Archive for the ‘Slide-A-Round Updates’ Category
I am planning to demonstrate my manipulatives at the 2014 Institute Designed for Educating All Students (IDEAS) Conference on St. Simons Island, Georgia on June 2-6 and at the 2014 MEGA in Mobile, Alabama on July 14-18. This will be my first time at the IDEAS conference, and I will be returning to the MEGA conference for the second consecutive year. I am excited to share my ideas with educators and help them meet the individual needs of their students- with and without IEPs- for the 2014-15 school year.
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I received confirmation from Dr. Marg Csapo, Editor of the International Association of Special Education Journal, that I will have an article published. My article will focus on new differentiation of instruction and fractions strategies. Because math is everywhere, regardless of the country and the ethnicity, religion, and language of its students, I am very appreciate of the opportunity to share my instructional strategies with educators and administrators in several different countries.
During the early stages of the development of my math manipulatives, my first and immediate goals were to help my students with the Common Core at Elm Street Elementary. In less than 2 1/2 years, my goals have expanded from helping students in Elm Street Elementary to parts of NW Georgia to many parts of the United States and Canada. With the upcoming article, I am expanding my goals to providing visual aids for students in many pats of the world. I will continue to pursue my goals as long as I continue to believe that there is at least one student in every classroom who would benefit from my manipulatives and teaching methods.
A great opportunity happened today! Reflections Magazine, which is the official magazine for the National Organization of Parents of Blind Children, is going to publish an article about my low vision and braille manipulatives in their 2014 summer issue. I was informed by Debbie Stein, Editor, that the article explaining the needs and benefits of my manipulatives will be posted in May. With Ms. Stein’s help sharing my ideas in Reflections Magazine with parents of children who are low vision and blind and my upcoming presentations around the United States, I am making progress toward helping ALL students.
I would like to to thank Kathryn Surbeck, Evaluation Center Director at the Illinois School for the Deaf, for scheduling a demonstration with her colleagues. As we all know, statewide testing is just around the corner. I hope that my visual aids will make learning the rigorous Common Core rounding standards more efficient and less stressful for ISD students.
February 14th is going to be a busy day for Slide-A-Round-Math Manipulatives. I have accepted an invitation from Danna Bouey, Southeastern Assistive Technology Coordinator, to demonstrate to my manipulatives at the Southeastern Region Assistive Technology Center. While, I am in Louisiana, my wife, Susan, is going to do a follow up demonstration for James Ekundayo, Birmingham City Schools Elementary Math Program Specialist, and his colleagues. I am sure she will do a great job, just like how she did at Chattooga County Schools, Georgia.
I received confirmation from Diana Mumford, Editor of Canadian Teacher Magazine, that Slide-A-Round Math Manipulatives will post an article in their magazine about my manipulatives in January. This is exciting news! Due to time, distance, and teaching, it would be very difficult to meet Ms. Mumford’s colleagues in Canada. I really appreciate her help! When the article is published, I will post it with the other articles on my website.
I appreciate the interest and support of Shelley Rowland, Program Administrator of Curriculum/ SASED DHH Program. Ms Rowland has offered to exhibit my math manipulatives at the 2014 SASED Math Fair. I was offered an invitation to demonstrate my manipulatives first-hand to her colleagues in the Chicago and northern Illinois area, but I had to decline because of my teaching responsibilities at Elm Street Elementary. Hopefully, some of her colleagues can attend my presentation at the 2014 Illinois Council for Children Conference on February 1st.
FYI: I have a demonstration pending in Champaign, Illinois after my presentation in Springfield at 11:00 on January 31st. I anticipate the time for my Champaign presentation to be around 2:30. Please check my “Latest News” tab for specific details.
I would like to thank Jonn Paris- Salb, Education Administer 1, California Department of Education, for sending my information to California’s list serv as well as to the Ex-Officio trustees across the country from APH. Because I am still in the classroom and am a great distance from California, I sincerely appreciate his help sharing my ideas.
I would like to thank Yvonne Ali of the Missouri Instructional Resource Center f/t Visually Impaired for sending out a recommendation of my math manipulatives to approximately 400 Special Education Directors who have students with visual
impairments in their program, teachers of the visually impaired, and others in Missouri. I appreciate the time she spent to attempt to provide students with a variety of learning strategies and manipulatives for mastering their math standards.
An article about my math manipulatives has just been included on the “Paths to Literacy” website, a website that is the result of a joint project between Perkins School for the Blind and Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired (TSBVI). By combining their resources and expertise, they hope to assist educators and families in the quest to provide academic experiences for children who are blind or visually impaired. I appreciate their support!