My New Friend

The first grade teacher has been absent for a long time now due to a family illness. I am often asked to go correct math problems in that class, and see many of those students that are struggling later in the afternoon when they come for extra help.

One of the kids in this class made herself known to me very early on with her friendly and engaging nature. Unfortunately for her, this meant that I took note when some days her math problems were 100% correct, and some days they were 100% wrong.

On one of the days where the problems were 100% wrong, I sent her to one of the teachers, because I felt that I didn’t have the language ability to help her. Her teacher took one look at the problems in her work book and started yelling at her. She also got a nice love pat, which made her cry and made me cringe with guilt for having sent her to the teacher. If this girl was going to get help, I decided I would have to do it myself.

Knowing that this student was most likely cheating, and also most likely did not know how to do simple math I decided I’d work through a few problems with her one-on-one. I quickly learned that my friend did not know how to read or write numbers. So if I had her count two plus two by holding up my fingers for her to count….she could count out the numbers, but would get stuck when she had to write down the answer. She would then look desperately at her peers for someone to trace the number for her in the air, and she would write it down.

To test how much this student actually knew, I had her write out the numbers 1 through 10. I expected this to be a difficult task for someone who can’t write the number four on command, but she did it in less than 30 seconds, without any problems. However, when I asked her where the number 9 was….she pointed to the number 5!

Back to the basics….I ripped up some pieces of paper and made her a set of number flashcards….. This student knows one, two, and three without any problems (reading, writing, holding up the appropriate number of fingers, etc.)……but the rest of them she does not know how to read or write.

I really wasn’t sure what to do next, but I decided to try and help her by having her count out the number of fingers that a particular number is associated with. For example, I showed her the number four, then held up four of my fingers, and said, “How many fingers is this?” She didn’t know how many fingers it was by sight, but she counted out all of my fingers and was able to tell me that I was holding up four fingers – no great shakes…..but okay, it’s a start.

When I showed her the flashcard for five, and said how many fingers….she put up five of her own fingers before I had a chance to hold up mine for her to count……she counted all five of her fingers and successfully told me that the flashcard said five. I thought it was odd that a girl that couldn’t read or write numbers somehow knew to hold up five fingers when she saw the number in written form, so I decided to test her with the number seven. Again….she put up seven of her own fingers, and got to work counting….producing the correct answer.

While I’m no expert, this seemed like some sort of learning disability to me, so I took her to see Halifa (who is also studying learning disabilities and special ed). I had him watch us play a flashcard game, where I would show her 5, 7, 4, 6 etc….and each time she held up the correct number of fingers and got to work counting. Halifa agreed that there is some sort of issue…..especially that when he asked her to just tell him what a particular number was without using her fingers, she gave him a very sad look and just started randomly guessing at numbers.

Since Halifa agreed that there was a problem and allowed me to work with her some more, I have spent an hour every day playing flashcard games with my friend, trying to get her to use her counting tools to read numbers rather than blindly guessing. So far, here’s what she’s been able to do….

1: 100%
2: 100%
3: 100 %
4: Counts by hand, can guess at it about 75% of the time without counting….usually mistakes with five or seven.
5: Counts by hand, usually mistakes with seven, but no longer mistakes with six
6: No longer counts by hand, but sometimes mixes up her syllables and calls it “tisa” instead of “sita,” which unfortunately for her is the number 9 in Swahili.
7: Always counts out by hand, otherwise wildly guesses
8: Sometimes holds up nine fingers instead of eight…..but is getting better
9: Sometimes holds up eight fingers instead of nine….but is getting better
10: Used to hold up all her fingers and count every time……now she just thinks, holds up her hands, says “All ten!”

What is even more strange….is that this student can now identify almost every card correct (with counting, of course) when I give her one card at a time. However, if I put all of the cards out and say “Where is the number 4?” She starts handing me seven, nine, eight, or any other number (except 1, 2, or 3…..which she has no problem identifying).

I think this student has had this problem for a long time….because she is well practiced in the art of cheating. She is constantly looking to read my body language when producing an answer, or for the help of a fellow student who is standing nearby. Because of this, I have started separating her from the rest of the group, and refusing to acknowledge her answer as either correct or incorrect, until she taps me on the shoulder and tells me with authority what the number is……it’s like a “Final Answer?” sort of check, and has proven to be quite successful. When I ask her to find me a certain number in a group of cards, she frequently reaches for the wrong card, but then counts it out to herself and corrects her mistake by picking a different card and verifying the number. While it’s definitely not ideal, I’m happy that she is at least using the tools she has to start identifying numbers…..maybe over time….she’ll be able to progress to reading them all by sight.

Since I’ve been working with this student, I have also been identifying other students who are struggling in math and I am beginning to write down their names. When there are 50 – 80 kids in a class, it is no wonder the teacher doesn’t have time to work with these kids individually. I asked Halifa if he wanted me to pull a few kids out of class next week to see if I could help them get back on track….and he’s agreed to let me try and help a few more individuals next week. I guess we’ll see how it goes!