1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:04,480 Hello and welcome to the What in the World is Dyscalculia podcast. 2 00:00:04,480 --> 00:00:11,360 I'm your host Dr. Honora Wall and today I'm recording the podcast from the Case 3 00:00:11,360 --> 00:00:17,840 Conference in Savannah, Georgia and this is a conference for special education 4 00:00:17,840 --> 00:00:23,200 administrators and directors. I'm very excited to be here and I've been doing a 5 00:00:23,200 --> 00:00:27,760 lot of traveling. You can probably hear that in my voice today but I really 6 00:00:27,760 --> 00:00:33,040 wanted to get some thoughts out fresh from a session I just came from and I 7 00:00:33,040 --> 00:00:39,100 talk about these conferences quite a bit in the podcast and the blog at the 8 00:00:39,100 --> 00:00:43,440 website and I really love going to conferences because they make you think 9 00:00:43,440 --> 00:00:47,720 about things in a new way, you get a lot of great information and of course the 10 00:00:47,720 --> 00:00:52,080 networking is fantastic. If you're interested in seeing what's on the blog 11 00:00:52,080 --> 00:00:59,880 then I'm going to send you to the educalclearning.com website that 12 00:00:59,880 --> 00:01:05,200 is educalclearning.com and that is the sponsor of the podcast What in the 13 00:01:05,200 --> 00:01:10,880 World is Dyscalculia and we keep a lot of information on there that can 14 00:01:10,880 --> 00:01:16,240 help you if you or your child or your students have Dyscalculia the math 15 00:01:16,240 --> 00:01:22,320 learning disability. Of course you can also check out the DTRI.org that's 16 00:01:22,320 --> 00:01:32,600 www.the DTRI.org. Lots of great free information there as well but the 17 00:01:32,600 --> 00:01:37,640 session I was in today getting back to my topic it was all about setting really 18 00:01:37,640 --> 00:01:45,120 great IEP and 504 goals so this is important if you are the school staff 19 00:01:45,120 --> 00:01:49,520 who's writing some of these might be your role as the teacher to help out with 20 00:01:49,520 --> 00:01:53,240 this or you might be reading them and you want to know what these things mean 21 00:01:53,240 --> 00:01:58,400 what you're supposed to do or if you are the school counselor, sped director or 22 00:01:58,400 --> 00:02:03,960 part of that child find team. This might also be important for parents so you 23 00:02:03,960 --> 00:02:10,360 know what to ask for in your IEP and 504 goals and how to tailor them to a 24 00:02:10,360 --> 00:02:14,960 student with Dyscalculia and what's really helpful. So the session I was 25 00:02:14,960 --> 00:02:18,600 in will probably have four or five podcasts out of this session it was 26 00:02:18,600 --> 00:02:23,720 great but one thing that was talked about was when we're writing those goals 27 00:02:23,720 --> 00:02:28,920 there's a big tendency to use the smart goals because those are well known but 28 00:02:28,920 --> 00:02:34,120 those really come from the world of business. They can be helpful but they're 29 00:02:34,120 --> 00:02:39,280 not really designed for education and that might be part of why our goals are 30 00:02:39,280 --> 00:02:45,880 closed but not exactly what we want. So this session recommended a different 31 00:02:45,880 --> 00:02:50,600 method and I want to pick some of this apart and bring it to you in small 32 00:02:50,600 --> 00:02:55,000 chunks and I'll be directing you back to the original source so you can look at 33 00:02:55,000 --> 00:03:00,280 the research for yourself and see those recommendations but one of them was 34 00:03:00,280 --> 00:03:06,640 using the idea of generalizability. There's a mouthful for you. When you're 35 00:03:06,640 --> 00:03:11,000 writing a goal for a student and especially when you're looking at a 36 00:03:11,000 --> 00:03:16,960 target behavior or action that goal that we want to reach does it extend 37 00:03:16,960 --> 00:03:22,840 outside of just their academic life or just their K-12 experience. Is it 38 00:03:22,840 --> 00:03:29,240 something that can be generalized to other areas of their life? How does that 39 00:03:29,240 --> 00:03:34,080 apply to Dyscalculia? Well one of the goals that I like to include when I'm 40 00:03:34,080 --> 00:03:40,000 helping people draft 504 or IEP goals or when I'm talking with the team I like 41 00:03:40,000 --> 00:03:46,280 to talk about the idea of addressing and including support tools. Now if you have 42 00:03:46,280 --> 00:03:52,320 a younger student that might be a 1-100 chart or the multiplication list. If you 43 00:03:52,320 --> 00:03:58,560 have older students it might be guided notes, reference sheet and then as we 44 00:03:58,560 --> 00:04:03,280 get older calculator whatever is appropriate for the grade level but I 45 00:04:03,280 --> 00:04:09,240 like to write in the goal that the student is going to demonstrate appropriate 46 00:04:09,240 --> 00:04:18,240 use of their tools 85% of the time. Why is that language important? It's 47 00:04:18,240 --> 00:04:22,240 important because first of all we know that when students do not use the right 48 00:04:22,240 --> 00:04:26,400 support tool