Case Study

Kids in the Hall

Elli Bamsey

Tom is struggling in math for a variety of reasons. As Malcolm's mentor, I think it

is important to establish some core competency goals, along with some curricular
competency goals. Getting to know Tom’s strengths, building a relationship, facilitating
positive social interactions and goal setting with Tom will set him up for a future where
he finds success in math.

Core-Competencies to develop
Taking ownership over my learning needs:
● Regular check-ins with EA and/or teacher
● Communicating concepts that Tom is struggling with
● Checking in with student services to receive extra support
● Encouraging Tom to advocate for himself when he is not understanding
Building Relationships and Having Positive Interactions at School:
● Encouraging Tom to join camera club
● Encouraging Tom to join choir
● Tier 1 support- Establish appropriate seating with positive peer(s)
Curricular-Competencies to develop
Develop fluency and flexibility with numbers with my class:
● provide daily reviews of concepts covered
● visuals and manipulatives
● regular practice in mental math strategies
● provide visuals of completed multistep problems
● differentiated instruction and materials at an appropriate level for Tom
● Provide small group instruction
● Allow use of calculator
● Provide step by step instructions
 ● adapt expectations if possible (chunking, fewer problems, collaborative work)
● EA support when available
Work to understand decimals and fractions:
● daily support in student services
● differentiated instruction and materials at an appropriate level for Tom
● small group instruction
● Allow use of calculator
● Provide step by step instructions
● Adapt expectations
● Have Tom’s attention before giving instructions and have him repeat instructions
back
Suggestions for developing Core-Competencies and Curricular-Competencies
● Build self-efficacy and growth mind-set skills by slowing down and discussing
what is happening in the brain when we struggle to learn something new.
● Connect Tom’s love of photography to math through inquiry-based numeracy
projects.
● Utilize Peter Liljedahl’s Building Thinking Classrooms ideologies by providing
examples of how to pull out important information in a problem, determining
what the problem is asking you to solve, and applying the appropriate math
concepts. Do this by providing whole class examples, where problems are
expressed verbally, then solved together on the whiteboard. Talking through the
struggle will model that struggling is an important and necessary part of the
learning. Then place students in random small groups to solve a problem.
Verbally express the problem as many times as needed while groups record the
information. While working on the problem, encourage students to move around
the class to see how other groups are navigating the problem.
● Each day the groups should be completely and truly random. This will facilitate
peer interactions with those who Tom (and all students) may not be drawn to
working with, giving him the opportunity to get to know his peers and the
 opportunity for his peers to get to know him. All students will benefit from
building classroom community this way.
References
Briggs, A., Farewell, P., Stewart, M. (2011). The MindUp Curriculum: Brain Focused
Strategies for Learning and Living.
https://www.readpbn.com/pdf/The-MindUP-Curriculum-Grades-6–8-Sample-
Pages.pdf.

Gonser, S. (2021, January 29). Are we teaching the math kids need? Edutopia. Retrieved
September 10, 2021, from
https://www.edutopia.org/article/are-we-teaching-math-kids-need.

Liljedahl, P. (2015). Numeracy Task Design: A Case of Changing Mathematics

Teaching Practice. ZDM: The International Journal on Mathematics Education, 47(4),
625-637.
Liljedahl, P. (2014). The affordances of using visually random groups in a
mathematics classroom. In Y. Li, E. Silver, & S. Li (eds.) Transforming Mathematics
Instruction: Multiple Approaches and Practices. New York, NY: Springer.

Ministry of Education. (2010). Special Education Special Education Checklists.

https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/education/administration/kindergarten-t

o-grade-12/independent-schools/se_cat_chklst.pdf