How to Teach and Work with Children with Dyscalculia using alternative learning methods?

Students with learning disabilities are a challenge for educators as these children need individual attention, alternative learning styles and strategies to achieve success. 4 to 6 percent of all students classified as having specific learning disabilities in schools. Dyscalculia is one of those learning disabilities among children.

Dyscalculia is also called math disability as it involves innate difficulty in learning or comprehending arithmetic. It includes difficulty in understanding numbers, learning how to manipulate numbers, learning maths facts, and a number of other related symptoms.

Having a learning disability does not mean being unable to learn. It does mean that the person will have to use adaptive methods to process information so that learning can be accomplished. Recent research studies tells us that we can teach these students and put into a position to compete. Using alternate learning methods, people with dyscalculia can achieve success.

Success for these students requires a focus on individual achievement, individual progress, and individual learning. Although math learning difficulties occur in children with low IQ dyscalculia occurs in people across the whole IQ range, and sufferers often, but not always, also have difficulties with time, measurement, and spatial reasoning.


Two major areas of weakness can contribute to math learning disabilities:

1. Visual-spatial difficulties, which result in a person having trouble processing what the eye sees 
2. Language processing difficulties, which result in a person having trouble processing and making sense of what the ear hear.

Helping a student identify his/her strengths and weaknesses is the first step to getting help.

How is teach and work with Dyscalculia childrens?
Parents, teachers and other educators can work together to establish strategies that will help the student learn math more effectively. Help outside the classroom lets a student and tutor focus specifically on the difficulties that student is having, taking pressure off moving to new topics too quickly. Repeated reinforcement and specific practice of straightforward ideas can make understanding easier.

Alternative learning methods:

• Allow use of fingers and scratch paper
• Practice estimating as a way to begin solving math problems.
• Use diagrams and draw math concepts
• Provide peer assistance
• Use of graph paper for students who have difficulty organizing ideas on paper.
• Use of colored pencils to differentiate problems
• Work with manipulative
• Draw pictures of word problems
• Use mnemonic devices to learn steps of a math concept
• Use rhythm and music to teach math facts and to set steps to a beat
• Schedule computer time for the student for drill and practice
• For language difficulties, explain ideas and problems clearly and encourage students to ask questions as they work.

Help students become aware of their strengths and weaknesses. Understanding how a person learns best is a big step in achieving academic success and confidence.

'Learning Disabilities Association' 

How to use 'twitter' for educational purposes?

If you are a 'twitter' user then you know that you can get in touch with other teachers/educators at this social networking place, but as you have another place which is dedicated to teachers, you need to start participation at 'twitter 4 teachers'

twitter 4 teachers was created to easily help educators find other educators on Twitter that have the same interests as them.

How to start?

- You need to sign up for a 'twitter' account.

If you don't know what is twitter? then read it: 'Twitter is a free social messaging utility for staying connected in real-time and it is called micro blogging process.

- Use the twitter account name with registering for 'twitter 4 teachers'

- Check out the list of educators and add your Twitter name to the appropriate list.

PBwiki is Free and Great for Classrooms. You can create a free classroom wiki for your school.
Just check the list which you can search for links to other teachers or submit your link there. The list shows:

Art Teachers, Bible/Religion Teachers, Business Teachers, College and University, Computer Science Teachers, Counselors (Guidance), Drama Teachers, e-Learning Teachers, Educational Organizations or Companies, Elementary Teachers, eMINTS People, English and Communication Arts Teachers, English as a Second Language Teachers, Family and Consumer Sciences Teachers,

Food and Culinary Arts Teachers, Foreign Language Teachers, Geography Teachers, Health and Well being Teachers, Independent Studies Teachers, Interactive Whiteboard People, Journalism, Librarians, and lot of more fields related to education.

You can watch this PowerPoint presentation on topic 'twitter for educational purposes - A tutorial'

My account at 'twitter'

Related posts:

* Stay in touch with net community via 'twitter'

* Get the twitter apps. to tweet more effectively

"Gayle's Preschool Rainbow" - For themes based activities

"Gayle's Preschool Rainbow" is one of the sites where teachers, students and parents can learn a lot. I have searched the site and found a lot of ideas, tips and themes, to keep children busy while learning. Drawing and art teachers can get ideas for their craft projects, and even these topic based ideas can offer us many bulletin board ideas.

