I'm really starting to love maths now

It's a great day! One of my students turned to me this morning and said, "I'm really starting to love maths now." I really think it's because we're doing so much small group work and I've been able to really sit down with her group and help them use manipulates, draw diagrams and complete activities to really consolidate their understanding of equivalent fractions.

I had already planned to give out a maths attitude survey in the afternoon and that was very intersting! All students but one circled only positive words to describe how they feel abouts maths including positive, interested, confident, successful, etc. One girl wrote "maths magician" which I loved! She really impressed me this week as she was able to extrapolate rules to unfamiliar problems and I've never noticed her do that before. Even my students who find maths hard wrote positive comments including one girl who has not had a very positive attitude about it before.

I tell the kids at the beginning of the year that they will all love maths by the end of the year and it looks like that is coming true! I think particularly its because I love teaching maths and I think they genuinely pick up on that excitement but also because this workshop method is appealing to most of them.

One or two students wrote they would like to be shown examples first and have their first attempts checked. Amongst other things I have been using programs like StudyLadder where they can watch a video then try a follow-up activity or sometimes shown them general concepts (such as finding equivalent fractions for common denominators) then seen if they can apply it in a new way (adding fractions with common denominators - they have all mastered adding fractions with the same denominator) . I check the results and use the data to inform new lessons. The groups are flexible anyway but I've identified 3-4 kids who are capable mathematicians but would probably feel confident working in closer proximity to me so I can give a mini-check in at the beginning of the activity. (My focus group could do a quick warm-up). I will also plan for these 3-4 kids to have more teacher time.

Back to it....and loving maths!

It's been so long since I have blogged! By the end of Semester 1, I'd had enough of school. I managed to catch the flu this term then have neck/back problems which made it hard to spend any extended time on the computer. But I'm back to it now!

Last week I finally implemented a workshop model for Maths, inspired by The Caffeinated Teacher's  book study on Guided Math. I used to do this two years ago and I'm glad I started it again. After just a week, I have been reminded that it is a powerful tool in ensuring that all students are being challenged and gaining a deeper conceptual understanding.

We are studying fractions at the moment and I gave a pre-test by pulling together some of the most difficult questions from the associated assessments in their iMaths Assessment Tracker. Using this data and also my own knowledge of the students, I have been able to group each day in a flexible way. I <3 my kids as I just pull up a timetable on the data screen showing who is doing what and when and they quietly just move off and dive into it.


We still do our morning rotations about three days a week although sometimes I have to schedule it in for the afternoon! The students love the daily puzzlers and I have seen a marked improvement in their problem solving skills but also in their ability to write correspondent number sentences. With one group, this means they sometimes have to write simple algebraic expressions such as 2x + x = 15. All groups are receiving constant revision in the order of operations even though I haven't formally taught it this year. I highly recommend Laura Candler's Daily Maths Puzzlers to anyone who would like to introduce systemic and differentiated problem solving.



Another activity in the rotation is either playing games to revise number facts or to practise mental maths strategies. We now have half the class who have mastered their multiplication facts (at least 45/50 correct in under 3 minutes) and everyone else has made massive progress. Now that the students are more independent in their problem solving, I want to focus more on helping with their multiplication facts.

The last activity is either Words Their Way (even if we haven't had focussed spelling that morning), handwriting or lately I have been throwing in some games to reinforce number sense (particular for students who still find place value difficult).

I alternate weekly between calendar maths and explicit lessons on mental operations, again aiming to have a session at least three times a week. I wish I could do calendar maths every day and mental operations more frequently but there's not enought time. Nonetheless, I have again seen a marked improvement with the calendar maths. I used to have to sit next to a group of students and help them with every single question and they can now do so much more of it by themselves. Working with the large numbers has really reinforced an understanding of place value. I  have modelled mine on Calendar Math by Stephanie from Teaching in Room 6.

Finally, thank you to Stephanie and the other bloggers who are taking part in the Back 2 School Cyber Search. Your freebies are much appreciated - even though it's the middle of the year here!