How has your teaching practice changed as a result of your participation in this project?

June 7, 2013

As a result of participation in this pilot project, I have more tools and strategies for differentiating instruction to meet my students needs. I began to use math stations regularly in my classroom. It was great to have the hands on materials provided in the Numeracy For All kit! I find this to be a great way to modify activities for a variety of learners and it gives me time to meet with specific students.

School A

 Since using the Equals program I have changed my teaching practice by changing the structure of the my math lessons. I have added more small lessons throughout the week instead of one large lesson.

My lessons have a better more meaningful flow with many connections as we are always reviewing previous work.

School B

This project has greatly impacted my ability to teach math to my students.

Last year was my first year teaching my program and it was also my first year of teaching. I did not have a curriculum to work from and really struggled in trying to present my students with a balanced academic and life skills program.

Using the Equals program has significantly impacted my classroom. It has presented me with a plan that I can alter to suit each individuals level and needs.
The resources have been amazing. My students love the manipulatives . Their level of engagement is very high and they love math class now. Even if they are not always achieving the desired outcome, they are sitting, engaged and participating in the lessons.

School C

 It was hard at the beginning of the year, coming into a new grade,
and having a student who was having major difficulties with the math program. This math program has allowed me to combine the math curriculum along with the numeracy for all to actively engage my students making math more fun and interesting!

Equals has also helped me in differentiating my instruction to meet

the needs of all my students using a variety of manipulatives and resources.

Equals has helped me in helping my students connect math to real

life experiences and understand how they can use this outside the classroom; hence connecting meaning to what they are learning.

School D

~ I found myself rethinking how to use manipulatives in the classroom more effectively ~ building on what I had already been doing with technology and improving on it by utilizing the ipad ~ incredible resources - the levelled based instruction is a great guide in building skills and differentiating instruction

School E

I have lots of new manipulatives that the students love! I always start with the concrete connections and move to the semi-concrete and abstract

I introduce new vocabulary one word at a time and review these new words. They are posted on my math word wall. I have a good resource to refer to when I need to break down concepts into simpler activities.

School F

I have realized that numeracy is much more than math and that it can be easily incorporated into so many activities and in doing so creates meaning for my students.
I have realized that numeracy skills can be introduced to all students of all ability levels and that there are many tools available to reach the needs of all students.

Equals has helped me develop a broader sense of numeracy, helped me learn where my students numeracy skills are at and helped me create more meaningful numeracy lessons for my students.
School G

It has given me a resource that I can use, not only primarily for math, but as a supplement to other curricular activities. Thus giving me more ideas on how to make math connections throughout the day in all content areas.

The Equals program gave me greater insight into the specific areas that were lacking in the students numeracy knowledge, thus enabling me to fill in the gaps during the year.
I had a variety of new manipulatives to use with the students. They really enjoyed using these tools in the classroom and were excited to demonstrate their learned skills in the review and follow-up portions of the lessons.

Personal math word walls

School H

Since introducing the Numeracy for All resources we have been able to more actively involve our students in the use of many of the manipulatives. Many of our integrated students found another way to communicate their math knowledge and skills. We were able to use some of the resources to enhance what we were already doing in our lessons.

School I

This project has had me question many of my assumptions of what individual students knew and did not know. Sometimes it is easy to forget that the students we work with have very fragmented skills. This program has helped me find and target those missing skills.

School J

We are using more manipulatives to teach the students.

We have a quick go to place to find activities and lessons for the students in our class that arent able to do the grade 5/6 curriculums. Has helped us to create activities at the students ability level and helped to increase engagement. It also helps us to provide a start point for students with special needs.

