Category: classroom practice
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Concrete Representational Abstract (CRA) in mathematics
In response to a Twitter inquiry, I decided to write up some longstanding thoughts on the Concrete Representational Abstract (CRA) sequence that is popular particularly in designing instruction for learners with disabilities. First, what is CRA? Here, from a researcher who done several studies on CRA with students with disabilities…
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Universal Design for Learning (UDL)
Universal Design for Learning (CAST, 2011) was inspired by Universal Design in architecture. If you design for people with disabilities before you built the house, it can be more accessible, less expensive, and more beautiful. UDL applies that theory to learning. Beginning with the premise that variability is what all…
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Mindset
A great introduction to mindset from Jo Boaler. Mindset is incredibly important for kids with disabilities in mathematics. Too often, kids with disabilities are given the impression that they lack the ability to do complex mathematics. And, perversely, when kids are labeled LD, they are often told that they are…
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Complex Instruction
Complex Instruction (Cohen & Lotan, 1997) is a variation on cooperative learning that has been more successful because it directly addresses issues of status and access.
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Designing intervention on the landscape of learning
In 1999, I was working as a special educator in an inclusive elementary school. My ideas about mathematics instruction were old-fashioned. A few of my fifth-grade students had particular difficulties in multiplication, and it was hard to see what they could do—I was so focused on what they couldn’t do. …
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Designing intervention in operations
In Models of Intervention in Mathematics, edited by Cathy Fosnot and published by NCTM in 2010, Susan Jo Russell wrote a piece called “The habit of reasoning: Uncovering competence through focused instruction.” I love this piece because it gives a structure to how teachers can plan intervention with kids that…
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