"...all students regardless of their personal characteristics, backgrounds, or physical challenges must have opportunities to learn mathematics" (Tennison, 2007).
Equitability of this Unit:
Equity is often mistaken as equality in teaching. In Teaching Science to Every Child, equitable teaching is described as "a situation in which all children have access to the knowledge, resources, and experiences that will contribute to their genuine understanding of the culture of [a subject]." The authors go on to say that equitable teaching is not teaching every student in the same way, but rather, recognizing individual differences and adjusting teaching practices to accommodate the needs and strengths represented by those differences (Settlage and Southerland, 2012).
In this unit, student-centered instruction helps to engage students in their own learning without giving priority to any one child's cultural background, home language, or physical ability. Each student's perspective, previous experiences and prior knowledge is seen as valuable in the classroom for guiding instruction. Furthermore, a wide range of instructional strategies is used in this unit meet the needs of learners with differing learning styles. The students work in various group sizes, as well as individually. Additionally, every effort is made to avoid cultural, racial and gender bias in the questions posed. Equity is of major importance in this unit and teachers should recognized, while reformed-based teaching can be uncomfortable for the students and even the teacher at first, every effort should be made to provide a welcoming and positive learning environment that crosses cultural, ethnic, language, and social class barriers.
In this unit, student-centered instruction helps to engage students in their own learning without giving priority to any one child's cultural background, home language, or physical ability. Each student's perspective, previous experiences and prior knowledge is seen as valuable in the classroom for guiding instruction. Furthermore, a wide range of instructional strategies is used in this unit meet the needs of learners with differing learning styles. The students work in various group sizes, as well as individually. Additionally, every effort is made to avoid cultural, racial and gender bias in the questions posed. Equity is of major importance in this unit and teachers should recognized, while reformed-based teaching can be uncomfortable for the students and even the teacher at first, every effort should be made to provide a welcoming and positive learning environment that crosses cultural, ethnic, language, and social class barriers.
Accommodation Plans
English Language Learners:
English Language Learners (ELLs) are more common in some areas of the U.S. than in others, but, regardless, ELLs are present in every part of the country. For this reason, the first accommodation plan I am going to discuss is for ELLs. According to the authors of Making content comprehensible for English learners it is important to provide ample opportunities for English Language Learners to use varying learning strategies. Some of the strategies they go on to discuss include metacognitive strategies, cognitive strategies, and social/affective strategies. Allowing students to think about their learning processes, to use hands-on materials, and to take part in cooperative learning are all accommodations that can be made to foster ELLs understanding. Additionally, teacher demonstrations, using hand gestures and pre-reading instructions are all effective strategies that can be implemented for ELLs. It can also be helpful to pull the student aside and ask him/her about way that you can help him/her (Echevarria et al., 2008).
Struggling Readers:
Literacy is an area of education that is not stressed enough outside of the English and Language Arts classes as much as it should be. Having taken Reading in the Content Area at Florida State University, I have been exposed to the importance of literacy even in a class such as mathematics, where English and the Language Arts are not emphasized. The authors of Literacy in the Content Area explain that many students with reading disabilities may struggle with self-efficacy and need experiences to improve their competency and confidence. In this unit, the students are given the opportunity to contribute to their learning and to express their knowledge both verbally and non-verbally, to their peers and the teacher. Another accommodation that can be made for struggling readers is to have key vocabulary posted on the walls around the classroom. Mathematics is almost a language of its own, so sharing this with students and helping them understand the mathematical vocabulary can help them greatly in the classroom. Read-alouds and think-alouds are great ways to help students hear how to read mathematics content fluently and with diction and to know how to process the content (Kane, 2011).