At this point, I felt that Pam understood the main mathematical focus of the
lesson, and I wanted to get a sense of how she felt her other student, Robert,
might fare. Robert was diagnosed with a developmental delay also. However, his
computation and number sense were much weaker than Steven’s. Ordinarily, we
would make many accommodations to the activities to provide an entry point for
Robert, but this lesson did not require it. I wanted Robert to practice counting
groups of objects and this activity was perfect for him. I was more concerned
about the level of abstraction with the materials (cube = rooms, rows = floors, and
so on). This is where Pam became invaluable and I could rely on her expertise.
She knew what types of directions or activities were confusing for Robert and
could anticipate the types of support he might need.
MICHAEL: Do you think Robert will be able to follow all of the steps?
PAM: I’ll probably have to walk him through most of it, but he should see
the pattern with the numbers.
MICHAEL: The first few are predictable patterns like 2s or 5s, but they will
get trickier.
PAM: What should I do if he gets stuck?
MICHAEL: I don’t think he’ll get stuck because even if he loses the counting
pattern, he can still count the cubes in the building. Just take notes on how
he does and find me if he hits a snag.
PAM: Should the boys sit for your introduction?
Michael: I don’t know. What do you think? It would help for them to see
how the ideas are developed with the other students.
PAM: They might have a hard time paying attention.
MICHAEL: It may engage them; at least in the beginning when we are con-
structing the building. Why don’t we have them come to the floor for that
part and then play it by ear? If they check out, then you can introduce the
rest of the activity to them separately.Because of the ongoing communication Pam and I had established, we were
able to engage in brief conversations like this that allowed us to have strategies in
place for her students, with backup plans if our first course of action didn’t work.
Providing Support for Students
The next morning when it was time for math, I introduced the activity to the
group while Pam sat by her two students. They did engage in the introduction and
both helped build a floor of the building. Pam and I made the decision, in the mo-
ment, to keep them with the whole group because they were participating. Pam
could then support them as they worked on the assignment.
WORKINGCOLLABORATIVELY