Toolkits

STEM

I attended the STEM workshop at the Te Ara Tuhura Toolkits run by the Manaiakalani cluster. I had not done a lot in this area and so was interested in how STEM is done in a classroom setting. The teachers who took it dedicated a whole morning to this STEM activity. The environment in which they taught this was a bilingual one in which there were children from the age of 5 to 11 years.

The process in which they went through was provocation, planning, creating, sharing and reflecting. They came up with most provocations themselves or gained a few ideas from the internet. I found this interesting as I think for me this would be a challenge to come up with something each week. They said it becomes easier the more you do it and if you just think about the things that are happening then it will help to come up with something. I like the planning process as it was detailed and there was a criteria for them to gain more points. I think I would adjust this slightly as the year went on to challenge them more. I would also be clear about the roles in which they do to help ensure everyone participates.
During the creating process the teachers explained they do not spend a lot on the equipment given. This made me think that it is an accessible activity for all. The sharing part is important and very much fit it in with the Manaiakalani way of thinking with putting an importance on sharing. This was done orally, however this could be done in other ways as well. The reflection process that they have just put in place would be interesting with the young ones, but she said they sometimes just orally say it. The reflection side of things would just finish things off nicely for the whole process.
I can see how this approach can help with our work with the children on improving their collaborative skills. It covers many areas of the curriculum which is great. I would like to try this approach to learning at some stage and would enjoy the challenge of coming up with a good provocation.

I am an Educator , I am an Innovator

The Mantra of An Innovative Educator (Video)

November 21, 2016 by George

I watched the video for this and some things resonated with me. Some of the statements are something that I think about or currently do. At first I had to really think what and how these people are innovators as it is not something I normally would call a teacher or myself.
There have been many changes in education in the time that I have been a teacher and being open to new learning is very important. I believe I do this and and love hearing about what people are up to that is different and think that it is important to not think that everything has to stay the same. I admit there are a few things that in my years of teaching that I have liked and struggled initially to change. But I have pushed myself to get past this and have been rewarded with learning new things and making positive changes to my teaching.

Working in a collaborative environment really helps to establish important relationships with my colleagues. It also helps with challenging my ideas and helps to spark new ideas in my teaching. It is good to get different perspectives on things which you can get from your colleagues when you are working in a group.

After watching the video and having a think about what they are saying I am beginning to understand the statement I am an educator I am an innovative. 

"I listen and learn from different perspectives, because I know we are much better together than we could ever be alone. I can learn from anyone and any situation."

More Talking in Math Class, Please

by Jeannie Curtis

George Lucas Educational Foundation

In this article Jeannie Curtis breaks things down into three tips on guiding math talks. 

1.  Spend Time Discussing Just One Math Problem- The purpose of this is so that the children answer this question in depth and use more than one strategy. This reinforces something I already do with my children by encouraging them to use more than one strategy however they have not really done this in a problem solving approach. 

2. Use the Power of Think, Pair, Share- I have used this method many a times and can definitely see the benefit of it when doing problem solving. By doing this it is does allow children to have more time to think about their answer and to gain confidence before they share in front of the class. 

3. Take Advantage of Discussion Aids- Use math tools, visuals and language support. I really like the language support idea and I plan to use these sentences including some others I will look for. 

I see that you used Math Practice _____when you __________

I think it would be more efficient to ___________

I will use your strategy next time because ____________

The part of your strategy I do/don not understand is ____________

When I was stuck I ___________

The most challenging part for me was _____________________

A challenge I have is it is important for me to observe the children in their talking so I can have an understanding of where they are at in their understanding and how much maths talk they use. 

Something positive I got from this article was that the children listen, watch and discuss maths and the more they do this the deeper understanding they gain. When the children listen to their peers then they can see patterns and make connections. The children will hear other ways to attempt problems which will definitely help them and open them up to new learning. 

