My beliefs around learning Maths

Following on from Sharon's sharing I have been wondering about my beliefs about Maths teaching and learning. So far these are my beliefs (perhaps most will end up to be practices!!);

• hands on manipulation of materials helps their learning
• playing games (having fun) helps consolidate ideas
• following from this - winning boosts confidence
• worksheets have a place - as an assessment / progress checkin
• unless practising writing numbers, worksheets don't help learning (unless used as above!)
• to make self-directed at maths time
  • need to teach learning tasks
  • have tasks that are levelled correctly
  • encourage use of GM
• Juniors need lots of short, sharp DAT then consolidation time
• For SDL, mixed ability good - maybe buddy blues with reds
• Physical movement helps memorise numbers
• Need engagement - students having clear expectations

Timetable Re-jig

Having tried our timetable for 5 weeks we decided there were certain tweaks we wanted to make. We all  had to think about what was not happening for us and this discussion led to a new plan for reading.

We now have 2 owls and 2 eagles at reading time. This means that the 2 eagles plan town time and only have to think about that whilst the owls just need to plan (and stock) for reading. After day 2 this seems to work well. The children love town time and a lot of learning happens in this social, exploration time. Eventually the eagles will be able to make this focused on specific things and guide the learning. 

Meanwhile the owls are just heads down, teaching guided reading. This will hopefully mean for me that I develop more instinctual actions which will develop my readers.

After 2 weeks in each role, we then swap! Eve and I have also thought that if you are the owl for reading, you are the eagle for maths and vice-versa, so hopefully reducing the cognitive load, which means you’ll do what you need to better!

Learning Centres

For 3 days of week 10, term 3 we tried learning centres;

• Day 1 we had the children in Whanau groups and put 3 groups together for each area, so a total of 7 groups, and we had 8 areas.
• On reflection we thought that were too many children in each group and so;
• Day 2 we had 8 children in each group, a total of 9 groups, with 2 leaders and 9 areas.
• We also rotated them in a logical way so they moved around the space rather than criss-crossing
• Day 3 was humming!

Here is a more detailed PMI;

Can't wait until next term when we can iron out the "M", carry on the "P" and make use of the "I"!

Reflection, term 3

A meeting at the end of week 9 with Ben and Claire to reflect on the term. The focus for the term has been on the relationships.

One discussion surrounded what collaboration means and having worked in this environment for a term my thinking has changed or become clearer. Working and planning together is a form of collaboration but to be teaching in a truly collaborative manner the success (or failure) needs to be dependent on everyone. The rotations we did for Concept I initially though of as a great way to collaborate so students see multiple elements of change taught by an "expert" in the area, however, my lessons had no impact on Eve's and likewise if Carmel's lessons went really well that had no impact on how well or badly mine went!

When I did my Inquiry for Uni I looked at Managing Self and came up with 3 legged milking stool with Plan, Do and Review. When thinking about the concept plan we did the planning together but the doing was independent as was the review of our own areas.

Hopefully as we move towards more learning centre based learning and team teaching with eagle and owl roles all 3 legs will be done collaboratively.




Click here for a more detailed Term 3 Reflection.

Using the Environment

A great korero this week centred around what's on top, responsive stuff and wonderings. Our weekly chats are something I have begun to really look forward to. I especially appreciate the reciprocal nature of learning at our chats. Many thanks!

We continue to talk about writing and meeting the needs of the kids we are working with. We followed up from a recent professional learning session about activating and using student voice. It has been a real shift in thinking for Kimi aakau to students giving their voice to what happens within the school and the classroom. We want to encourage children to know that their experiences, opinions and ideas are valued.

You've used this well this week with your discussions with the kids about what they would like to achieve with their writing. They are clearly driven by their audience and the format of posters. As mentor and the holder of curriculum knowledge you have been able to make links to the children's voice and you have managed to engage the children to write for a real purpose. I look forward to see how that goes next week.

We discussed the environment and how to plan this to have an impact on learning. After some hesitation, we ascertained that the environment and how we use it is a significant part of learning relationships so still fits with your focus for the term. I came to a point of shift in my career when I viewed Ewan McIntosh's thinking about the link between digital and physical spaces. It's a little out of date in a short period of time but still a good provoker....

I loved how you made links from this to the work you are doing in maths at the moment and the fact that the learning pebbles which are already on the wall could be accompanied by examples of maths language and vocabulary. I look forward to seeing what that looks like.