Special Needs 2 - Creating Products to Assess Mastery in the Online Environment

The project I am choosing to write about is called Gardens and Functions and it comes from an Algebra I class.  The objective of the project is to have the student show that he/she can compare and contrast functions.  In the project students are to show what the dimensions of a garden would be if she had 50 yards of chain link fencing to use to build it.  The student has to show all the possible dimensions that could be used to create a fence that would have this much fencing.  The students are then asked to pay attention to the area of the garden because area determines how many plants can be grown.  So, after looking at the perimeter, the student then has to do all of the possible area combinations of the garden.  Then the directions say later in the summer the gardener decides to use the fence for rabbits.  So the student has to decide how many square feet of space each rabbit needs and then determine the best way to utilize the length of fencing to make this happen. 

The idea of this project is really good, and it is quite encompassing.  But I think for some students it would be quite overwhelming.  I do like how it incorporates many facets of this unit of material and if a student does this correctly, then I do feel like they would certainly be showing complete understanding of the material.  But for students with anxiety or who struggle with organization this would be a very difficult project for them to complete, at least all at one time. 

One way that I would consider altering this project would be to chunk the assignment for certain learners that would benefit from it.  I might even eliminate certain parts of the project.  As I stated earlier, it is quite encompassing and I think many students would be overwhelmed by this project.  Another option, if I didn’t want to eliminate sections of the project, would be to allow students to complete one part of two parts of the project. 

Another option for choice would be for them to complete the project instead of the written test.  As we all know, a lot of students are not good test takers for many reason – a big one being test anxiety.  If they had the option to do a project in place of a test they could really excel and show that they have learned the material even though they might not be the best test-taker.  If the student chose to do the project instead of the test, he/she could use one of the many free online math graphing tools available to them.  This would allow them to learn about a very cool online program while also showcasing what they learned from the unit. 

Special Needs 2 - Specific Strategies for Online Differentiation and Personalization

Option 2

As a math teacher sometimes the process for learning material can be difficult to differentiate because discovery lessons don’t always work for every topic in math.  However, it can still be done just maybe not with every single topic or at least not have an many ways to differentiate every single topic.  The first method for learning the process I would use would be to have written content for the topics.  Steps for how to solve the problem would be given and the student could have access to these steps and return to them as often as needed.  If we were solving equations, then I would have each step written out and the overall goal of solving an equation.  For students who like being able to have a list and follow it, I feel like this would be a great option.

The second method I would use for learning the process would be to have instructional videos.  This would have two benefits:  the audio would help those who are auditory learners and the visual would help those who are visual learners and can remember how to do something once they have seen it done.  These would also be able to be accessed by the students at any time so they could reference them as often as they needed.  I do this quite often even in my face to face classroom (record the lesson I teach) so that kids can go back and watch how to do it if they forget.  It also comes in handy when students are absent from a face to face class. 

When it comes to the product of showing what has been learned and how well it has been learned I would give two options: traditional test or a project that goes hand in hand with the content.  For the traditional test students would showcase what they have learned through the unit by answering the given questions correctly.  Since I am a math teacher, part of answering them correctly would be to at least show how to set up the problem and then what their final answer is.  I know that a lot of students are very good at mental math so they may not need or want to show every step of their work but I often tell my students if I can at least see how they set up the problem then I will know if they made a careless mistake solving it or if they were completely off from the beginning. 

For the second option I would offer students the opportunity to complete a project that is directly correlated with the standards have been covering.  In many cases the state has created “spotlight tasks” that are great culminating tasks for units.  I would require the students to follow all of the steps of the project and then have a final “product” that might even be used on display in a classroom.  This would be a great option for students who do not like taking tests or who get anxiety from taking tests or simple are not good test-takers.  Also, this would give students the opportunity to share their creativity while also showing what they have been learning in the class. 

Special Needs 2 - Best Practices for Online Communication

I chose to write about option 2 where the student with the 504 plan is doing very well but not turning assignments in necessarily in order of the pacing guide.  One thing that could be going on with the student is that they are just following what is listed in the content and not necessarily following the calendar that the teacher sent out.  I have had students do that and they sometimes end up turning in work late or much earlier than the calendar says.  It could also be, since the student has a 504 for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder that she starts something and doesn’t finish a task at the same time.  Maybe she gets distracted before finishing something and then gets to working on something else and sort of gets out of order that way. 

The first method of communication I would choose to use is a phone call.  Phone calls often clear up so much confusion and answer many questions that the parent and/or student has about the course.  It is sometimes much easier to have conversations over the phone rather than trying to type out everything you want to say and put it into words that make sense.  I would call the student the first time I noticed assignments being submitting out of order to help avoid the same thing happening in the future.  I would expect the outcome of the phone call to be positive and have the student begin to follow the course schedule in the correct order. 

The second best practice of communication I would choose to implement would be to send a personalized email to the student.  It is possible that the student lost the schedule and doesn’t know where to find it in the course.  So I would send an email and remind her that she needs to follow the calendar so that she doesn’t get any late penalties.  I would also compliment her for turning such great work and working so hard in the course.  I would attach the schedule for her to have and remind her to contact me any time she has any questions.  I would expect the outcome of this method to be that she would begin following the schedule in the correct order.

The third best practice of communication I would choose would be assignment feedback.  In the feedback of an assignment that the student turned in early I would say something like “You did excellent on this assignment but please make sure you are following our course schedule.  If you need help finding it please don’t hesitate to send me an email or call me.”  If the assignment was late I would obviously apply the late penalty but would also address the fact that it was late and to remember to follow our course schedule.  I do think most student read the feedback so I would think this method of communication would also be effective.