You have probably felt the frustration of trying to teach a math skill to your class, only to realize that several of the students lacked the essential prerequisite skills to complete that task, and remediation was needed.
For example, when the class is supposed to learn:
Long division – but your students can’t subtract double digit numbers
Adding fractions – but your students can’t simplify fractions
Linear Equations – but your students can’t plot points on the coordinate plane
The distance formula – but your students can’t add and subtract integers
The list goes on…
Many math skills require performing a series of operations, in the correct order, to arrive at the answer.
Consider what skills are involved in Adding Mixed Numbers:
If the student can’t perform one of the 5 steps, they will not be able to solve the problem.
Yet many of your students will need help on a different skill.
Everyone Needs Help on Something Different
If a teacher is teaching a skill, like adding mixed numbers, it is safe to assume that different students will need help on different prerequisite skills.
A few students will need help on step 1 (in this case converting to improper fractions), while others will need to master step 2, etc. And there are some students who won’t need any remediation, they are ready to move on.
The Teacher’s Dilemma
This is the great ‘Teacher’s Dilemma.’ Does the teacher reteach the previous skills, and slow down her stronger students. Or does she press on, leaving her weaker students behind?
How to Reach Them All
There is a way to meet the needs of every student in the classroom at the same time. To give remediation and extended practice to each student, on the skill he needs remediation on, while accelerating those students who have mastered the skill and are ready to move on.
You can reach each student, where they are, and give them as much time and practice on that skill as they need by building independent learning stations.
So, if the class was learning Adding Mixed Numbers (like in the example above) – the teacher would build 5 independent learning stations.
- Station 1: Simplifying Fractions
- Station 2: Converting Between Improper Fractions and Mixed Numbers
- Station 3: Least Common Denominators
- Station 4: Adding Fractions
- Station 5: Adding Mixed Numbers
Each student would be assigned to one of the station based on what they need remediation on. Inside that station they would be given a reteach, and as much practice as they needed to master the skill.
Once the student demonstrated mastery on that skill, they would be progressed to the next stations, and then the next, until they had mastered all of them, and could do the grade level work.
Free Worksheet to help you organize your thoughts
on how to organize your learning stations
How long do you allow struggling students to stay on that set of building skills? How do you prevent bog-down knowing you have to keep move to other skills when they haven’t mastered the previous? How do you ensure that the less-motivated continue to work through? How often do you change your stations to a totally different concept?
Formative and summative assessments.