The below are the strategies which I used this year. I will discuss the strengths and weaknesses of each and their effectiveness in my classroom:
Gamification:
Gamification worked really well for my students. They love engaging with games and competing with their friends. I can introduce rigorous games that students enjoy playing while still working on their skills in mathematics. It is a fun way to incorporate collaboration and the students' love of competition. The only drawback is that these games take a long time to design because I like to make sure that they are still content-rich while still being fun.
Collaborative Learning:
Collaborative learning is something that I use all the time. Most of my students are very sociable and talkative. I typically present students with a problem that they haven't seen before and ask them to use manipulatives to solve. Then I instruct them to work together and talk to each other about their ideas. When they talk to each other to solve problems, they are able to bounce different ideas off of each other, correct each other's mistakes, and use their different strengths and weaknesses to solve the problem. This strategy works really well in my small groups and makes learning meaningful to my students. The only drawback is the occasional rowdy conversations, which are typically easily redirected.
Life-Based Learning:
Life-based learning is very valuable to my students. When I can connect a topic to their lives, they are much more engaged in it. For example, to learn about area and perimeter, I play furniture store with my students. I give them some qualifications that the piece of furniture must meet (e.g. I need a table that has a perimeter of ___ inches.) and then we go around the school and try to locate the proper piece of furniture to meet my needs. Then we discuss how they can apply this learning to their lives, i.e. buying furniture or measuring for furniture. This encourages the students to think deeply about their content and why it may be meaningful to them.
Incorporating Interests:
To better understand my students, at the beginning of the year I typically give my students an interest survey which asks them about their likes and interests. I try my hardest to incorporate those interests into my mathematics curriculum. For example, I have a student who LOVES Minecraft and struggles with the concept and computation of multiplication. To help with this struggle, I designed an activity on the Nintendo Switch's Minecraft and plugged the Switch into the ClearTouch Board so that we could practice multiplication using the area model together. He loved this activity and it really helped him to grasp the concept in a way that met his needs.
There are many more minute strategies that I like to incorporate, so if you would like to learn more about my favorite teaching strategies, feel free to reach out to me. I'd be happy to answer any questions that you may have.
Visuals:
For my students in a specialized unit, visuals are a constant necessity. This year I utilized first-then binders for transitions, a visual turn-taker, visual schedules, and picture seating assignments.
First-Then Binders: The binders served both as a transition aide so that students knew what to expect and also a behavioral incentive program. When students were able to complete a task or transition in a way that meets expectations, they were able to earn a star. After their given number of stars, they were able to earn their preferred item/activity for a set amount of time using a visual timer.
Visual Schedule: Each student had their own visual schedule on the whiteboard in the back of the classroom. The students were asked to switch their schedules from 'to do' to 'done' before each transition so that they could set their expectations accordingly. Each service provider had a picture on the schedule so that students knew where they were going and who they were going with.
Visual Turn Taker: When working on whole-group projects, activities, or morning meeting, students sometimes struggle to follow expectations. This visual turn taker was kept at the top of our ClearTouch board. I would then rotate the students pictures on the turn taker after each student was finished with their turn so that they could visualize how long they needed to wait before taking their turn.
Visual Seating Assignments: This year I had two students who really struggled to respect others' personal space. To solve this problem I placed a Velcro dot on the back of each seating option in the classroom (even the flexible seating options). I then laminated pictures of each students' face. I explained to the students that they had to take their face to a Velcro dot for each activity. The students quickly learned that since there was only one dot on each seat, that they could pick whatever seat they wanted, but that there could only be one person in each seat. As one of my students loved to say, "one butt per seat!"