the problem? ...and more. You've raised a great question. Thank you!
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