Observation and Adaptation Plan Homewood Middle School Placement 1

Student A is a bright, charming young girl whose hard work ethic and concentrated efforts make her a wonderful 8th grade student. After working with her in an 8th grade Algebra math class, it is evident the potential she carries. She is dedicated to learning and practices math problems involving new material continuously. She is concentrated on the processes of equations and loves to show her work. In recent class periods, the students have been learning about multi-variable equations and solving for different variables. Student A has a clear grasp of many of the concepts taught in class, such as cross multiplying. She is also highly capable of performing basic mathematic functions, including addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. In addition, Student A has shown evidence of performing the distributive property in one-variable and multi-variable equations accurately. This skill is critical for the math concepts she is learning now, and she is able to perform it well. While she is able to perform most grade-level math skills, there are still a few mathematical concepts that will require support in order for her to continue on the road to mastery of Algebra concepts. Once concept that needs attention is the ability to discern when to multiply or divide when moving a variable to the other side of the equals sign. Student A is having difficulty doing this, and struggles to complete the final steps of an equation because of this uncertainty. With continued verbal support from the teacher, she is still having difficulty grasping this concept of undoing an operation. Another area needing attention is this students ability to identify basic number sign properties. She would benefit from reinforcement in what number sign is appropriate to use when adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing positive and negative numbers. Because of these concepts and skills that are slightly underdeveloped,

Student A also takes a longer amount of time completing her math equations, more so than the peers in her class. There are several ways to provide Student A with the support and adaptations she needs to maintain growth in and out of the math classroom. One adaptation her classroom teacher could incorporate into class instruction is a mini video podcast created on a device using the app Show Me. This app allows teachers to play back pre-recorded lessons that include a voice recording and drawings done over multiple pages. This would be a great resource to provide Student A with because she would be able to watch step-by-step how a conceptualized equation is solved. Not only would this enhance her confidence in her ability to complete the one-variable and multi-variable math equations, but she would be able to watch this video at her own pace and receive personalized explicit instruction from this model. Another resource the teacher could give Student A for in and out of the classroom use would be a checklist to complete when solving equations. This checklist should include not only written explicit instructions, but should also include an example of a one-variable and multi-variable equation worked out step-by-step. The student would be able to use this not only as a guide when working problems on her own, but it would help drill important concepts into her mind. In addition to these resources, the teacher should also provide Student A with simple flashcards that display the properties of positive and negative numbers. She would be encouraged to refer to these while working various problems. These would help her to better grasp concepts about positive and negative numbers, as well as provide additional examples for her to see. Student A could refer to these as she is working through any algebraic equations, both in and out of the classroom. All of these recommendations would be beneficial to the areas where Student A needs support, and would reinforce weak concepts through modeling, examples, and explicit instruction.