Betsy VerHage

EDUC 310

November 22, 2017

Hamilton Intervention Final Reflection

The biggest piece of knowledge I am taking from the Hamilton intervention project is a

deeper understanding of the role that assessments play in showing what a student is struggling

with or failing to do correctly in math. When I looked at Matthews Delta math scores, it

appeared that he could not subtract numbers within 20, add and subtract two-digit numbers, or

identify and compare numbers to a thousand. Based on this data, I assumed that Matthew

struggled fundamentally in all of these areas, but I didnt know why he struggled until I actually

worked with him. After giving Matthew my own data-driven assessment and introducing him to

some simple math games, I began to understand the why behind his math scores. As I watched

Matthew rush through the first couple of problems on my assessment, I stopped and asked him

how he got the answer. When he shrugged his shoulders and looked down, I asked him to show

me his work. This was a two-digit subtraction problem that he had tried to do quickly in his head

instead of on paper. When I asked him to set up the problem and show his work, Matthew

correctly arranged the digits according to place value and subtracted, but forgot to ungroup.

However, once I reminded him to borrow the one, he knew exactly what I meant and could

complete the problem correctly. Then, when we moved on to the math games, I noticed that he

would often just guess at an answer instead of actually taking the steps to solve the problem.

After the first intervention day, I knew that Matthew could understand more math

concepts than his scores indicated; however, I wasnt surprised that he had low scores. He knows

how to do math and can do it, but he doesnt take the time to read problems carefully and work
through them using appropriate strategies that he has been taught. After looking at his math work

samples, my observations were further confirmed. It appears that he may not be reading carefully

or that he may neglect to read the whole problem before giving an answer. He also frequently

neglects to show his work or draw a picture when asked, which also suggests to me that he may

be rushing or guessing instead of using math strategies or reasoning skills.

I noticed this too when we worked on logic problems during the second intervention.

Matthew constantly tried to guess and check, even after I explained and modeled strategies for

solving the problems. However, when I would walk through the process with him, step-by-step,

he could almost always give me the correct answer when prompted. Overall, these interventions

showed me that a students actual conceptual understanding can go way beyond test scores.

Therefore, you really have to get to know a child before teaching based on a standardized

assessment. There are lots of variables that come into play such as motivation, engagement, and

attention span, and those have to be considered too. Matthew is a bright math student, but needs

to take the time to use strategies and read closely for details.