Can you share how you became familiar with strategies for ELLs in Math Class?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThe town I taught in has a large support network for immigrants, so the ESOL classes are large. Many intermediate and advanced ESOL students dual enroll in an Adult Basic Education class and an ESOL class. As a former special education major, I have always studied ways all my students can reach the same high-level goals (Universal Design for Learning – UDL).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What are some of the most effective strategies you use to teach numeracy to adult English learners?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI have so many answers to this question! Instructional routines<\/a> allow students to focus on the content because how the activity works stays the same. Which One Doesn\u2019t Belong?<\/em> is one of my favorites because I can elicit the words students will need for the upcoming lesson from them before we begin.<\/p>\n\n\n\nMathematical Language Routines<\/a> give a framework for collecting students\u2019 language and displaying it as a reference, giving students a hook and asking them for their questions, comparing and contrasting, and so much more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.terc.edu\/adultnumeracycenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/28\/2024\/12\/89_Brooke-Interview_Img1.png\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nFigure 1: Stronger and Clearer Each Time<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nGiving students physical and virtual objects to move (manipulatives, but also words or images that need sorting, categorizing, or hanging on a number line) lowers the need for specific English words to participate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Inevitably I\u2019ll say an unplanned something that needs an image, so I have Google Images handy to display a collage of images that illustrate a word.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I encourage first or common languages to be spoken in class. When our goal is to understand a concept, it can be explored in any language. (A core principle of UDL: be tight to the goal, but flexible on the means.) Once the ideas are developed, they can be put into English.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How do you integrate numeracy instruction with language learning?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIntegrating numeracy instruction with language instruction is easier if you start with a context and take the math from there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Student-centered learning means numeracy and language happen together naturally. Learner-centered instruction includes choosing non-routine, open problems that present opportunities to explore and discover something. Students may be asking questions, doing research, and discussing strategies and ideas (rather than sharing answers). They make decisions and justify them with math. They estimate, predict, and analyze.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What are some common challenges adult English learners face in acquiring numeracy skills?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nLike many students, there is often a disconnect in realizing how their life knowledge applies to school math. Fractions are sometimes puzzling since there is much more of a focus on them in school and society in the US than there is in other countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As teachers, we sometimes assume some contexts are common to everyone that are not. One example of this is time\u2014I have had students whose days were marked by before and between prayer bells that rang in the village, not time on a clock. Over time, I learned to make fewer assumptions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How do you help students overcome math anxiety or negative attitudes towards learning numeracy?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI\u2019m <\/strong>open about my numeracy struggles and journey with my students. It helps students to hear that math isn\u2019t magic and tricks and that you can struggle and still learn.<\/p>\n\n\n\nI select problems with multiple correct answers (often involving decision-making like Would You Rather?). I\u2019m genuinely interested in their thinking, and our focus is on strategies and curiosity rather than answers. I never expected timed solutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Can you share a success story of a student who significantly improved their numeracy skills through your teaching methods?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nFatima* always comes to mind when I think of students who thrived in my Adult Basic Education class. Fatima was a mom of 5 (now 6), a refugee from a country where minimal formal schooling is given to girls. Her appraisal scores in both reading and math showed results with only a few correct answers. Her speaking and listening skills are far higher than her reading, and she is an expert learner who is very comfortable sharing rough draft thinking and thinking deeply. The whole class thrived with her there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The students and I had decided on the unit, How Grand Is Your Total?<\/a><\/em> to address many of their requests for learning this semester. Several students could not attend the first 15 to 30 minutes of class each day because of their children\u2019s schedules, and absences were fairly common. Each night before class, I posted our initial problem to Google Classroom so all students would have access to the materials no matter when they could attend classes. Several of the students, including Fatima, used that as an opportunity to try the problem before class so they would have enough think time.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWe completed division, and I hadn\u2019t introduced fractions yet. I remembered that several students had requested fractions as a topic for the semester, and most were unfamiliar with them. As usual, I posted the problem<\/a> for the next day, but this time, expecting silence until class since I thought it was a new topic:<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.terc.edu\/adultnumeracycenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/28\/2024\/12\/89_Brooke-Interview_Img2.png\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nIn the morning, I had a text from Fatima:<\/p>\n\n\n
\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.terc.edu\/adultnumeracycenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/28\/2024\/12\/89_Brooke-Interview_Img3.png\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nI wrote back to her saying, “Yes!, this is an answer to the problem,” and expressing confusion because I thought she told me she didn\u2019t know about fractions\u2014and here she was adding fractions before the lesson. She wrote back to me, just as confused and wondering why I didn\u2019t remember that I had taught them already. I had to wait for class for an in-person conversation so she could make me understand that I had taught her everything she needed to know in our division lessons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Wow. My formal education was getting in the way of my thinking. The standards say, \u201cBuild fractions from unit fractions by applying and extending previous understanding of operations on whole numbers.\u201d and I knew that enough to set up the lessons in the way that I did, but I didn\u2019t truly absorb it until Fatima taught me to see all the connections. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
