Let's Talk Maths - Korero Pangarau

 Tauranga Maths Symposium

Let’s talk Mathematics (Keynote)

Mathematics is a vital element in constructing meaning.

Maths is a universal, abstract, complex and problematic language.

Form is attended to more than meaning.

Form and meaning is often disconnected in mathematics.

We selectively access what we know; we don’t always access and draw on what we need to.

Scaffolding Practices:

-          Excavating

o   Digging down/drawing out/finding out what lies below. Tell me everything you know about…

-          Modelling

o   Teacher invites students to watch as he/she ‘Thinks out loud’

-          Collaborating

o   Teacher engages as an interested participant, the teachers intent is to explore students understanding

-          Guiding

-          Convince Me

o   Teachers refusing to believe what students are saying, teacher then seeks further evidence to back up a particular claim made by students.

-          Noticing

o   Teacher draws student’s attention to particular attributes or conditions of the task.

-          Focussing

o   Series of questions to summarise what teacher thinks students understood, direct students attention to relevant attributes (what is needed)

-          Probing

-          Orienting

-          Reflecting/Reviewing

o   Teacher invites students to reflect over what they have learnt, it’s not a recount. Nominate students to present to the class to reflect on lesson through preparation and practice. Explicit time given to rehearse and prepare.

-          Extending

-          Apprenticing

Non Verbal Scaffolds

-          Materials

-          Posters

-          References

-          “What we learnt today” Charts

-          Student work samples

-          Manipulatives

-          Games

-          Diagrams

Be very clear of the mathematics you want your children to learn.

Know where the maths is going.

8 year spread within year levels.

Difference in performance were largely due to an inadequate understanding of fractions, decimals and proportion (i.e., multiplicative thinking), and a reluctance/inability to explain/justify solutions.

Rich tasks aimed at multiplicative thinking.

Change is needed!

Concepts need to be experienced, strategies need to be scaffolded; and everything needs to be discussed.

Place value, multiplication thinking, partitioning, proportional reasoning by the end of year 8.

Talking about mathematics is vital but you need to know the story.

Teacher knowledge is key.

Mathematics is a language, How well do you speak (listen, read and write) mathematics?

Using language, symbols and texts

Can’t take away synonyms because then you are streamlining their understanding and take away all flexibility when solving problems. Language and problem solving is intensely important.

Activity:

List of mathematical words. Define words into three categories.

Discuss the words and break down that vocabulary. 

 

 

Maths Magic

Maths Magic

PB4L Staff Only Day 22.04.13

Positive Behaviour For Learning

PB4L

What are we looking at today?

• Karakia & Waiata
• Revisit what PB4L is all about
• Effective Classroom Management - Maximise Academic Engaged Time
• Values - Unit Plan
• Positive Relationships
• Tikanga Maori - Respect

Specific Learning Outcomes:

• To listen attentively to one another
• To speak one at a time
• Wait your trun
• To reflect on own teaching practice
• To work co-operatively and collaboratively 

Ice Breaker

Chinese Birthday/Lucky Number

- 8 is lucky

- Double digits is lucky

- Month first, then birthdate

- Draw the characters and they go into an ice cream container

- Teacher calls them out, try to recognize your birthday

What is PB4L?

School Wide:

- Improve the classroom and school climate

- Use our learning to its fullest and best

- Providing support to our students with learning and behaviour needs

- Not just for our students but for every adult in the kura 

PB4L = Data Driven

This data helps the team make decisions

- The whole child (Emotional, learning, social, physical needs)

- Includes family, classroom, teacher, students and non classroom

- Academic and behavioural systems three-tiered approach to behaviour and instructional support

- Focus on positive proactive programming

- Emphasis on clearly defined working structures

- Teacher/School takes ownership of student learning and behavioural challenges

- Problem behaviour = learning error

- High expectations for student success

- High value on learning (academic and behaviour)

If a child is struggling in your class go through the correct system - Team leader, then Liz.

Discussion surrounding our current behaviour forms - what we are doing, what we aren't doing, our areas of need. 

What kind of students can display problematic behaviour?

All Students!!

Antecedent/Trigger

Behaviour

Consequence/Outcome

Maximize structure and predictability:

- Routines that are consistent

- Expectations

- Teach rules

Maximize academic and engaged time:

- Activity sequencing (intermingle easy with more difficult, simple requests prior to more challenging)

- Offering choice (type, order, materials, who, place, use of time)

- Opportunities tor respond (track students called on, guided notes, response cards)

- Effective instructions

- High rate of student participation

- Feedback

- Pacing

- How many instructions we give

Activity Sequencing

- Are you prepared and organised for your activity?

- How is your classroom organised?

- Have you considered early finishers?

- Have you got your resources ready? 

- How are my students feeling? (frustration, failure, problem behaviour occurs)

- Have I given practice time on simple tasks before giving a more difficult task?

