This session will focus on the importance of and strategies for differentiating instruction in the classroom. An Educational Assistant often works with the students who are struggling more than others, but it is important for those students, just like students who are not struggling, to learn the essential mathematical ideas that underlie the curriculum.
Part of an Educational Assistant's job is helping these students to make connections between new material and ideas they already understand. Part of it is to focus on using concrete materials to "actualize" the ideas and make them less abstract, but using those materials in the most meaningful ways possible. Part of the job is to ask just the right probing questions so students can still figure out some of the math themselves. And part of the job is to ensure that the fundamental ideas of math come to the surface for these students.
In the morning, through a video, Dr. Small will address the use of concrete materials in meaningful ways and will start to address the notions of the fundamental ideas in math to bring out.
Later, Dr. Small will solidify those ideas and respond to questions and will also deal with the notion of connecting more and the issues of asking the right probing questions.
The content focus will be on grade 5-9 materials, but questions can be raised about any grade level.
All learning opportunities with the ERLC regional team will focus on the Alberta Education and district priority areas.
Target Audience
Educational Assistants