Let's take you back to the beginning... When I first decided that I wanted to start working with children, I took up a position as a one on one integration counsellor for a summer camp. I worked directly with one child per week, who had special needs. This job gave me the most experience of any job I have ever had. Period. The whole idea about integration, is exactly in the name. We integrate the campers in to the larger group activities by using their strengths, and being there to support their needs. I learned more from those children, then they would ever learn from me.
One of the important parts of the job though, was something called parallel play. This allowed the campers to play alongside their peers based on whatever their needs were. Parallel play didn't always mean that they were playing the exact same game, but they were still interacting with their peers, and participating in the group.
This job taught me (almost) everything I know about adapting activities. I believe that every single child can participate, in some capacity or another. It was up to me to figure out how to adapt the situation so that my child could participate. Parallel play, or parallel tasks, are so important to integration, inclusion, and overall development of children. Give them the choice and the option to do what they're comfortable with. Exceptionalities, no matter what they are, make people just that: exceptional. Provide for kids, adapt for kids, and integrate kids, so we can allow all of them to be exceptional.
This brings us to the important topic for this week... *drumroll please* ...parallel tasks in math!
Like I said, parallel tasks hit home for me because I believe that every single child is capable of greatness, whatever that greatness means to them. By creating parallel tasks, you allow the students the opportunity to work with their peers at whatever level they feel most comfortable at. They're still doing math. They're still working through a problem. But they're doing something they feel confident in because they chose it, and they can do it.
Differentiating, adapting, and providing appropriate tasks is the most important part of being a teacher. Yes, math gets a bad rep, but it doesn't have to be that way in your classroom. When you learn to differentiate in your classroom (see this article on differentiation in math) then students are given opportunities based on their comfort level and capabilities.
I said in my last post, that every single person is different. If every single child is different, why would we only use one question with one possible answer? It doesn't seem very sensible if you ask me. Allow your students to choose from a number of similar, open-problem tasks. This allows them options for the question, but also options for the solutions too. All of these aspects can be varied depending on the comfort level of the individual. Students are then working and challenging themselves at their own speed.
All in all, parallel math tasks will get all your students feelin' like...
Such a positive & empowering post, Lizzy! I have never heard of parallel play so thank you for sharing your experience. I love what you said about how parallel tasks are more inclusive and empowering for students. Inclusion is definitely something that we should be cognizant of as we plan rich and parallel tasks.
ReplyDeleteHi Lizzy, I love that you shared your personal experience working one on one children with special needs. I think many of us had the experience in math class where we felt alone and that it was done individually, or that in math class there were clear groups of who were the "math people" . I think you're 100% right in that parallel tasks and open questions encourage inclusivity in the classroom. With parallel tasks, all students feel like they can start somewhere and gives them control and choice.
ReplyDeleteHi Elizabeth,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your blog post! I agree with your comments on parallel tasks that they aim to include all students by offering options and choices based on the same idea. I never experienced parallel tasks in elementary school math, but I see its purpose in today's math classroom. It allows differentiation of instruction and the possibility of a multitude of answers. Parallel tasks allow students to develop their creative and problem-solving skills and to think outside of the box. This is very different from the standard textbook questions!
Hey!
ReplyDelete"I said in my last post, that every single person is different. If every single child is different, why would we only use one question with one possible answer?" I love this quote so much! It 100% speaks to the kind of teacher, not just math, we should all be striving to be. I feel the exact same way you do about using parallel tasks to give every student the opportunity to start somewhere and be a part of what is going on. Knowing the kind of student I was when I was in school, I know that I would have loved an option to get comfortable with a concept using the "easier" of the two questions. Sometimes a student just needs to be able to complete a question to gain enough confidence to push themselves to try the harder question. Our job as teachers should be to uplift and instill confidence and pride in our students and parallel tasks is a great way to do that.