I think we in first grade do many good things that provide support for those struggling with math skills and poor working memory. My question is how do we accurately assess these students? Our current report cards says "S" is satisfactory with or without support. Does this mean we allow students with poor working memory to use visuals during common math assessments and if so, does this accurately portray how each individual is doing? Another example of this is a portion of our report card is "recognizes and counts coins". If I am allowing such students daily visuals to help them remember coins and their worth, are they allowed to use these for any assessments I report? It also goes back to what Allison said in her post about not allowing these supports during MCAS testing.

There are also parts of the Everyday Math that I think pose problems for students with poor working memory. There may be one lesson on Monday on telling time to the half hour but then not again until a week or two later. I feel that the math boxes alone do not provide enough reinforcement of the skills; especially with money and telling time. Perhaps this could be where the math specialist could come in. Having a math specialist working with a small group could really help these students.