01+Why+First+Steps?



= Why First Steps? = It is hard to believe we are already in our third year of First Steps implementation. There are over 600 teachers and administrators who have been trained in First Steps Number. What a great achievement!

As we move forward, it is important to remember why we are using First Steps as an integral part of our elementary mathematics curriculum. I firmly believe that for instruction to be the most effective, it needs to be tied to the child’s developmental level. For years, there has been work in literacy development. This has promoted strong instruction in literacy. As literacy teachers, we would never think of using materials that do not promote a child’s growth in literacy.

While we know teaching in a developmentally appropriate way is good, we aren’t always sure what that looks like in mathematics. First Steps helps fill that need. In the training, it sometimes feels like First Steps is all about diagnosis, that there isn’t much about instruction. Actually, the diagnosis is the beginning of the process. After we know where a student is placed, we can plan instruction that meets his/her developmental needs. Remember the three step process: determining what students are required to learn, analyzing student work (determining which phase), and deciding what students need to learn to move forward towards the learning goals. By knowing where students are in the developmental sequence, the instruction we plan can be the most effective and efficient.

In the past, many of us were very successful in helping students get right answers. Now, we know that some of our students got right answers for the wrong reasons. We must make sure students are getting a strong conceptual framework along with the procedures we know they need to solve problems. First Steps can help us make sure the instruction we provide meets the developmental needs of our students, helping them get the right answer for the right reason!