Delise Week 14

This week, I worked individually with a student, Kimmy, who struggles in math. We were working on change diagrams. In their math journal, there was a page of fish with different weights. The problems in their math journal would say: Fish F (11 lbs) ate Fish C (5 lbs), how much does Fish F weigh now? The students would fill out the change diagram; start box, an arrow with the change and the end box. Kimmy normally does not do her math journal. She does not participate, even when called on. Kimmy is extremely shy and it is hard to get an answer or explanation out of her. For this particular lesson, I pulled Kimmy aside and worked with her. She was able to fill out the change diagrams on her own with no help, and was able to tell me how she came to her answer. I think that she works better in a small group or one on one. Since Kimmy is in my RTI group, I have established a relationship with her. The last problem in her math journal was about seeing the difference in weight between the two fish. Other students in the class raised their hands and had questions about that problem, so I left Kimmy to go help other students. When I came back, Kimmy had finished the page and the difference problem was correct. I asked her how she got the answer and she showed me how she counted up. I was amazed, not because I didn't believe that Kimmy could do the math, but because of the difference in her attitude, from giving her attention and working with her individually. I sat with her while she did math boxes and she was actually okay to do them on her own. When I went over them as a class, Kimmy raised her hand to answer every problem. I found that just giving her praise for her methods of computing the math, her attitude and confidence was dramatically changed! I am excited to continue to bring out the mathematician in Kimmy!