5 Tips to Help Your Colorblind Students

Recently I saw an Instagram post about aiding a colorblind student.  I had a suggestion on how to make accommodations easier.  Then I had another suggestion.  And another.  Finally I realized, I have figured out quite a few tricks that have helped my colorblind first grader this year!  So here are some practical tips for you if you learn you will have a colorblind student next year.

1.  Accept some pictures that are not colored the way you are used to.  When you ask students to draw a picture of a dog, don't feel obligated to ask your student what color they want and give them the "right" crayon.  They will color the way they see it.  Stepping in and providing the "right" color will make them feel dependent during an activity that you could be helping them feel self reliant.  Accepting their perspective during "free drawing/coloring" times will make them feel accepted and teach the rest of your class that perspectives vary and that's not a bad thing. 

2.  When color coding is required, provide crayons with labels/wrappers on.  Sometimes a color blind person will need to color code for their audience.  Teaching your students to compensate in order to communicate their message effectively is a life skill.  As long as your student can read color words, if you say "use red to underline the nouns," they can participate.  Be sure to hold back a set of fully wrapped crayons that you collect at the end of each activity so that you can provide them every time.  If your student can't read color words yet, differentiate for your student and make them a priority during your sight word practice times.  Some will feel motivated to learn them.

3.  When in doubt, ask.  You know those popular red and yellow discs used for counting?  I pulled my student aside and asked, "Can you tell which one is red?"  Turns out he could, so I didn't need to pull out pattern blocks for him to count instead. 

4.  Modify how you present color coded information.  Here are just a few examples of how I've done this.

My old anchor chart for numbers to 20 had red and green circles in tens frames.  The red were odd and the green were even.  This was obviously not appropriate for my student, so I did create a new chart with him in mind.  If you have a chart that alternates red and green, switch it out this year.  

When we learn patterns in calendar, we use the Everyday Counts series.  Most of the "figures" vary both in shape and color.  I'm sure to always say the shape and sometimes the color as well when I refer to this visual.  When you teach patterns, use shapes instead of relying on color. 

When handing out two sets of ten pop cubes to work on numbers to 20, be sure that your colorblind student has black and white, or another set of colors that they can distinguish between.   

When playing board games such as "Bump," be sure your student can distinguish between the pieces.  If using different colored round discs of the same size doesn't work, player 1 could use discs while player 2 uses pennies, triangular pattern blocks, pop cubes, or whatever other manipulatives you have on hand.

Mark up items that you can't switch out.  We use Fundations magnet letters for the whole class that match the ones the students use.  My colorblind student can't easily distinguish between salmon (for vowels) and yellow (for consonants).  By putting a tiny sticker on his vowels as well as my whole class set, he could find his vowels as easily as his peers.  But next year the stickers can come off if I don't have another student who needs them.  

Make sure your center materials have high contrast.  If you print off activities in black and white and you can read it just fine, chances are your colorblind students can as well. My fact families page shown here has black and white visuals, making it perfect for colorblind and typical learners alike. 

5. Remember that every individual with the same broad disability is a unique individual.  Some things you should know about my student:  He's extremely laid back.  He sees his colorblindness as something that makes him different and interesting, and he does not hesitate to let his peers know about it.  He can read color words.  He confuses red and green, as well as blue and purple.  His favorite color is blue.  He doesn't like to color much.  Learn what you can about your  own student's strengths, weaknesses, likes, dislikes, and motivation level so you know how to help them.  Then share what you've learned and tried in the comment section below!

If you're interested in more activities like the one shown here, Teachers Pay Teachers (and I) are having a sale in honor of Teachers Appreciation Week.  Remember to enter the code CELEBRATE on Tuesday and Wednesday.  This sale announcement will disappear from this post following the sale.

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10 Ways to Solve Your Pencil Problems

In my last post I proposed an elegant solution to the pencil problem.  How do you stop lost or missing pencils from interfering with the learning process?  Give the kids pencils.  Simple, right?  Well honestly, no, or everyone would be doing it already.  There are still problems to work through, such as cost, pencil sharpening, and bickering over "he stole MY pencil!"  So here's how to make it work while showing students that you've got their backs.