Pre school rainbow offers Preschool education activities and early childhood education lesson plans that give preschool children choices. Ideas for pre-k and kindergarten teachers that enrich classroom curriculum are arranged by theme. Plus easy at home fun learning games.

Author of the site says: "Preschool Rainbow is my attempt to celebrate the dedicated teachers that I have worked with and to share a few ideas that I have collected during the past 30 years as an early childhood educator. Because parents often ask teachers to suggest fun things that they can do at home with their young children, I've included lots of easy to do ideas for them in Home Activities."

There are informative early childhood education sites for teachers to visit in the links page. Look closely and you'll also discover a free, just for teachers offer. There's a section for parents in the links page too.

He says:

Years ago early childhood educators were considered babysitters, not any longer. With the recent scientific findings in brain development the value of early childhood education is becoming increasingly apparent.

From the list of themes, you can estimate, how many kind of thems based activities are offered at the site. Now only teachers but parents can get ideas and tips from this section:

Alphabet Theme,
Animal Activities,
Back to School Theme,
Book Themes,
Counting and Number Theme,
Dinosaur Theme,
Easter Theme,
Fall Theme,
Spring Theme,
Summer Theme, Winter Theme,
The Five Senses,
Holiday Craft Activities,
Home Activities,
Indoor Activities,
Toddler Theme ,
Preschool Rhyme

- Brain Growth

Sites points out to other resources: links to other sites for teachers and parents

* Lesson plan ideas for teachers from Scholastic

Parent Involvement in Education Plays An Important Role To Student Success

Being an educator and a parent I believe that parent's involvement in education, plays an important role in child development or success.

A recent review of the research literature by Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory found that,

"clearly, parent involvement is effective in fostering achievement and affective gains at all levels, and schools are encouraged to engage and maintain this involvement throughout the elementary, middle school and secondary years".

Parents need to be involved throughout the school year reading to their children, helping with assignments, participating in parent events at the school and establishing a working relationship with teachers."

Child Development Institute was founded by Robert Myers, Ph.D. Dr. Myers is a Clinical Child Psychologist with 25 years of experience working with children, adolescents, families and parents.

You can get information on child development, parenting, family life, teenagers, learning, health & safety, child psychology and mental health including ADHD.

What you can get at the site?

* Parents resouces

* Child Development : Information on child development including prenatal, physical, intellectual, language and social development.

* Parenting Parenting information on child development, discipline, family life, teenagers, learning, health & safety and child psychology plus news for parents.

* Psychology page provides information, research & practical guides for parents on various mental disorders found in children and adolescents. Also provides information on promoting health psychosocial development in kids and teens.

* Improving Your Child's Learning Ability: Information related to assisting parents in helping their children and teenagers to improve their learning and study skills. Techniques on how to develop motivation, attention, comprehension, organization and creativity are provided.

* Child & Teen Health and Safety Issues:
Providing information on health & issues for children and adolescents from leading experts and professional organizations.

More links:
- East Renfrewshire council

-

"Teaching Expertise"- A learning site for teachers and parents

This is one of the sites which is a good source of learning for parents and teachers. I could find a lot of articles on various topics about learning as a teacher, which are equally beneficial as a parent.

Teaching Expertise is an information and learning website for teachers and other education professionals. It's a place to come for free education articles and bulletins, advice and guidance, knowledge sharing and ideas.


There's a huge searchable library plus our full catalogue of books and newsletters. A lot of material on Teaching Expertise is also useful for parents and researchers.

Mission: To provide teachers with the best place to learn from each other and develop professionally and personally.

Site was launched in November 2006.

* Section Teaching and learning covers everything from curriculum development to classroom conflict.