then the numeracy gets in the way of them understanding and 49 00:04:26,400 --> 00:04:30,640 mastering the other math concepts we're trying to teach so we have to remove 50 00:04:30,640 --> 00:04:36,760 that barrier of basic facts memorization. We know that's not good for 51 00:04:36,760 --> 00:04:42,160 students with Dyscalculia and we need to address that using the tools so we 52 00:04:42,160 --> 00:04:46,400 want to have that included in there and we want to label and name specifically 53 00:04:46,400 --> 00:04:52,000 what tools are best for different grade levels. The second piece about that is we 54 00:04:52,000 --> 00:04:58,320 want to have something measurable we want to say is the student using the tool 55 00:04:58,320 --> 00:05:03,800 because offering and using are very different things and making sure a student 56 00:05:03,800 --> 00:05:07,440 is using them might mean you need to do a little training on how to use the tool 57 00:05:07,440 --> 00:05:12,640 properly and then use some scaffolding watch the student make sure they're 58 00:05:12,640 --> 00:05:17,200 using it appropriately and then make sure they're doing it independently. That's 59 00:05:17,200 --> 00:05:23,280 something we can track so we can measure are they doing it 85% of the time or 80 60 00:05:23,280 --> 00:05:28,080 or 90 whatever percentage you like to put with your goals but that's something 61 00:05:28,080 --> 00:05:33,200 we can really see it's very hard to measure an increase in math mathematical 62 00:05:33,200 --> 00:05:38,360 fluency or an increase in math understanding because that's something 63 00:05:38,360 --> 00:05:43,200 internal that's a subjective thought but whether or not we're using the tools 64 00:05:43,200 --> 00:05:47,240 we're supposed to when we're supposed to that is something we can track and now 65 00:05:47,240 --> 00:05:51,520 we can measure. We know that when students use their tools appropriately of 66 00:05:51,520 --> 00:05:56,000 course we have now supported the numeracy piece and we expect that they are 67 00:05:56,000 --> 00:06:00,920 going to do a better job of completing their work in a timely fashion completing 68 00:06:00,920 --> 00:06:07,160 it with precision showing mastery over a concept so when they're using the tool 69 00:06:07,160 --> 00:06:13,760 now our assessments are truly measuring that mathematical thinking rather than 70 00:06:13,760 --> 00:06:18,080 measuring their learning disability which impacts their ability to retain 71 00:06:18,080 --> 00:06:24,440 basic facts so that's another reason why it's really important. A third reason why 72 00:06:24,440 --> 00:06:28,920 I really like putting a goal this way goes back to this idea of generalizability. 73 00:06:28,920 --> 00:06:36,080 If we are training students to find their appropriate tool learn how to use 74 00:06:36,080 --> 00:06:43,600 them and use them consistently then we are giving that piece of that work that 75 00:06:43,600 --> 00:06:49,200 mastery component to the student that is now their job. They can find their 76 00:06:49,200 --> 00:06:54,040 fluency and their mastery and their precision by finding and using the right 77 00:06:54,040 --> 00:07:00,760 tool. The work is on them rather than on the teacher for that intervention piece 78 00:07:00,760 --> 00:07:05,080 because we have other things we should be intervening on using the support tool 79 00:07:05,080 --> 00:07:09,760 for numeracy is not where our time is best spent but also the idea of knowing 80 00:07:09,760 --> 00:07:14,520 that you can find tools and resources knowing you can be successful with the 81 00:07:14,520 --> 00:07:21,680 right support making sure you find the right support and then using that for 82 00:07:21,680 --> 00:07:27,000 your own benefit. Well that is something that's important in every area of our 83 00:07:27,000 --> 00:07:30,520 lives. It doesn't matter if it relates specifically to our math learning 84 00:07:30,520 --> 00:07:35,520 disability or not that's just a good idea to know that you can be successful 85 00:07:35,520 --> 00:07:40,200 independently. If any of you are taking training and growth mindset or you read 86 00:07:40,200 --> 00:07:46,240 Carol Dweck's book this speaks directly to that same idea giving students the 87 00:07:46,240 --> 00:07:51,560 awareness the knowledge the confidence that they can be successful and they 88 00:07:51,560 --> 00:07:56,240 need to find the right way to be successful and use that method repeatedly 89 00:07:56,240 --> 00:08:01,240 until they get the success that they're looking for. So isn't that amazing? Look at 90 00:08:01,240 --> 00:08:06,600 all of these benefits we can get just from one 504 or IEP goal that's written 91 00:08:06,600 --> 00:08:12,000 very clearly and specifically. Something that is measurable, something that's an 92 00:08:12,000 --> 00:08:16,920 action item we can see, something that puts the work onto the student that's 93 00:08:16,920 --> 00:08:20,040 really going to increase their self-confidence. It's a great tool for 94 00:08:20,040 --> 00:08:27,920 internal motivation and we can see whether or not that is having an impact 95 00:08:27,920 --> 00:08:33,680 