1. Stop pencil-shaming your students.  Just give them a pencil every time they need one. 

2.  Present pencils as gifts and give them on every occasion.  We've seen all the cute gifts teachers package for students with poems all over Pinterest.  Snacks, toys, books.  And while I don't condemn these gifts, I've decided that a pencil outclasses them all.  Give one on the first day of school (heck, if you teach first grade, give them two; one fat and one regular pencil).  Give them out at least once per month for every major and some minor holidays.  Give kids a pencil on their birthday.  And always sharpen them before giving them out.  If you want to make the pencils cute, affix a seasonal flag like this one to it with colorful washi tape.  And/or hit up the Dollar Spot at Target for themed pencils.  But of course the cuteness factor is not the point here.  This is about reaching ending the Pencil Problem and entering Pencil Nirvana.  So if cost is one of the concerns you have about providing pencils to students regularly, remember they are cheaper than a lot of those other gifts. 

3.  Put pencils on the suggested school supplies list.  If your school is like ours, you can't send home a list of "required" school supplies.  However, many parents enjoy "back to school shopping" before the first day back.  And some parents are great about sending in a steady supply.  Some will be happy to donate pencils to the classroom as well; you just have to ask.

4.  Create a classroom policy that all pencils are "community pencils."  Now, this was REALLY HARD for me to wrap my head around when I moved from fourth to first grade.  My grade level partner told me that in her classroom all supplies are communal.  I said doubtfully, "But...their parents paid for that pencil.  I can't just let some other kid take it."  She gave me a withering look and said, "Would you really tell someone that they couldn't borrow your pen if they needed one?" 

Well...I guess not?  But...I would want it back.  I mean, if it was a really good pen.  Maybe not a regular ball point pen.  I guess I wouldn't really care about that because I can get more of those from the supply closet.

It took me some time to come around to this way of thinking, but eventually I realized that in a work environment, she's right.  These are not strangers; they are people I need to maintain a good working relationship with.  It's the same with children. 

So I embraced this policy whole heartedly...with one caveat.  I told the children that they can't say, "That's my pencil."  They have to get a new one.  EXCEPT, if they brought a pencil from home that they are not willing to share, they have to go put it in their bag, bring it home, and leave it there.  And I'm talking here about fancy, sparkly pencils that are obviously more "personalized" than your standard yellow pencils.  If they start bickering over a Ticonderoga I let them know that it's discussion over, I've got one for each of them so it doesn't matter who had which one first. 

5.  Don't let kids sharpen pencils (I know this sounds like work, but stick with me for a paragraph or two).  When I was in fourth grade, of course I let kids sharpen pencils.  The minute I moved to first I knew I was never going to let the littles near a sharpener.  If I'm honest, even the fourth graders were inefficient in their time management and their pencil holding technique.  If I ever go back to upper elementary I will have to give serious thought to whether or not I ever allow them to sharpen pencils again.  Although I know students shouldn't be coddled, asking to sharpen a pencil before every writing task is a great excuse for some kids to avoid writing.  So instead, we use the "sharp pencil, dull pencil" two can system.  I'm pretty sure the labels I use are the same ones here at 3rd Grade Thoughts.  Use of the sharp/dull pencil cans is part and parcel with the communal pencil idea.  After all, it's rare that you're going to get the same pencil back once it breaks. 

6.  Put "Pencil sharpeners" on your parent volunteer list.  Send home a bag with instructions (for example, never sharpen colored pencils in electric sharpeners because the pigments kill them).  Some parents are happy to help, but need/prefer to do so from home.  ACCEPT PARENTAL HELP.  You won't reach Pencil Nirvana if you're sharpening all the pencils.  Just don't send out all your pencils for sharpening on the same day (because if they don't come back, you'll be scrambling). 

