Hello and welcome to What in the World is Dyscalculia, the podcast that is all about the math related specific learning disorder.
Also called the Math Learning Disability. I know there's a ton of confusion about what do we call it and how do you say it and is one different from the other.
And those are topics for some of our different podcasts. If you go into the archives, some of our older episodes, definitely touch on that subject and there will be more to come.
There's no easy answer to that question because there are just too many different definitions people are using in different spheres.
But we can definitely talk about Dyscalculia, what it is, what it looks like and how do we help people who have it.
I'm Honora Wall. I am the person delivering this podcast to you. I am a 20 year educator and Dyscalculia expert in the sense that I did my dissertation study on Dyscalculia .
I've worked with students who have Dyscalculia for many, many years, both in the classroom and through individual tutoring. And this is what I read about, talk about, and network about all the time. I love talking about it.
If you'd like to know more about what I have found about Dyscalculia or to continue the conversation, you can reach me at Honora at educalclearning.com or Honora at the DTRI.org.
The DTRI is the Dyscalculia Training and Research Institute, a 501C3 dedicated to raising awareness and understanding of Dyscalculia so that we can transform the lived experience of people with the math learning disability.
And educalclearning.com is a for profit company that delivers that change and those new opportunities through training for teachers and for classroom instruction, materials, and assessments.
We also have some online math classes for K-12 students as well. Both sides have plenty of free information about Dyscalculia. I encourage you to go grab that free info, print it out, share it, and help us raise awareness of the math learning disorder.
And what I want to talk about today in this episode is some of the different kinds of assessments. So this one is going to be kind of directly talking again to my educator colleagues, but I think for parents and families and people with Dyscalculia, it's beneficial to know this as well.
We all know there are assessments in education. How do we know students are learning what we want them to and how do we know that the instruction is landing where we want it to and being assessed in a way that is appropriate for the student.
And that's where people with Dyscalculia have a really big problem because the system is not currently designed to properly assess knowledge for students who have a specific learning disorder.
It doesn't mean the knowledge does not exist. It means the assessment is not measuring appropriately for the way that student delivers information.
So you can have a student who has Dyscalculia they can still do the math, they can understand what's going on, they can get through classwork and homework, maybe with some difficulty depending on the instruction and the setting, but they're capable.
And they have the knowledge, but they don't know how to explain it or how to show it. And a lot of times they need a memory trigger before they get started. There's a feeling of looking at an assessment and saying, wow, did I ever even learn this?
I don't know what's going on. And not knowing what to do to get started. So the information is kind of hidden. Some of that occurs because the parietal lobe loses math information over time when a person has Dyscalculia.
So the best instruction is not going to do a thing to change the way the brain structure works. And that's why we need accommodations.
And another problem that happens a lot of times for students with Dyscalculia is they kind of blank when they look at something. They don't feel the confidence to know that they're applying the right vocabulary or formula or steps and procedures.
So either doing a super fast review before an assessment, that could be as simple as, okay, guys, this assessment is on multi step equations. First, you're going to look to see if there's this, then you're going to look to see if there's that.
Then we're going to this and this. We're going to watch our signs. Okay, put your stuff away. Take out a pencil in your calculator. Boom.
Now you've kind of triggered those memories and brought everything to the forefront. That can make a real difference. Letting students have their worked examples or notes can also make a huge difference.
But you can also make a difference by using different types of assessments. They don't all have to come from a computer. They don't all have to be lengthy paper and pencil.
There are so many ways we can assess knowledge. So teachers, we use lots of them already. Of course, you're using your formative and your summative; formative meaning we're assessing through quizzes while we're going on into a unit or a chapter.
The summative meaning we're wrapping this up and we're moving on to a new topic. But there's lots of other stuff too. They don't all make it into our grade books and we don't weigh them all the same.
That is a tragedy that I'll address in some different podcasts. But the way some people are weighing their tests or their midterms and their finals.
I mean, come on, we're math teachers. We should understand the math of overly weighing one assessment style at the detriment of any other assessment style.
However, for today, let's just talk about types of assessments. I want you to broaden your viewpoint of what is a valid, reliable assessment tool and put them in your grade book and give them equal weight.
Some of it can be performance based tasks, which can occur in the classroom during classwork or through homework.
A lot of times we're handing out homework on a worksheet asking for that paper to come back in or we're assigning computer programs that have some big pluses and minuses.
And one is that just because the topic on the computer program matches the topic you're working on doesn't mean the questions look like what you did in class.
That could be very confusing for students. But you can also do performance tasks in the classroom. Ask questions. Ask more open-ended questions and ask questions that aren't triggering.
And what I mean by that is instead of saying, Johnny, can you tell me what is 6 times 7? Come on, you know 6 times 7. Don't you have these memories? You're supposed to already know these things.
Didn't I give you flashcards last week? Come on, we're waiting. What's 6 times 7? Let's go. Okay, fine. Let's go to somebody else who's paying attention. Who can tell me 6 times 7?
Let's avoid those kind of conversations. If you can change your wording a little bit to say, Johnny, grab that multiplication list or your calculator. Find 6 times 7 on the list. Tell me what the answer is.
Well, now you're assessing that basic fact, which is great if the student knows it right away and says it fast. Super, you're getting an idea of their memory and recall.
If they think they know the answer, but they're checking the multiplication list or the calculator, great. Now you know that you want to boost a little bit of that self-confidence and the mastery feeling for knowing those basic facts.
And you have a student who values precision over guessing and they're checking their work. That's much more important.
If they're not able to find the answer using a calculator or their multiplication list, well, now you're assessing their ability to use their tools properly.
And that can point to a whole bunch of other things that they might need to work on as a scaffolding piece before they're ready to use their tools.
How quickly can they find the information? Can they verify the information? And then they can stay involved in the class and keep up with the rest of the work.
A lot of time students with dyscalculia can explain better than they can write it down.
They can also talk about what they think is happening in a problem faster than they can write down the steps and procedures and they might have some questions.
I think this one is area because it's painting the wall and I think that's multiplying.
Okay, they have the information. They don't have the confidence to say it quickly because they're not entirely sure and they don't want to be wrong.
So now you're finding out more knowledge about your student and their strengths and weaknesses.
Putting in those verbal assessments will really show that your students know more than you think they do based on their paper and pencil work.
Of course there are other assessments, quizzes and tests and answering prompts. You could have them talk about what's the difference between perimeter and area.
That assessment, that discussion applies more to our word problems and the way we use those formulas so you can get a lot of information out of that.
You can also use journals, portfolios, projects, posters, things like that to deepen the level of understanding and give students different opportunities to show understanding.
Get away from that paper and pencil all the time.
And I don't want your grade book to look like homework completion, quizzes, tests, that's it.
Because the classroom is about so much more than that. You know your students and especially those with dyscalculia, you know that they are capable.
You know they're smart. You know they're working hard. You know they're doing things in class and boom, that quiz or test is just not showing it.
Okay, they have more knowledge and they're just not being given the assessment that lets them shine and show it.
So expand the types of assessments you're using. Give a more equitable weight to the different types of assessments.
Make sure those assessments are all going in the grade book and being used to accurately reflect knowledge.
All of our math capabilities don't come from paper and pencil test or computer based programs.
So expand your assessment options, make sure they're all going in the grade book and give students more chances to show what they know or to show you where they have strengths and weaknesses.
All of that is valid information and it's going to transform student experience in your classrooms.
Especially for students with dyscalculia.
I'm Dr. Honora Wall and thank you for listening to this episode of What in the World is Dyscalculia and I will speak with you again soon.