velvetpage (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} velvetpage) wrote in ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif){kind=small} booju_newju,@ 2009-07-03 15:58:00 |
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Calculators in the classroom
Scenario: you have a child who struggles in math, enough so that by grade four, they're on an IEP for it. One of the accommodations the spec ed teacher wants to put in place is to make sure your child has full-time access to a calculator during math. However, the classroom teacher isn't convinced; she has been known to take the calculator away and insist that children do some activities with paper and pencil or from memory.
Where do you fall? Are calculators a valuable tool for kids to learn math? Are they a crutch? Is it a little from column A and a little from column B? What is the role of calculators in an elementary classroom? (I'm pretty sure we can all agree that calculators in high school are valuable, but if not, say so!)
This topic is coming up in the course I'm taking this summer, which is about the teaching of math at the elementary level. The consensus in the research is that calculators are a valuable tool in problem-solving situations, but should not be used for single-digit computation. Since math is supposed to focus on problem-solving as a route to understanding, computation is a step in the process rather than the goal. I want my students and my kids to be able to do single-digit and some double-digit addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division without resorting to a calculator; but I'd much rather have them spend class time on advanced problem-solving rather than multiplying two four-digit numbers with paper and pencil.
In the IEP situation, I'd encourage my child to develop their number sense to the point where they're only using calculators for calculations with answers greater than 100 (before grade four, I'd say 50.) I'd expect them to practise estimation and mental computation and continue to develop their understanding with their peers. It is not good enough to use the IEP as a way to keep them permanently behind; the IEP is there so that they can catch up or find ways to learn the same things as their peers, while circumventing their learning differences.
Scenario: you have a child who struggles in math, enough so that by grade four, they're on an IEP for it. One of the accommodations the spec ed teacher wants to put in place is to make sure your child has full-time access to a calculator during math. However, the classroom teacher isn't convinced; she has been known to take the calculator away and insist that children do some activities with paper and pencil or from memory.
Where do you fall? Are calculators a valuable tool for kids to learn math? Are they a crutch? Is it a little from column A and a little from column B? What is the role of calculators in an elementary classroom? (I'm pretty sure we can all agree that calculators in high school are valuable, but if not, say so!)
This topic is coming up in the course I'm taking this summer, which is about the teaching of math at the elementary level. The consensus in the research is that calculators are a valuable tool in problem-solving situations, but should not be used for single-digit computation. Since math is supposed to focus on problem-solving as a route to understanding, computation is a step in the process rather than the goal. I want my students and my kids to be able to do single-digit and some double-digit addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division without resorting to a calculator; but I'd much rather have them spend class time on advanced problem-solving rather than multiplying two four-digit numbers with paper and pencil.
In the IEP situation, I'd encourage my child to develop their number sense to the point where they're only using calculators for calculations with answers greater than 100 (before grade four, I'd say 50.) I'd expect them to practise estimation and mental computation and continue to develop their understanding with their peers. It is not good enough to use the IEP as a way to keep them permanently behind; the IEP is there so that they can catch up or find ways to learn the same things as their peers, while circumventing their learning differences.