* Managing behaviour positively can go a long way to reducing the stress levels of staff and pupils alike. The articles in this section explore the challenges involved in providing the optimum climate for learning, both for encouraging positive behaviour and reducing negative behaviour.
- Behaviour

* Every Child Matters is highlighting achievement and enjoyment for all. In schools, teachers are overcoming barriers in the classroom, and learning more about meeting individual needs. The articles here will inform, update and stimulate your work with pupils with SEN
- Special Educational Needs
some sample articles are:
- Activities to develop gross motor skills
- Activities to develop social communication skills
- New resource for teaching synthetic phonics
- Gifted and talented children are not always easy to spot, as parents, teachers and educational psychologists have different criteria for making judgements. Once identified, these pupils need support to achieve their full potential. Teacher expectation, expertise on the part of educators and effective management of provision are all contributing factors. Find out more about gifted and talented provision, by browsing the articles in this section.
- Gifted & Talented

* School leadership and management teams need to be honest and boldy introspective, to examine their own practices and ask themselves if they are really doing all they can to create the conditions in which highly effective work can take place at all levels, at all times. These articles span the wide range of leadership skills and management functions which enable the school to achieve a 'high-performance culture'.
- Leadership and Management

* CPD (continuing professional development) plays a key role in enhancing teachers' success as educators. The transmission of a thirst for knowledge – so central to what teachers do in the classroom – cannot prevail without regular professional learning, to keep teaching as vibrant and effective as possible. This section contains a wide range of articles relating to CPD – for both teaching and non-teaching staff.
- CPD – Continuing Professional Development

* Safeguarding and child protection training is now required for all staff who work with children. The Every Child Matters national framework includes, "The duty to make arrangements to safeguard and promote the welfare of children and young people". In this section you will find articles to inform and update you on this vitally important issue.
- Child Protection
* These articles, taken from recent issues of our Optimus newsletters, will prove invaluable for anyone with a professional or personal interest in Early Years.
- Early Years
- Helping young children understand the importance of a healthy lifestyle
- The importance of healthy eating for young children
- Encouraging communication, curiosity and creativity

As a Parents:
** These articles for parents will provide you with a wide range of information about issues in your child's school. There are also many specific topic areas for you to explore, including behaviour, achievement, special educational needs and more.
- Parents

As a teacher:
** Find fresh inspiration and practical ideas for Classroom Teachers in our education articles. Read professional updates, broaden your knowledge and discover transferable good practice in our case studies.
- Classroom Teacher
- Motivating every learner

Effective use of Blogging in education

There is a wide usage of blogging in learning sector. I was really surprise to know that "blogging" is very effectively been used in education sector. Here are some links for teachers to create blogs for them or for their students. There are some article links which can guide you if you are in doubt to use "blogging" for educational purposes.

Education blogs are becoming a means for educators, students, and education administrators to interact more effectively than ever before. Technorati currently tracks 63.1 million blogs. Over 5,000 of them are about education.
There are over 30,000 blogs hosted at edublogs.org alone.
Link with 100 educational blogs list:
Top 100 Education Blogs

*** The largest education community on the internet, Edublogs was started on the 31st of July 2005 in Melbourne, Australia.. Now hosting over 100,000 blogs.
Edublogs.org

How?

* Sign up for a free education blog in seconds
* Use it to transform your teaching or talk to other teachers
* Powered by WordPress, the best blogging tool on the web
* Safe, secure, supported and free of any advertising
* Providing entirely free tools with no advertising, no fees and no limits on elements like bandwidth.They can even give you 100MB of upload space, completely free of charge.

* "Blogs in Education" is a page to provide you some resources if you want to start using blogs for yourself or your students. Options for instructors using blogs are:
- Content-related blog as professional practice
- Networking and personal knowledge sharing
- Instructional tips for students
- Course announcements and readings
- Annotated links
- Knowledge management
Stedents can use blogs in:
- Reflective or writing journals
- Knowledge management
- Assignment submission and review
- Dialogue for groupwork
- E-portfolios
- Share course-related resources
For resources and more details: Blogs in Education

*** Educational blogger network(eBN) is a community of teachers and education professionals and supporters who use weblogs for teaching and learning. The network assists members to advance weblog integration in education.
Mission:

"eBN is a collaborative of teachers and organizations using weblogs in education. Its purpose is to help its members, kindergarten through university, to access and use weblog technology for the teaching of writing and reading across the disciplines. The network provides a forum for educational professionals who use weblogs, an array of opportunities for teachers to continue their professional growth, and a framework for cooperation to deal with issues that affect the integration of weblog and other digital technologies into teaching and learning."

*** epals.com's motto is "Where Learner's Connect"
"ePals" is making SchoolBlog available at no cost to schools, districts, and learners globally.

