There is No Offseason

As an educator, one of my most frustrating things I hear is:

"You're so lucky!  You get your summers off!" 

Image taken from Snappy Pixels

Now, anyone that is an educator knows this could not be more false. Yes, there is about 10 weeks during the summer that I don't HAVE to go to work, but do I?  Of course I do!  It's a little like being a parent, you never just shut it off.  Even as I write this blog post to you, I am sitting at my daughter's softball tournament thinking about an incoming student I have that struggles with math.  I am thinking about what I can do to start the year out meeting this child where they are and helping them grow and be successful.  One thing I have learned about this student from his 4th grade teacher is that he struggles because writing things down is very difficult for him.  It takes him a long time.

You probably know by now that I love finding ways to incorporate technology into the classroom so naturally I am looking for some kind of assistive technology for this student.  I came across an app for the Ipad called ModMath.  Have any of you heard of it?

What is ModMath?

ModMath is an app that assists students with math skills.  Through the app students can type math problems onto a touchscreen instead of writing them out longhand. The app does not aid in solving the actual math problem, but provides a way for students to be able to show their work using correct math symbols.  You would be surprised how many math programs don't support correct math symbols like fraction signs, square roots, or ways to show work in long division problems. One of my favorite things about ModMath is that the graph paper makes it easy for students to correctly line up the numbers and symbols. The size of the squares on the graph paper is changeable so students with vision problems also find ModMath to be helpful.  Students can also adjust color setting for easy organization of math problems. When students are finished with their work they can chose to print or email their work to their teacher.

So far this is the best assistive technology for this particular student I have found for the biggest concern the 4th grade teacher shared with me. (She did inform me his ability to do the work is there, but having to physically write things down is a road block for him). I am excited about the possibility of using this, along with some modifications in the number of problems this student will do compared to others. I feel like I at least have a starting point and then we can go from there.

Feel free to share if you have other ideas I could try for this particular student.

Championship game for my daughter! Time to get back to my time off!

Tona

HE>I

References ModMath (n.d). Retrieved from https://www.modmath.com

Our Favorite "Oh No You Didn't!" Gifs and Pictures. (2013, November 09). Retrieved from http://snappypixels.com/funny/favorite-oh-didnt-gifs-pictures/