*name changed. <\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n![\"Connie](\"https:\/\/www.terc.edu\/adultnumeracycenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/28\/2023\/02\/Connie-Rivera-AV巴士-2023-1024x1007.jpeg\")
<\/figure>\nConnie Rivera is a Professional Development Specialist and curriculum developer for AV巴士’s Adult Numeracy Center and the SABES Mathematics and Adult Numeracy <\/em>Curriculum & Instruction PD Team. <\/p>\n\n\n\nRead Connie’s bio here!<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n
I have so many answers to this question! Instructional routines<\/a> allow students to focus on the content because how the activity works stays the same. Which One Doesn\u2019t Belong?<\/em> is one of my favorites because I can elicit the words students will need for the upcoming lesson from them before we begin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mathematical Language Routines<\/a> give a framework for collecting students\u2019 language and displaying it as a reference, giving students a hook and asking them for their questions, comparing and contrasting, and so much more.<\/p>\n\n\n Figure 1: Stronger and Clearer Each Time<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Giving students physical and virtual objects to move (manipulatives, but also words or images that need sorting, categorizing, or hanging on a number line) lowers the need for specific English words to participate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Inevitably I\u2019ll say an unplanned something that needs an image, so I have Google Images handy to display a collage of images that illustrate a word.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I encourage first or common languages to be spoken in class. When our goal is to understand a concept, it can be explored in any language. (A core principle of UDL: be tight to the goal, but flexible on the means.) Once the ideas are developed, they can be put into English.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Integrating numeracy instruction with language instruction is easier if you start with a context and take the math from there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Student-centered learning means numeracy and language happen together naturally. Learner-centered instruction includes choosing non-routine, open problems that present opportunities to explore and discover something. Students may be asking questions, doing research, and discussing strategies and ideas (rather than sharing answers). They make decisions and justify them with math. They estimate, predict, and analyze.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Like many students, there is often a disconnect in realizing how their life knowledge applies to school math. Fractions are sometimes puzzling since there is much more of a focus on them in school and society in the US than there is in other countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As teachers, we sometimes assume some contexts are common to everyone that are not. One example of this is time\u2014I have had students whose days were marked by before and between prayer bells that rang in the village, not time on a clock. Over time, I learned to make fewer assumptions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019m <\/strong>open about my numeracy struggles and journey with my students. It helps students to hear that math isn\u2019t magic and tricks and that you can struggle and still learn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I select problems with multiple correct answers (often involving decision-making like Would You Rather?). I\u2019m genuinely interested in their thinking, and our focus is on strategies and curiosity rather than answers. I never expected timed solutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Fatima* always comes to mind when I think of students who thrived in my Adult Basic Education class. Fatima was a mom of 5 (now 6), a refugee from a country where minimal formal schooling is given to girls. Her appraisal scores in both reading and math showed results with only a few correct answers. Her speaking and listening skills are far higher than her reading, and she is an expert learner who is very comfortable sharing rough draft thinking and thinking deeply. The whole class thrived with her there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The students and I had decided on the unit, How Grand Is Your Total?<\/a><\/em> to address many of their requests for learning this semester. Several students could not attend the first 15 to 30 minutes of class each day because of their children\u2019s schedules, and absences were fairly common. Each night before class, I posted our initial problem to Google Classroom so all students would have access to the materials no matter when they could attend classes. Several of the students, including Fatima, used that as an opportunity to try the problem before class so they would have enough think time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We completed division, and I hadn\u2019t introduced fractions yet. I remembered that several students had requested fractions as a topic for the semester, and most were unfamiliar with them. As usual, I posted the problem<\/a> for the next day, but this time, expecting silence until class since I thought it was a new topic:<\/p>\n\n\n In the morning, I had a text from Fatima:<\/p>\n\n\n I wrote back to her saying, “Yes!, this is an answer to the problem,” and expressing confusion because I thought she told me she didn\u2019t know about fractions\u2014and here she was adding fractions before the lesson. She wrote back to me, just as confused and wondering why I didn\u2019t remember that I had taught them already. I had to wait for class for an in-person conversation so she could make me understand that I had taught her everything she needed to know in our division lessons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Wow. My formal education was getting in the way of my thinking. The standards say, \u201cBuild fractions from unit fractions by applying and extending previous understanding of operations on whole numbers.\u201d and I knew that enough to set up the lessons in the way that I did, but I didn\u2019t truly absorb it until Fatima taught me to see all the connections. <\/p>\n\n\n\n *name changed. <\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n Connie Rivera is a Professional Development Specialist and curriculum developer for AV巴士’s Adult Numeracy Center and the SABES Mathematics and Adult Numeracy <\/em>Curriculum & Instruction PD Team. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Read Connie’s bio here!<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nHow do you integrate numeracy instruction with language learning?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
What are some common challenges adult English learners face in acquiring numeracy skills?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
How do you help students overcome math anxiety or negative attitudes towards learning numeracy?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Can you share a success story of a student who significantly improved their numeracy skills through your teaching methods?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n<\/figure>