Mathematics-N.Z.E.I Professional Development

On Wednesday 9th August I attended a Mathematics course by Audrey Tan through the N.Z.E.I free professional development intiative. I loved the positive mindset she had about maths-"your brain grows when you make a mistake." Audrey presented us with research that showed how low NZ performance is in maths compared to other countries. I liked this quote "If a child can't learn the way we teach, maybe we should teach the way they learn." She suggested a simple recipe that results in rapid improvement. Step 1. Efficiency and accuracy with the 4 basic operations. Step 2 Word problems and applications (instead of teaching strategies). Step 3 Whole class teaching Step 4. Explicit instruction/student practice. I think we are covering the 4 basic operations well in the junior school. We are teaching the children knowledge and strategies through the new Numeracy framework. The children encounter word problems for these 4 basic operations throughout their instructional maths lessons. They have time to practise with 5 questions to prove it afterwards. I really liked seeing problem solving in action on our visit to Hoon Hay School which I think ties in well with this P.D lecture. I am keen to give this a go and would like to start with 'Mrs Johnston's Laundry.' I enjoy both whole class teaching and ability grouped. I think a mixture of both would be good for the students. Mostly our strands are taught as a whole class which does work well. Audrey suggested many ways why whole class teaching is very beneficial in increasing student engagement and teacher contact time.