What they say about themselves: "Our Global Community™ is the largest online community of K-12 learners, enabling more than 325,000 educators and 126,000 classrooms in over 200 countries and territories to safely connect, exchange ideas, and learn together. Our award winning SchoolBlog™ and SchoolMail™ products are widely used and trusted by schools around the world."

*** This is a pdf report which you can download by clicking right mouse button and then choosing "save as" for your hard disk drive: Blogging to learn

Read same report in html version: HTML version

*** E school News
A report published at "E school news:
Blogs are changing education (Winners of the first-ever 'Best of the Education Blog' Awards discuss blogging's impact on teaching and learning )

What is "eSchool News"?
"eSchool News" is a monthly print newspaper providing the news and information necessary to help K-20 decision-makers successfully use technology and the internet to transform North America's schools and colleges and achieve their educational goals.
The print newspaper is read by more than 300,000 school leaders, and a companion web site—eSchool News Online (http://www.eschoolnews.com ) is visited by more than 300,000 unique visitors each month, including 135,000 registered members.

Mission:
eSchool News — helping educators succeed by;

- Providing the latest news, resources and reports on the applications of technology to improve learning
- Providing resources and tools to evaluate the funding, purchasing and the evaluation of technology in the education systems.
- Assisting educators in forming collaborative alliances and providing a valuable resource bank for the exchange of information, ideas and best practices.

Few education blogs and articles:

* Brian's Education blog

* Dave's Educational Blog
About David: Dave is a Tech Coordinator at the University of Prince Edward Island. He is also the Education coordinator for the Worldbridges family of websites and cohost of edtechtalk.

* Adventure in educational blogging Susan Sedro is Technology Coordinator in Woodlands,Singapore.

*** Support Blogging has been set up to provide an opportunity for students, teachers, administrators, parents, and others to help promote an understanding of the benefits of educational blogging.
Explanation of Educational Blogging at "Support Blogging"

Link to the site:
Support Blogging

* An article about usage of internet blogs to enhance classroom communication and collaboration: Classroom blogs and Wikis

* "EDUCAUSE Review" is the association's award-winning magazine for the higher education IT community. Published bimonthly in print (21,000 distributed copies) and online, the magazine takes a broad look at current developments and trends in information technology, how they may affect the college/university as an institution, and what these mean for higher education and society. An article from "EDUCAUSE Review": Educational Blogging

* An article from the "emints": "The eMINTS" National Center is an independent business unit of the University of Missouri. eMINTS offers professional development programs created by educators for educators.
Teaching Tips: Using Online Journals and Blogs

* Edu Blog Insights is an educational blog from Anne Davis who works at Georgia State University in the Instructional Technology Center in the College of Education as an Information Systems Training Specialist.
He is an educator with over 20 years experience as an elementary classroom teacher, an instructional lead teacher, a reading specialist, and an instructional technology specialist.

His EduBlog is a place to reflect, discuss, and explore possibilities for the use of weblogs in education.
His article:
Rationale for educational blogging

* Another useful article from :Lorelle at Word press

* Cool tools for cool teaching-blogging

* Blogging Basics: Creating Student Journals on the Web

Links for teachers to start educational blogs

Today there is lot of scope for teachers to have their own blogs, and thus make better use of blogging platform. Teachers can stay connected to their students, their parents.

What you can do more with blogs, is explained byBlogger:

"With Blogs you can update parents about their children's progress and keep them posted on upcoming events; publish a class or school newsletter; share photos and student work; post course documents, projects and results; and easily assign collaborative group projects online with an easy way to track students’ progress.

Students can use Blogs to communicate ideas, photos and class notes, improve their writing skills, and even jump right into web publishing without having to learn HTML. Free blogs, accessible from any computer that’s connected to the Internet, can help students easily create hubs for collecting information for both long and short-term projects; store information as unpublished drafts; collect feedback on their work from classmates, teachers and parents; and take on collaborative projects where multiple students can work and comment.

Even school sports teams, dance clubs and other extracurricular school groups can use Blogger to communicate with parents about upcoming events; share group calendars; and offer event highlights and pictures. Blogs give students the opportunity to reflect, to vent and most of all to share their experiences."

1- My ecoach discusses about "Class room Blog and Wikis- How can classroom communication and collaboration be enhanced with the usage of internet blogs?"

Page link