Hi Malcolm,

I was able to touch base with Nicole our resource teacher, and she is keen to meet with you and I
regarding specific math support for Tom while he’s in the resource room. Tuesday next week seems to
work for all of us right after the end of day bell, so let’s meet in the resource room and share our
thoughts. In the meantime, I was thinking more about Tom and his situation, and I have a few ideas I
wanted to bounce off you to better support Tom while he’s at school.

First, thank you for stopping and talking with Tom in the hallway in the first place. As his counsellor, I
can share with you that Tom struggles in building and maintaining relationships with his peers, let alone
anyone. The fact that he sat and chatted to you for a short period of time in the first place is impressive.
You’ve been working hard at maintaining this relationship with your touch base, and I want to
encourage you to keep doing this. I mentioned in our conversation earlier that there’s a reason for his
behaviour, we must keep working on earning Tom’s trust. I think that Tom appreciates your attention
and he may think, in his mind, that if he started showing up for the help you’re offering, you may stop
seeking him out. It makes him feel important. I think you’re creating a connection with him, and this in
the long run will be beneficial to keep supporting.

I think the lunch time math club that you have going on is great. What do you think about continuing to
encourage Tom to come, and perhaps, having one of your students who regularly joins in, extend an
invitation to Tom to join? Tom might take the invite more seriously from his peers than his teacher (no
offence). Maybe we could even somehow turn this into a peer tutoring lunch club type thing? Set out a
few games or problems that require collaboration and working together, but focus on the math areas
that Tom is struggling in? Do you think this is something we could make work without it being too
juvenile and being authentic?

Tom has a knack for technology. Is there anyway that you can provide him access during your math
classes to a tech ed program on the iPad or laptop for him to practice new skills that you’re introducing.
I know you spearheaded our school in attaining funding for our grade 11 and 12’s to have access to the
Mathletics program; can we extend a membership to Tom to practice his math on? What’s great about
this program is that the curriculum is k-12, so his screen will look like anyone else’s, but have content
that is appropriate for him.

Further, I also think that we need to meet Tom where he is right now in terms of his math abilities. I
think that Tom should be present for your lectures and lessons on new learnings, but these are not
going to mean much to him if he doesn’t have the background knowledge to go as deep as you are with
the rest of the class. By using a tech ed program in class, Tom can continue to stay in the room with his
peers but work on an adapted work program that you’ve created for him. I think keeping Tom within the
general math classroom at this point is powerful, and we want to give him as many opportunities to
interact with his cohort as possible. We can also talk to Nicole about perhaps having an EA present in
your room during Tom’s math block for extra support. Also, Nicole can further support this tech ed
program by working on it in her resource block if she thinks it would help.
Tom is also very passionate about art and photography. I’m wondering, how can we further adapt his
math program to play on these strengths? Do you have any ideas? Is there anyway that Tom could show
his learning in your class through one of these avenues?

You mentioned that he has a hard time turning in assignments and work. What do you think about
creating some sort of a reward system for this? For every assignment turned in on time he can earn time
towards something he’s passionate about? Maybe a special exclusion from school to attend the new
photography exhibit at the museum? What do you think? Also, I’m sure you’re already doing this, but it
sounds to me that Tom will benefit from extra time for his assignments. Can you modify his assignment
due dates to accommodate this?

Have you tried reaching out to his parents at all regarding his math performance and your link to his
poor attendance? I think this might be a good opportunity to extend an invitation for them to come in
and have an informal sit down and chat about what’s going on. Tom should be present for this too, as he
can share his ideas and opinions. What do you think? Would you be okay with taking this on? I can be
there for support if you’d like.

From here we may want to call a SBT meeting and collaborate with Nicole and our other team members,
and of course extend the invitation to Tom’s parents as well. Together we can come up with some
better supports that can be consistent through all his classes. We need to create a support plan that is
holistic so we that can meet Tom’s needs academically and socially; I believe they have a strong
correlation with the behaviour we have been seeing. We have such a great team here at Pearson, and
when we put our heads together, I think we can create a successful learning plan for Tom.

Ponder these ideas and shoot me an email back with any thoughts or suggestions you’ve got. Otherwise,
I’ll see you and Nicole on Tuesday after school.

You watching the game tonight? Go, Canucks Go! I sure do miss Luongo. #1 on the ice and in our hearts
<3

-Hal

Hal Rippler
Counsellor, Pearson Collegiate
1234 Learning Way, Vancouver BC V8X 4E3
604-789-1471

Sources:

Mathletics, http://ca.mathletics.com/?gclid=CjwKCAjwscDpBRBnEiwAnQ0HQC9NSLWHdFp-
gCVUECaqCEw7Oz6VL4dqyPj6b_oblzxZRZtQOITewxoCAToQAvD_BwE. Retrieved July 2019.

Dyscalculia. https://www.understood.org/en/learning-attention-issues/child-learning-disabilities/dyscalculia/understanding-
dyscalculia. Retrieved July 2019.

Classroom Accommodations for dyscalculia. https://www.understood.org/en/school-learning/partnering-with-childs-

school/instructional-strategies/at-a-glance-classroom-accommodations-for-dyscalculia. Retrieved July 2019.