It's our move

I am a middle school special education teacher. I started teaching chess to my students 3 years ago in a class that focused on academic study skills. This class was for students with learning disabilities who were enrolled in the general curriculum. A teacher's aide was an avid chess player and had begun teaching me. I invited him to come help teach my students, thinking it would help enhance their concentration, problem-solving, planning, etc. The students loved it! Since then, those students started a chess club at our school. With an enrollment of 850 students in the 6th through 8th grades, we have approx. 120 students involved in chess at one level or another. I have seen tremendous results with my students in special education as well as our gen. ed. and gifted/talented. Indeed, my students in special education often outperform all the other students. I could go on and on about the success I have seen using this milieu! I am excited to have found this blog and look forward to sharing stories and resources with other educators. I am currently conducting a causal-comparative study for my dissertation wherein I am teaching chess to students in special education math to see if it will improve their math scores.