7.  Create a system in which students can get a pencil with minimal disruption.  I find "sign language" the most effective way to do this.  This way when 7 hands go up you just need to nod to each one without breaking your stride.  And in my class, about 8 kids need to get a pencil 5 times per day.  I simply retrieve most of them from the floor at each transition time and my supply is replenished. 

8.  Spot check desks.  Giving kids an "infinite" number of pencils often results in some degree of hoarding.  Figure out who your culprits are with spot checks over the first few weeks, and let them know the limit (one or two sharp pencils, maximum).  Soon you'll know where to go to replenish a dwindling supply.  And as I said, I'm not against consequences.  I'll punish a kid for repeatedly hoarding pencils but never because their parents didn't send them to school with one.  Just consider who is really at fault in each of these two scenarios. 

9.  Hold back an overabundance of sharp pencils.  Once you put out a bunch of freshly sharpened pencils, there are some kids who will take a new pencil every 20 minutes.  You don't want to spot check desks in the middle of class, so hiding a zipped bag of sharp pencils in your desk will help you avoid stressing out when you hear, "There's no more sharp pencils." 

10.  Invest in pencil sharpener.  I have to admit, after a decade of using the standard issue pencil sharpeners at my current school, I only broke down and bought a good quality pencil sharpener last month.  But it sharpens pencils faster, it can sharpen fat pencils, and the little light that comes on when the pencil is sharp enough is more useful than I expected.  If I wasn't scared that kids would sharpen colored pencils in it, I might actually let them use it.   

It took a paradigm shift in order to reach this stage, but honestly, pencils are now the LEAST of my problems when it comes to classroom management!  So please, don't sweat the small stuff.  Just give your students pencils. 

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An Elegant Solution to the Pencil Problem

Lately I've seen new blog posts crop up regarding what to do about "the pencil problem."  When I taught fourth grade, I kept looking for the perfect system.  They have tips on when pencils should be sharpened, by whom, what happens when a student is unprepared with no pencil, and how to keep track of pencils. 

Pencil photo from the public domain

Keeping track was definitely the worst of it.  Have any of the following sentences ever brought your lesson to a screeching halt:

Whose pencil is this? 
Where did you leave your pencil?
He stole my pencil.  
No, that's my pencil.
Nuh uh.    
Yes, look, mine had a bigger eraser.  Yours had dent near the metal part.

I read blog post after blog post about different pencil systems, trying to figure out how to fix this daily problem.  And yet, now that I teach first grade, suddenly pencil problems are not interrupting my lessons.  What's my secret?  How have I reached Pencil Nirvana?  The solution is actually very simple.

If a student needs a pencil, give them one.

It's not complicated.  Kids need pencils in order to do schoolwork.  Unless you are at a paperless/all digital school, that's just a part of life.  If you vilify the students who are not responsible enough to hold onto/maintain their pencils, that's just one more step towards encouraging them check out.  It's one small way that, as time goes on adds up every day and (without you noticing it but the kid feels it) turns into a big way, to alienate your students who are already not "good students." 

Is there a time and place to teach responsibility?  Of course the answer is, "yes."  However, if you choose to make pencils the issue on which you make your stance, you are only going to reach those students who care about stationery.  Which my gut tells me is a small percentage of students. 

You may be thinking, "But then you're rewarding irresponsible students by giving them stuff."  Well, my way of thinking has completely shifted.  I'm not just a deliverer of content.  Part of my job is caregiver, there's no doubt about it.  Part of my job is to provide for the needs of my students.  If I'm teaching them writing, it's just as much my job to give them a pencil to write with as it is to teach them to start a sentence with a capital letter. 

And in reality, I am not rewarding the irresponsible students.  Because I don't single them out.  I simply level the playing field.  I give EVERY student a pencil.  Often.  I never allow the supply of pencils to run out.  And as a result, students feel provided for.  They have one less thing they have to worry about before lowering their affective filter and "buy in" to what you're teaching them. 

I know what you're thinking.  This sounds nice, but isn't it more work than those other systems where students have to bargain with you to get something you are requiring them to use?  Not really.  In my next post I'll give you 9 tips to help you make it work in your classroom.   

 

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