Abstract
This paper presents a case study of the experiences of a special educator named Ms. Montes (pseudonym) teaching standards-based mathematics during Emergency Remote Teaching (ERT) during spring 2020. Ms. Montes was interviewed twice during this period; data were analyzed through inductive thematic analysis. Pre-COVID, Ms. Montes provided her students daily opportunities to tackle challenging mathematical problems and taught self-regulation strategies for students to better understand themselves as learners. After the shift to ERT, Ms. Montes described “the wall between us” as various barriers that made teaching mathematics online far more challenging. Challenges included supporting students with productive struggle when not physically present with them and supporting student self-regulation during mathematical problem-solving. Supporting students with disabilities to learn mathematics during ERT and distance learning will require considering emotional and affective dimensions of learning. Coaching students and families in self-regulation strategies could support student engagement in mathematical problem-solving in online learning.
Highlights
This paper presents a case study of the experiences of a special educator named Ms Montes teaching standards-based mathematics during Emergency Remote Teaching (ERT) during spring 2020
We review the literature in three areas: (1) motivation in mathematics, (2) mathematical problem-solving for students with disabilities, and (3) online learning for students with disabilities
Throughout our presentation of the themes, we keep in mind our research questions regarding both general issues that emerged in ERT and issues regarding engagement in mathematical problem-solving
Summary
Three elementary special education teachers participated in this study, though this paper only discusses one of them, Ms Montes. Ms Montes teaches a self-contained special education class with primarily students with IEPs for Specific Learning Disabilities, with a few students with IEPs for Autism. Her class during this period included 13 students—3 girls and 10 boys. District personnel named her as an exceptional teacher, in mathematics. She identifies as Latina and has over ten years of experience as a special educator
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