Here I am starting my last week of blogging. I could try to come up with some really fancy way of saying this but it’s easier to sum it up with one simple word—valuable. I would never have found the information I’ve come to find nor developed such a sense of the field of technology for students with LD had I not been forced to thoroughly search and research the web for ideas, opinions and programs. I can’t promise I’ll keep up the blogging but I can say for certain that I will use what I’ve found. My professor suggested that we become “experts” in our field. Well I’m sure not an expert of the field but I know I am the expert on my school’s staff. That leads me back to my original word—valuable.
So I wanted to continue the focus on Math since I really only covered it in two postings last week. I came across a blog this evening that was written by a mom whose son struggled with math. The original posting can be found here http://adhdguide.blogspot.com/2007/03/touchmathhelp-for-children-with.html. The mother’s story led me to a site that features the concept of TouchMath found here http://www.touchmath.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=about.welcome&gPage=23. I’ve seen a couple of kids use this technique before to some success but it has never been one of the primary techniques used at my school. I thought I’d look into it a little more to see if perhaps it should be.
TouchMath is an extremely simple concept that uses zero electronic technology. This is probably the biggest plus because it means I can implement it instantly and not wait to purchase a program. It also got me thinking that I shouldn’t put all my eggs in the technology basket because sometimes things can be done the same or better without the fancy computer or electronic device. TouchMath is based on the concept that all numbers 1-9 have TouchPoints. If you’ve ever seen a student tapping the paper on the ends of the number, he or she was probably using this technique. I think counting fingers works just as well but kids get embarrassed sometimes when they have to count fingers so this would encourage them to use a tool that can be implemented discretely. It’s really as simple as that. I’m feeling silly for not teaching this to all my students already but it just goes to show that you miss out on simple things sometimes when you go with the same techniques and traditions that the other teachers have always followed. Here’s just one more simple technique that can be used to help students with math disabilities.
3 comments:
I have taught Touch Math to different children for years. It is not for all and it is just a strategy. I don't think it helps much with concept but as I've said before at some point a student needs a strategy to get passed the basics. I think the reason Touch Math works for some is that it is even more concrete than using your fingers because the marks are on the numbers and there is no confusion whether a finger is added or not. I have seen some really interesting use of fingers and I wonder where in the world they came up with the answer:=) I just suggested this method to a first grader i a teammates class because she just couldn't get using other manipulatives such as cubes and her fingers but the dots and circles made sense. She is a good reader and we are working on LD testing, so the Touch Math helped her confidence for the time being. Thanks for the info.
I have never heard of this method before and was surprised to see on the website that it has been around since 1975. It is a very interesting concept and makes a lot of sense. I'm going to pass this own to our Learning Center teachers. You can never have too many strategies in your toolbox to help struggling learners.
I'm going to look more into this to use with my 8 year old step-son. He is really struggling in math at the moment. His mom teaches elementary school too so I'll see if she is familiar with this method!
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