Apr 09 2008
Math instruction at the High School Level, Hewes Center
Math is currently taught by two instructors, one in Special Ed and the other in Alternative. Ed. Math is a difficult subject to master especially when students have had sporadic bouts of learning by which I mean, their education has been interferred with by families moving from one district to another, learning disabilites etc.
We at the Hewes Center have found that in growing the High School program in Special Education, students have entered high school without the pre-requisite math foundations so the teacher has had to go back and start building foundations in the subject which should ordinarily have been started in middle school. In Alternative Education, the students have arrived in the program with poor or under developed math skills with a foundation in place but one that essentially to weak to build on hence, practice and re-teaching are the norms of the day. We are indeed fortunate that the Alt. Ed. math teacher can teach a higher level math curriculum as well as offer math electives like computer applications this year. ( Next year we plan on offering a Robotics class) The math program taught by this teacher is all computer driven and controlled allowing each learner to develop at his/her own pace with maximum support from the teacher.
Given the two scenarios above, the two math instructors are focused on planning for next academic year and looking to examine ways in which to challenge students in math foundations through elective classes and integrated learning. We believe that co-teaching in some time away in the future for the math department at Hewes Center. Perhaps with the addition of a highly qualified math teacher in the high school rotation next year, within a 1:8:1 model, we can plan for a math instructional program that is more diverse and meets the needs of greater groups of students. These are the ideas that will be deliberated this week, as our two math instructors and consultant teacher, sit down, view what level 2 co-teaching looks like and begin to envision how instruction-ally we can meet the needs of all high school students in both programs.
One response so far
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Congratulations to your Math Department. It is exciting to see that they are not only collaborating on behalf of students, but actually planning together for next year’s curriculum.
It is also encouraging to see the infusion of technology. I have always believed that, “You can’t teach what you don’t know and you can’t lead where you won’t go”. These teachers obviously are continual learners and that sets a remarkable benchmark for their colleaues. It is good to see Alt Ed and Spec Ed working together. It seems that these teachers see truly that ALL STUDENTS CAN LEARN and that they have Kids At The Heart of What They Do.
With teachers willing to work with and for students and Mrs. Raimondo’s facilitating this leadership, Hewe’s students are assured a quality education.
Proud of you all!