on their mathematical achievement. I mean what a win all from one simple goal. So I 96 00:08:33,680 --> 00:08:40,200 know it can be tricky writing these IEP and 504 goals in a way that meets 97 00:08:40,200 --> 00:08:45,320 everyone's desires. Something that works great for the student, something that's 98 00:08:45,320 --> 00:08:49,160 beneficial for the family, something that's not overwhelming for the teacher, 99 00:08:49,160 --> 00:08:53,840 something that transfers from one school or school district or state to the other, 100 00:08:53,840 --> 00:09:00,840 something that can be applied in many different areas of our lives. But it's 101 00:09:00,840 --> 00:09:05,200 possible and we can do it with just a few small tweaks. So when you're writing 102 00:09:05,200 --> 00:09:10,200 goals, when you're reviewing the goals in your students plan, you want to look for 103 00:09:10,200 --> 00:09:14,640 things that okay I understand exactly what this goal says. I understand exactly 104 00:09:14,640 --> 00:09:20,040 what needs to happen to make this goal achievable. I understand exactly how to 105 00:09:20,040 --> 00:09:26,360 measure whether this tool and this goal is being used. If it's being reached, how 106 00:09:26,360 --> 00:09:30,200 close are we to reaching it? Did we surpass it? I can tell you that if you're 107 00:09:30,200 --> 00:09:34,840 using the right tool, then students with dyscalculia are going to surpass every 108 00:09:34,840 --> 00:09:38,680 single goal you can write down. It's really amazing and it's going to happen 109 00:09:38,680 --> 00:09:44,880 very quickly. So to wrap up, spend some time learning more about how to write 110 00:09:44,880 --> 00:09:52,320 great IEP and 504 goals and get away from just the idea of the smart outline. I 111 00:09:52,320 --> 00:09:55,800 know it's pushed a lot and people are really familiar with it and that's what 112 00:09:55,800 --> 00:10:00,160 you're hearing a lot in your trainings. But get a little deeper, be really 113 00:10:00,160 --> 00:10:06,920 specific and be unique in the sense that you're not using a template, you're 114 00:10:06,920 --> 00:10:11,240 really thinking about the child and what's going to benefit them because it 115 00:10:11,240 --> 00:10:16,000 relates specifically to their learning differences. If you can also make it 116 00:10:16,000 --> 00:10:20,160 something that benefits them in other areas of their lives, now you're knocking 117 00:10:20,160 --> 00:10:25,400 it out of the park. So this information came from a session that was led by 118 00:10:25,400 --> 00:10:32,480 David Bateman and Lisa Goran and they were really fantastic. David Bateman is 119 00:10:32,480 --> 00:10:37,480 with the American Institute for Research and Lisa Goran is with the University 120 00:10:37,480 --> 00:10:43,160 of Missouri and I will be getting some more information from them and the 121 00:10:43,160 --> 00:10:47,200 research that they used and cited in their session. I'll be putting that on 122 00:10:47,200 --> 00:10:52,600 to longer blog posts on educalclearning.com sharing a lot of those links on 123 00:10:52,600 --> 00:10:58,200 the DTRI.org so that you can go do your own research and find out what else they 124 00:10:58,200 --> 00:11:03,560 talked about and what else was included. And if you're not already signing up for 125 00:11:03,560 --> 00:11:08,240 conferences, get out there and go network and get some of this great 126 00:11:08,240 --> 00:11:13,520 information. It's really very beneficial. It's going to change what you do back at 127 00:11:13,520 --> 00:11:19,720 work and it's also a fun time except for all the travel is probably going to 128 00:11:19,720 --> 00:11:25,440 wreck your throat. So bring some throat coat T or your favorite cough drop. Okay 129 00:11:25,440 --> 00:11:31,080 that's all for today. This is Dr. Honora Wall and I thank you for listening to 130 00:11:31,080 --> 00:11:34,520 what in the world is Dyscalculia. I love to hear your thoughts and comments 131 00:11:34,520 --> 00:11:39,520 and ideas for future podcasts. We're using those as we look at the end of 132 00:11:39,520 --> 00:11:43,800 season three and what we might put in place for season four. Bringing some 133 00:11:43,800 --> 00:11:48,240 other guests in to talk about some different things and bring you more 134 00:11:48,240 --> 00:11:52,440 resources that you can use right away to help your students who have the math 135 00:11:52,440 --> 00:11:58,160 learning disability. If you need more information go to educalclearning.com 136 00:11:58,160 --> 00:12:06,760 or the DTRI.org. Email me Honora at educalclearning.com or Honora at the 137 00:12:06,760 --> 00:12:13,360 DTRI.org. Find me online, find me on Instagram, TikTok or YouTube, find our 138 00:12:13,360 --> 00:12:18,360 teachers Dyscalculia support group on Facebook. It's a public site and it's 139 00:12:18,360 --> 00:12:23,080 growing. It's really very exciting. We're sharing a lot of information and ideas 140 00:12:23,080 --> 00:12:28,200 and resources together on that site and look for me at a conference. I'd love to 141 00:12:28,200 --> 00:12:50,080 say hi in person. Thanks for listening.