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Hello and welcome to the What in the World is Dyscalculia podcast hosted by Dr. Honora

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Wall.

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That's me and sponsored by EducalcLearning, which is my business where I train educators

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in everything related to dyscalculia.

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I also talk a lot to parents and students who I work with individually and as a classroom

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teacher.

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So I really live dyscalculia every day and I'm recording this at the beginning of the

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school year.

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I'm getting lots of questions about what are some good accommodations?

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How do we approach the beginning of a new school year and a new math class?

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Specifically one of the biggest questions is what do we do about these times tables?

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Parents know right away that it's going to be a tough year.

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They've had a lot of crying in the past.

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Parents and students, they've had a lot of frustration.

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The students are not looking forward to school and the teachers get frustrated because they

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have certain expectations.

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One of them is that students are going to memorize their times tables.

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And the fact is, students with dyscalculia are not going to memorize their times tables.

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This is because dyscalculia comes from issues in the parietal lobe, which is the very front

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part of your brain, kind of like behind your forehead.

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It's a very large area.

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Lots of things happen in the parietal lobe.

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And one of the main things that happens is that this is where we store math related information.

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And for people who have dyscalculia, the parietal lobe acts almost like a colander rather than

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a cup.

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The math information goes in and if we had a cup that we poured water into, the water

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being our math information, the cup would hold it.

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And we could always go get that cup of water, know right where it is, and it would remain

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full.

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For people who have dyscalculia, it's more like a colander where there are holes.

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And we pour in that water, that math information, and it flows back out.

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This is not something that we're going to change through the most perfect instruction

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and through the most intense amount of practice.

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And it's not something that we have to go in and make different.

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It's just something we need to accommodate.

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And honestly, it's so easy to accommodate this issue and help people with dyscalculia

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succeed in their math class.

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And that's really what I want to talk about in today's podcast.

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Exactly how can we do it and why do we need to do it?

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So like I said, that parietal lobe gets math information and loses it over time.

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How long of a period of time is different for every single person who has dyscalculia?

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So some people forget math pretty quickly.

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Some people forget math over a few weeks, or when you get around to the midterm or the

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final, they've forgotten a lot of what they've already learned.

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In other episodes, I'll talk more about how to address that feeling of forgetfulness and

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how we can support those students.

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The other thing to know is that everyone who has dyscalculia is an individual person.

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They have different learning preferences.

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Some people have different working memory, capacity, processing speed, visual, spatial

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skills.

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It's very different.

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So you want to get to know yourself as a student and you want to deal with your students as

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individuals as much as possible.

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That means that some students with dyscalculia will do very well with the different songs

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or books or methods that are out there for learning time tables.

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Those can be very helpful, mostly because they interact with other regions of the brain.

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So if we're listening to songs, that's auditory.

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That information is stored in a different place.

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If we're reading books and they're very engaging and we like them, that is a different part

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of the brain that's active.

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And those memories can be stored in different places.

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If we're playing fun games or working together as a group in the class, now we're hitting

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on social, emotional, collaborative areas of the brain where we're activating different

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responses.

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Which part of the brain, being an amazing tool that we are only beginning to understand,

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works together.

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So it can be possible to store some math related information in other ways and that can make

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recall easier sometimes.

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That's why we like to do a lot of multimodal activities.

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So we're hitting all sorts of different parts of the brain and getting the information in

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as many places as possible.

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But still, those wonderful programs may or may not work for your individual student.

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And they may or may not last over time.

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So definitely try them out and use anything that's working.

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Whatever is a way of accessing math success for your student, keep going with that.

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In addition, especially when we're doing classwork, especially when we're doing homework, and most

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definitely when we're doing quizzes and tests, we need to give our students the support tools

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to verify those basic facts.

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This is where I lose a lot of math teachers in my training.

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Because math teachers, especially at the elementary school level, have a firm and solid belief

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that if you use a calculator, you're cheating.

