Mathematics
As the classroom teacher, it is your responsibility to teach mathematics concepts to all of your students, including your braille-reading student. Teaching math to elementary braille-reading students can be a fun and exciting experience. In fact, many elementary math teachers report that the adaptations they make for their braille-reading student help all of the students in the class better understand abstract mathematical concepts. Remember, you are not alone in this process. Your student’s TVI will guide you in developing adaptation and teaching strategies so that your braille-reading student can access your math curriculum.
Considerations in Planning for Instruction in Mathematics
When planning for your elementary math lesson, keep in mind the following important point about the power of learning through vision. Your vision is like a digital camera, allowing you to quickly and seamlessly ‘chunk’ visual information into your memory. When you look at a cat, you understand, in a matter of seconds, the unique characteristics of the entire animal. You can instantly compare and contrast these characteristics with other animals that you have seen, such as a dog or a rabbit. Unlike a digital camera, the learning process of your braille-reading student is constructed in parts, kind of like a puzzle. Your braille-reading student must learn to sequentially put the pieces of this puzzle together to understand concepts, such as ‘catness’, in its entirety.
Math Strategies for Learning
There are many simple strategies that you can use to help your braille-reading student put the ‘pieces of the math puzzle’ together. The following list of learning strategies will help you in your teaching process. Some of these strategies can even be used with your entire class:
- Provide your student with manipulatives to manually explore elementary math concepts.
- Encourage plenty of dialogue about the concepts being learned. For example, your braille-reading student can be paired with his or her peer to discuss how to solved a problem.
- Relate math concepts to things that are already familiar to your braille-reading student.
- Provide opportunities for your braille-reading student to show you how to solve an early elementary math problem using their manipulatives. This strategy can also be used for test taking.
- Ensure all handouts and notes are transcribed and ready to hand out with the materials for the rest of the class. Consider how concept gaps can develop if students don’t have the necessary materials they need for their learning.
Math Tools for Learning
Your student’s TVI will help you outline some of the tools your student will need for them to help them access your math curriculum. The following is a list of math tools that may be used by your student.
- Manipulatives
- Cramer’s Abacus
- Tactile ruler or measuring tape
- Tactile or brailled number line
- Low Tech devices, such as a slate and stylus or Perkins Brailler
- High tech devices, such electronic braille notetakers
- Tactile graph paper, clocks
The Nemeth Code
The Nemeth Code is a tactile representation of the math and science materials. This code is different from the literary braille code. Your elementary braille-reading student may be learning how to read and write using the Nemeth Code. Don’t wory, it is not your job to teach this code. Your student will be instructed to use this code by his or her TVI.
Additional Resources
It is likely that you will continue to have questions about teaching mathematics to your braille-reading student. Remember, you are not alone. In fact, this area of learning is of great interest to many educators working with visually impaired students. Your student’s TVI will have many resources that will help you. However, there are many rich Internet resources that you can access yourself. As nervous as you are now, with a little bit of practice, you will be able to effectively teach mathematics to your elementary braille-reading student.