Spatial awareness in front, behind, on top, etc

School K

I use more hands on materials ( in the program) to get at a concept versus worksheets and skill and drill. I use the materials and games I already own at more appropriate times ( more purposeful teaching). Clear units with concrete math activities to prove we are learning numeracy too. I have materials to share with others as suggestions for teaching struggling students. Students are doing similar activities to their typically developing peers and I am teaching math terms and vocabulary. School L

Assessment Materials
Although I found the assessment portion of Equals very time consuming it can also be beneficial. I did find that you need to pay close attention to each of the individual subtests and how your student did. I found that if you followed the recommended placement given by Equals that students may end up missing entire concepts. While testing I found that it was easiest to complete all students on one subtest. I had a trolley beside my testing area with all the materials required.

Organizing the supplies required before hand makes implementation of the assessment quick as all the materials are already gathered. All that is necessary is to get the materials listed on the front of the ziploc baggie.

To help organize the assessment materials I put the picture cards and all other cards needed into card and photo sleeves and organized each into the different concepts. During testing it is easy to flip from one page to the other and easy for storage. When not in use all the testing materials are easily stored within one box.

School M

 I believe that it really helped make it easier to reach students that were really struggling. Also, it has helped me better explore various options to demonstrate learning that are more interesting for students and hold their attention for longer periods of time. It has helped to differentiate more easily.

School N

Hands on experiences-varying the manipulatives I offer

Thoughtful delivery of language Reinforced that I was doing a good job teaching numeracy

Helped think about building layers-starting simple and building on top, not just simply introducing the whole concept

Rethink how I can use visuals to support student learning

Lots of work to plan and implement-questioned the time needed to start up for the amount of numeracy focus in a behavior classroom

School O

I have enjoyed piloting the Equals program because it has helped me deliver the information in a different format. It has tiered lessons, and lots of suggestions. I love the manipulatives, bright posters, and work mats. The program itself makes sure you cover all the phases of learning in math. The biggest lesson I learned is never assume they know a concept.

School P

~Thoughts on the Equals Math Program Used in a Regular Grade One Classroom~
The manipulatives were awesome!
The posters, cards, and web sites were great for all students The lessons are well suited to the student who is experiencing great difficulty with Math concepts

The lesson plans helped me break down Math concepts for easy, step by step instruction for these students Lessons were well designed good for use with an assistant and weaker students
School Q

Numeracy for All

What I learned

School R

Key understandings from my year with Equals

I was able to complete three full assessments which took between 3 and 5 and half hours to complete and 4 partial assessments Although the assessment was long, the information gathered gave me the best understanding of where the students were at I met with parents after the assessment, made up a report to communicate the results (which I posted on the wiki) and these results were used in my planning My students all have the diagnosis of autism and are considered in the severe range which had an impact on my ability to move beyond concrete lessons Use of technology is very beneficial to my students and I downloaded a number of the apps shared by my peers in our initial meetings and as posted in the sessions I incorporated many math books into my weekly routines I used all of the materials in my daily practice and my students developed greater independence and greater number sense This program gave me inspiration to look into the research of how individuals with autism understand and learn math

School R

Use of manipulatives is essential

School R

Equals reinforced the importance of Concrete learning for my students

How many slugs can we find in the playground? What does 5 look like when we write it? Can we make count 5 other things?

School R

Challenges and A-ha moments

I found it difficult to make the scheduled meetings due to my university commitments but appreciated the recorded sessions Doing the assessment to inform teaching was a lot of work but as I had more practice with the assessment, I was able to assess faster I wish I had someone I could meet and share with in person although I did do a presentation to all the teachers in the school and have made a commitment to assess a number of students in integrated setting that struggle with math I think the lesson books are fantastic and set a great framework for planning

School R

THANK YOU to the teachers who participated in the 2012 2013 Numeracy for All community of practice. The teachers were from the following school authorities:
Battle River Regional Division Calgary Board of Education Chinooks Edge School Division Edmonton Public Schools Elves Special Needs Society Fort McMurray Roman Catholic Separate School District Grande Prairie School District Greater St. Albert Roman Catholic Separate School District High Prairie School Division Medicine Hat Catholic Separate Regional Division Red Deer Catholic Separate Regional Division Red Deer Public School District Renfrew Educational Services