The special
needs student I work with at school has a very hard time with math. His skills let
him handle simple additions (3+4 is a hard one for him). We have practiced a lot
using Precision Teaching protocols to build his fluency. Like in TAGteach we started
from a point of success (additions under the 6 as result) and we build his fluency
(fluency = correct and fast responses) from there. Now he can see/say these math facts at 50 per minute.
They are
much more difficult math facts than those we practiced in school. I praised him
for the great job, and I asked him to show me how good he was. As soon as he started,
I noticed that he was struggling a lot remembering which numbers he had to sum (you
know the drill: first the units then the tens). He was randomly adding units with
tens and the viceversa.
To help him (and keep him engaged in the game) I had the idea to mark the units with a blue dot and the tens with a red one (you can see that in the last caterpillar on bottom left). A simple target to guide him.
I was amazed how fast he got the idea and started to run math facts like these ones that I prepared writing the digits in black and all the dots before he worked on them:
Never underestimate the power of a target! Targets are a great help for teachers in every setting and a good support for beginners in the early stages of their practice. We target a lot: I’m targeting right now the keys on my keyboard; we target a line writing with a pen and we target lanes when we drive in a highway. Targets are everywhere and they can be used always.
There is an added bonus that comes with targets: they do teachers’ job! As soon as I know that my student has the knowledge to use the dots I gave him he is free to practice alone, with no struggle. This a powerful, extremely reinforcing experience for everyone: “Hey I’m doing it by myself!”
TAG!
Luca Canever
