Maths PD with Jo Knox - Part 2

Our series of PD's we've had with Jo Knox have been really useful in terms of content knowledge and also a reminder for all the things we need to consider when planning our maths lessons for our students.

One of the 'gems' I got out of the PD was the use of the IKAN test. Hearing from Jo that the 3 second rule was a bit unfair to measure students knowledge against put my mind at ease. Jo also shared how using the IKAN test papers after being marked was a useful activity. Getting students to revisit the questions they got wrong and quickly see why, and whether they need more help with it or it is something that can be corrected easily.

Here are some more highlights from our PD:

• Mathemagic time! - Have a go!
• Aligning NZ Number Framework, Curriculum and National Standards
• Explaining formative and summative assessment using the garden analogy
• Using a Spidergraph for GloSS and IKAN

Below are slides Jo Knox shared with our staff.

               

CoL inquiry - Term 1 Highlights

The end of Term 1 is actually here!! As the term draws to an end, I have been trying to take stock of what changes I have made in my teaching and how I deliver mathematics to my students. Not only that, but also making week by week behavioural and learning observations in trying to find out what is making it so difficult for students to retain number knowledge as they move up through their years at school.

In my previous post, I shared a slide outlining the outcomes of my CoL (and school) inquiry. Some of the main points were:

• YES! - devoting class time to practising number knowledge makes a difference
• Students need a repetitive cycle of maths vocab, materials and use of scrap paper in their daily learning of maths.
• Students are stuck at the 'imaging' stage for fractions of numbers. They always revert back to drawing a fraction then sorting out the numbers into that fraction. (This is instead of using timetables knowledge to find the missing numbers)
• Familiar context of questions helped students understand questions better - therefore they can focus what is happening with the numbers more.
• A mixture of engaging activities (both hands on and online) are needed for my lower learners - even though they were not in my priority group.

So for the last two weeks of school, I have been trying to gauge what have students have picked up so far and where do I need to go to from here. One of the things was an IKAN test which was shared in my previous post and as I commented, although not everyone of my priority learners made a shift, you can easily tell by talking to them in their group that they have a better understanding of place value and fractions.

Now the big test was to see if students were able to transfer this knowledge by using it in strategies to solve questions in the Gloss test. Here is an example from one of my students and the gaps we are looking to address throughout the year.

This student is still going with his test, but already I can see where I need to address first - Proportions and Ratios - Fractions. Our work on fractions in class obviously hasn't made any shift for this student so I need to analyse why that is and pose more similar word problems for him to practice over the break. This is good for me to find this out now so I can plan for it next term.

Highlights for Term 1

• Maths PD by Jo Knox
• Priority learners engaged in their learning 
• Compiling evidence of students learning on video and on paper
• Making learning REWINDABLE for ALL my learners!
• Using digital affordances to support my teaching and helping to scaffold student learning
• Sharing our inquiries in staff meetings as well as CoL meetings so we are held accountable for what we say we are going to do. 
• Learning conversations about what's worked and new things to try from PES staff

Where to next?

• Collate learning evidence & data to analyse
• Plan according gaps and learning needs identified - Look back at PAT data
• How else can I help to 'increase the achievements of Year 7&8 learners in maths, as measured against the National Standards and agreed targets.'

Making learning rewindable through digital affordances

As my inquiry is coming towards our end of Term 1 check point, I have practiced using more digital affordances to support the "Learn, Create and Share" in maths. Initially my understanding of this was very narrow/ black and white and thought that it excluded using pen and paper for maths. I felt constrained to thinking only towards "Teaching above the line". This is referring back to Dr Reuben Puentedura's SAMR model shown below. Teaching above the line looked at the second picture shown below.

  

This lead me to have discussions with my peers. In this example of students in groups "learning, creating and sharing" you will see the use of hard materials to learn and share understanding. Digital affordances such as videos showing tutorials, and learning made rewindable through presentations are integral supports to our learn, create and share practice.

In guiding my students towards a learning goal together with trying to accelerate the rate in which they are learning, I have found that hard materials, captured digitally by students through photos and videos, shared digitally empowers the learner. It empowers them in that they can rewind and reflect on their learning well after small group work including hours outside 9am - 3pm.

So check out some of our learners in Room 5. Here are Tape Measures group mapping out their thinking using pen and paper. Now it's also part of their learning, made rewindable on our class site. The engagement levels and progress made were sky high!!