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For students with dyscalculia, that is not true.

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It's like saying someone who wears glasses should not wear glasses during a test because

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it's letting them cheat.

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No, it's letting them see clearly.

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And that's exactly what a calculator or a times tables list or sheets with a multiplication

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pattern written out or a multiplication chart can be really helpful because they allow students

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to confirm their thoughts, confirm their facts, and work with precision.

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I'll talk in other podcasts about how important that is.

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We have to have mastery.

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We have to have success because that is how the brain knows which neurons to save and

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which ones to get rid of.

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But not getting off on too much of a brain tangent today, let's focus on those support

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tools.

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When we're looking at early elementary, second grade, sometimes even first grade when we're

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seeing a lot of struggles, we're not sure exactly what the problem is, and even reaching

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into third grade.

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Students with dyscalculia have a lot of trouble memorizing, adding and subtracting basic facts,

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and because they have a weaker approximate number system, which is our mental number

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line, it's harder for them to jump in at the number seven and then count on three more

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or jump in at 18 and subtract out six.

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These are difficult skills because their brain is not pulling up an automatic number line

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that they can move through.

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So let them use a one to one hundreds chart or let them use a number line.

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That way they can confirm, they can do the adding and subtracting, and they can get the

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right answer so you know that they're confirming their work and they're passing your class.

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Please note that if a student is still using a one to one hundreds chart while they're

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doing their adding and subtracting homework, they are doing the exact same work as a student

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who has memorized or who has a strong approximate number system.

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But with those students, we don't see what work is going on because it's happening in

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their brain automatically.

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It's like they have their very own math butler in their head who's getting that information

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for them.

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So our students with dyscalculia are doing more work because they have to do it all individually,

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brand new for every single problem.

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This becomes an issue when we start adding more homework problems at a time or when we

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want to focus on the rules for adding and subtracting decimals or adding and subtracting

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money and we need to move away from struggling over basic facts.

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If we want students to memorize the rules for lining up the decimal point, for borrowing

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all of the tiny details that go into those steps and procedures, letting them confirm

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their adding and subtracting answers through a one to one hundreds chart or a number line

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is the right way to go because now their brains can focus on the new concept without being

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held back by those basic facts.

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The same thing happens as we move further along third, fourth, fifth grade and now we're

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putting in multiplying and dividing and we're putting in fractions and we've got to learn

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the rules about when you can add or subtract, how do you multiply and divide.

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We have steps and procedures we need to count on and we need to get those solid.

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And you also want to remember that dyscalculia causes problems with remembering steps and

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procedures and keeping them in the right order.

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That's also cross listed with dysgraphia and if we're doing word problems now we can be

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cross listed with dyslexia so you can see that there's a whole lot going on for these

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students.

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Using them using a calculator or a list of the times tables, that's my preference because

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they can really see the pattern within multiplication and they can see all of the facts in context

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and that's really helpful for long term storage and retrieval of those facts.

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I like that better than a multiplication chart for most students because so many people with

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dyscalculia also have visual spatial skill issues.

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So looking at those really great charts where you put your finger on the six at the top

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and the five on the left and then you see where they meet, that's really hard for people

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whose visual spatial skills are lower than others.

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So if that works for your student, great, keep it up.

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If they're still getting some answers wrong and they're not quite sure how to use that

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chart, give them a list of the times tables and let them confirm their work that way.

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When we're getting into fifth, sixth, seventh, the amount of work, the types of formulas,

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the new vocabulary, all the steps and procedures, there's so much going on.

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At that point it really does make sense to let students use a calculator at all times.

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First of all, they're going to experience mastery and success.

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Really important in learning.

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Second of all, they're going to have more mental energy to focus on the steps and procedures

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and the problem solving and the new vocab and the difference between perimeter and area,

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et cetera, et cetera.

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And that's really what we're teaching them in that late elementary, early middle school

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period.

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Also we want them to have the calculator because it keeps them on task by getting more of the

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work done in a certain amount of time.

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So they're really staying at pace with the class and not being held back by their learning

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disorder.

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The funny part is once we get into ninth grade, anything above ninth grade, sometimes eighth

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grade, we start insisting that kids use a calculator and then we throw a super expensive

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high end calculator at them and we don't train them how to use it.

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That's a topic for a future podcast which we will definitely spend some time on.

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We need to train students how to use calculators.

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They're a tool and like any other tool, you need to be shown exactly what to do with it.

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However, in that late elementary and middle school time period, I definitely recommend

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you get a basic four operation calculator and you let students use that because it's

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going to help them have the time and space to practice the other things we need them

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to know and give them the mastery of having the right answer.

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These issues of losing math information over time, forgetting basic facts no matter how

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many times you've drilled them and being held back from understanding more advanced concepts,

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these are going to continue for people with this calculator throughout their lifespan.

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It's not a big deal.

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It's the same exact process for me wearing my reading glasses.

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If I want to read, I had better make sure I have my glasses with me.

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This is not a big deal.

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I just wear the glasses.

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I happen to love reading.

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Very good at it if I say so myself.

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Uncomprehension is not an issue and I love talking about literacy.

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But I know that if I want to truly see the words on the page, I had better have my reading

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glasses on and that's always going to be true and it doesn't take away from who I am as

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a reader.

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We need to make a shift in the way we identify math students.

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Memorizing is a parlor trick.

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Let it go.

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Let students who are struggling use the tools they need so that they can confirm their work

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and get further along in their math classes.

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There is no reason to hold back a student from upper level or advanced math classes simply

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because they are stuck on those basic math facts.

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It's like making students take off their glasses when they enter the room and then asking them

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why they're not reading fluently.

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It's a barrier we're putting into place and it does not need to exist.

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So if you are listening and you're a parent, a teacher, if you're a guidance counselor,

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if you're at all involved in the IEP process, please bring up calculator or another support

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tool like a time-stables list as an accommodation that should be used at all times.

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It will make a huge difference not only in your students' progress but also in their

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self-esteem and in the way they define themselves as being a mathematical person.

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Lots of benefits, no real downside.

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Here's why there's no real downside.

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First of all, students with dyscalculia are not going to memorize and retain those basic

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facts.

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So it's not like you're giving them something extra that they should be picking up on their

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own because that's not how their brains work.

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Second of all, the students who do not have a specific learning disorder and yet are struggling

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from low numeracy are going to have another method of confirming their right answers and

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they're going to move away from using those support tools because their memorization is

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going to get better on its own as they're confirming right and wrong answers.

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If you're looking for more information about how that works in the brain and how the brain

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decides what information to store in long-term memory and which neurons and connections

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to get rid of because it's incorrect information, feel free to email me, honora at educalclearning.com.

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Or visit my website, educalclearning.com.

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You can reach me through there.

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And whenever I can, I try to update that with new information.

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This year my focus is to get some really great classroom tools for teachers and parents to

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have handy.

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If there's something specific that you need, let me know.

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Email me, contact me through the website and I will help you get some resources together

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and the research behind everything I'm saying in these podcasts.

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Everything that I talk about has been documented through research in some way, shape, or form.

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And also, these are the tricks and tips that I use with my students in the classroom and

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as a private tutor.

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So I know they work from personal experience for many years and I know they work because

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they're backed by scientific research.

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And that is really important.

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We want to make sure that it's not only something we think can work, but it's something that

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we study and we know why it works.

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Final thought.

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Give them a calculator or a times tables list or a 1-100 chart.

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Move on with the next phase of math instruction.

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It's a super important support for students with dyscalculia of any age or grade level.

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I'm Dr. Honora Wall and I thank you for listening and I hope that you tune in for our next episode

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of What in the World is Dyscalculia.