Offering Choice

- Do I provide opportunities for my students make choices?

- Have I engaged my students through providing choices?

- Am I teaching my learners to be self determined?

- Have I set up the right environment to trust my students with their choices?

- Do my students want to come to school?

Class-wide choice:

- Type of activity or activity

- Order for completing tasks

- Kind of materials that will be used

- Whom to work with

- Place to work

- Choice of how to use time

Opportunities to respond (OTR)

- Teacher instructional talk

- Prompts given to students

- Wait time for the response

- Specific feedback for correct responding

- Can be provided individually or to whole class

- Are all students called on?

- Phone a friend if student doesn't know the answer

- Ensure the student can correctly answer the question before calling on them, don't make it unfair

Activity - Honesty, Respect & Positive Relationships

- Activities to use in our classroom
- What have we done?
- What does it look like?

Find resources to hook our students into our values

Tikanga Maori

Learn new waiata:

Aue te ariki

Aue te ariki aue

Ko koe te ariki te kaiwhakaora 

o te ao katoa,

Ko tenei to iwi he inoi atu nei

 arohatia matou

Manaakitia mai matou i roto i

tenei ao,

Aue te ariki aue x2

What is manaakitanga from a Maori world perspective?

- Caring 

- Greetings

- Farewells

- Clarity

- Fostering belonging

- Know your whakapapa

- Learn your student's whakapapa

- Share stories

- Tapu (beliefs)

- Set high expecations

- Learn about your tamariki

 Tapu versus non tapu classroom above.

Ki Muri, Ki Mua! - 'Look to the past to guide your future'

My goals for the future:

Goal 1 - To revisit our class treaty/manaakitanga
Goal 2 - What is tapu in maori culture that we need to consider in our classroom? What is tapu in our classroom from the other cultures in our class?

The Pros and Cons of my first term as a Digital Teacher!

This year I was honoured to become a digital teacher of a year 7/8 classroom. All my students have a laptop each except for two (one special needs and one low learner) who have Ipads. I have a class of 26 (22 year 7's, 4 year 8's,15 boys and 11 girls).

Positives

1. Inquiry learning model PURSUE was a huge success. 
2. Class Badges has been a huge success for rewarding and encouraging positive behaviour.
3. I have managed to make use of a lot of the tools I gained from ULEARN last year to effectively implement and maintain a safe digital environment.
4. Discovered new and amazing websites/resources/tools:

• Classroom Booksource
• Apps for the Ipad (I will link my favourites to this post in the near future)
• Classroom Blogging - P3 have blogged their learning, homework, and ongoing intermediate experiences. They have been assigned a buddy blog from the year 8 digital class who they monitor, make comments (leave feedback and feed forward) and share their work with. 
• Minecraft!
• Thekidshouldseethis - An amazing site full of videos on a range of different content
• Integrating digital learning throughout the curriculum
• Using Google Forms to learn about my class - I was able to discover one of my students was being bullied.
• YouTube Curriculum - A great ready to go lesson pack to teach students digital citizen and other digital skills through YouTube. 
• Readium - A Google Chrome webstore app. Allows you to add as many Ebooks in epub form as you like into your library and access these anytime and anywhere.
• Spotify - A safe way for students to listen to music that they stream onto their computers, this ensures that I know they are just listening to music and not watching YouTube videos.

Minus

1. Google Accounts - These have been a mission to set up and I am still struggling with 3 or 4 students accounts constantly asking for the password to be reset.
2. Students wanting to be on their devices at all times, some struggle with motivation and staying focused when tasks don't require the use of these.
3. Emailing - Students can email any other student in the school, for the most part this has been a great tool however there have been one or two instances where students chose to do the wrong thing.
4. Twitter - I have really been awful with my Twitter account this year, I have struggled to find the time and interest to keep up with it.

I am always interested in finding new and exciting digital tools and resources so please share some of your favourites with me below.

Twitter for professional Development

Twitter is an amazing tool for developing as a professional in a professional learning community, making connections, sharing ideas and collaborating with other schools, teachers and leaders within the education sector.

I had a personal twitter before beginning my first year of teaching, but deleted it because I felt there was no use for it other than reading the daily screeds of what people were doing. At Ulearn2012 my mentor teacher encouraged me to sign up and use it for professional development. I signed up, but initially laughed off the idea that it could be used as a teaching tool. I have since moved on from this initial thinking and love having an online community of experts at my finger tips.

I use twitter to get ideas for various curriculum areas, find new and relevant professional readings, online discussions and debates with  fellow teachers on topics that affect our students right now and to network and grow my own professional learning group that caters to my needs.

It is almost funny when I meet these people at P.D. days that I have conversed with so often online but only know them by there twitter account name.

Follow me: @kasseylee11

If your not sure on how Twitter can be useful for you check out some of the videos below: