According to Dr. Kelly Cartwright, author of Executive Skills and Reading Comprehension, three core executive skills are cognitive flexibility, working memory, and inhibition. Cognitive Flexibility allows student to shift attention between components of a task (i.e. decoding and text meaning). Working Memory is the capacity to be able to work with and hold information in… Read More Executive Skills and Reading Comprehension
Problem Solving for All Students
Problem solving plays an important role in mathematics and should have a prominent role in the mathematics education of K-12 students (NCTM, 2010). The VDOE’s Math Standards of Learning focuses on five process goals; one of which is Mathematical Problem Solving. Mathematical Problem Solving Students will apply mathematical concepts and skills and the relationships among… Read More Problem Solving for All Students
Writing Strategies for Students Who Struggle
Research indicates that the Self-Regulation Strategy Development (SRSD) model is more effective at improving writing performance than are all other instructional approaches. The POW+TREE strategy, a SRSD writing strategy, can help students produce better persuasive essays. You can complete the IRIS Center module, Improving Writing Performance: A Strategy for Writing Persuasive Essays. It highlights the… Read More Writing Strategies for Students Who Struggle
Are your students Writing About Mathematics? Or, are they Engaged in Mathematical Writing?
Teachers have received limited guidance about writing during math instruction (Casa, Evans, Firmender, & Colonnese, 2017). Because of this, it is important to distinguish between writing about mathematics and mathematical writing. Writing about mathematics prioritizes the learning of literacy; but mathematical writing emphasizes mathematical reasoning (Casa, et al., 2017). This type of writing includes text,… Read More Are your students Writing About Mathematics? Or, are they Engaged in Mathematical Writing?
Building Co-Teaching Relationships Together
Co-teachers can create a collaborative atmosphere and set the stage for a positive relationship by following some suggestions featured in the Virginia Department of Education publication, Stepping Stones to Success II; Collaboration: Working Together for All Students. Suggestions in the section entitled, Culture of Collaboration: What it Looks Like and How We Do It include; remain… Read More Building Co-Teaching Relationships Together
2016 Mathematics Standards of Learning Resources
Resources Available for the NEW 2016 Mathematics Standards of Learning During the spring of 2017, the Virginia Department of Education held several Math SOL Institutes across the state to support the implementation of the new 2016 Math Standards of Learning. During these sessions, participants deepened their understanding of the 2016 Math SOL Standards by reviewing… Read More 2016 Mathematics Standards of Learning Resources
Using Number Talks to Build Fact Fluency
Number sense is the foundation for all higher-level mathematics (Feikes & Schwingendorf, 2008). But when students focus on just memorizing facts they often do so without number sense, which means they are very limited in what they can do and are prone to making errors (Boaler, 2015). The more we emphasize memorization to students the… Read More Using Number Talks to Build Fact Fluency