April 19, 2018
Brigid Houlihan and Maura O’Riordan, both Landmark High School math teachers, presented about their class “Algebra 1 with Number Sense” at the 2018 Learning Disabilities Association (LDA) of America conference. Number sense is a student’s ability to be flexible with numbers, understand their relationship to one another, and apply them in real-world situations. Their course content focuses on number sense remediation for the upper grades. This algebra 1 class is co-taught and focuses on teaching students the algebra 1 content while at the same time filling in gaps or misconceptions they have from earlier math classes, which falls under the umbrella of number sense.
Brigid and Maura’s presentation discussed how to address students in grades 5-12 who are struggling with math content due to a lack of foundational math knowledge and/or number sense skills. They explained and demonstrated methods that have been successful in remediation, how to incorporate manipulatives into upper grades instruction, and how to identify and remediate specific gaps in number sense skills.
This handout is support for educators working on remediation of number sense in upper grades.
Download HandoutCheck out Brigid & Maura’s slides from their presentation at the 2018 LDA conference in Atlanta.
View PresentationBrigid Houlihan began working at Landmark High School in 2010 as a mathematics and one-on-one tutorial teacher. She holds a bachelor’s degree in secondary education and mathematics from Roger Williams University and a master’s degree in special education from Simmons College. Currently, Brigid is a houseparent on the high school campus, and she teaches algebra 1 and pre-calculus classes, as well as a language arts tutorial.
Maura O’Riordan has been a math teacher at Landmark High School since 2014. She teaches algebra 1, geometry, and probability and statistics. Maura holds a bachelor’s degree in secondary education and mathematics from Saint Michael’s College and will be completing her master’s degree in special education from Simmons College in May of 2018.