PBL Feedback

Today we did the process of Critical Friends model concerning our PBL driving questions. I wanted to write about this experience as I found it to be a professionally informative experience.
 After our team shared our PBL driving question we discussed how we were attempting to do this and our approach. It was good to have another conversation about our PBL and clarifying a few things.
The feedback and discussion by the other group about our PBL was very professional, positive and most importantly helpful. It made us think and clarify things for us and ensure we have a deep understanding of what we are doing by the other group asking provocative questions and giving  feedback. Sometimes it is good to be challenged a little on what you are doing and if done in a constructive and respectful way it can help with your thinking. I felt the feedback was not done in a negative way and was professional. It was done in a supportive way and with the help of senior management it meant it stayed on track.
Another really good thing about sharing our PBL driving questions is we learnt about what others are doing in the school. This time around we got to hear what the Year 7/8 classes were doing which was interesting to see how we are doing similar things but at different levels. It also helped us to discover that the year7/8 children could help us in our PBL.  It is nice to know what others in the school are doing and the fact that we are all heading to a very similar end. 
This Critical Friends model process  helps to form good collaborative relationships with all colleagues including across teams. I feel this process strengthens relationships and helps us to develop as teachers.
Overall I was pleased we did this process and hope that we continue to do this process for future PBL topics.



There are a number of articles on this approach- Critical Friends

Why Teach Problem Solving?

Why Teach Problem Solving? NZ Maths

I thought this was a good article to start with as it helps for me to gain more of understanding into why I should go on to teaching problem solving. If I am going to make this a part of my daily programme I need to be strong in my understanding as to why I am going to do it. 

This article mentions the theory of learning called Constructivism which is when we construct our knowledge through our experiences rather than absorbing what we are told. The opposing side of this is that the child is an empty vessel and needs to be filled. The author of this article says that we need to be looking at both approaches. It appealed to me as I believe that is true as yes a child can be an active learner but however they still need some knowledge. This reinforces the idea that we need to have problem solving as well as the curriculum side as well. I have had discussions with friends who's school has tried to do problem solving as their main approach to maths and this has had varying results. 

Some of benefits of problem solving according to this article are

• development on their current knowledge
• interesting and enjoyable way to learn mathematics
• teaches thinking, flexibility and creativity
• encourages cooperative skills 
• based on current knowledge
• similar in approach to the way that other subjects are taught in primary schools

That last point was an interesting view point that I had not considered. I can see how PBL can be similar to problem solving as there is a question and you are trying to find the answer. The skills of creativity, flexible, creativity and cooperative skills are very much skills we are trying to teach children and so this is a huge benefit to the children for them to be doing it in problem solving as it is what we are trying to get the children to do. 

I liked this article as it went over the difficulties of teaching problem solving. The difficulties being 

• It produces teacher discomfort
• It produces student insecurity
• It puts constraints on the curriculum and takes too long to teach
• It is not possible with students of low ability
• It takes a lot of preparation

I think that the article covered nicely how to compact this, however the low ability other than getting someone to read for them and going through a few at the start as a whole class activity in my opinion there was no great advice in this area. 

Overall it was encouraging to read this article to reinforce my idea that is will be good to include more problem solving in my programme. My question is how to do this effectively and I am keen for the children to improve on their math talk.

Energise Conference 2018

I was lucky enough to go to this conference in Rolleston and had the privilege of listening and actively learning some new things.

I learnt more about robots and how to include these into the  classroom programme. I liked how West Rolleston has sorted a progression for the computer science area. It states which robots they would use at which level. Although the children can use robots at lower levels if appropriate. I talked to Megan afterwards and she explained that the juniors tended to integrate where possible the robot work and the year 5-8 did computer science once a week for an hour. This was good to hear as I would love to do work with robots but just need to think how can it practically put in the classroom programme. I really enjoyed having a go with the robots and look forward to doing more of this in the future. 

Sketchnoting- Sylvia Duckworth-a name I knew and was pleased to meet this lady.  Sketchnoting is an interesting approach to taking notes. I am definitely a person who tries to take notes in a creative way and if you look at my notes you will often see me trying to be creative. I enjoyed learning about this and was lucky enough to hear from a few other teachers how they incorporate this into their programme. In my current class I have a couple children who would probably benefit from learning how to do this and would like to teach it to all the children as it is interesting way to take notes. I would love to get her book to get more ideas on how to do this and you definitely need practise this skill. Sylvia's final speech she talked about Why creativity Matters.  The three truths she talked about with creativity is,  it is good for mental health, has cooperative benefits and can be learnt. Creativity allows people to express themselves in different ways and can allow us to go further with our ideas. Being creative is a skill that we need and so what I need to ensure is I allow plenty of opportunities for children to be creative. 

Keeping Children Engaged and Achieving in Mathematics

I recently read some reports on teaching strategies and approaches that were observed in schools across New Zealand. This report shares some of the simple strategies used in classrooms where achievement in mathematics had been accelerated.
Some key things came out of the different studies I read

• Mixed ability groups-what the studies said in this area is that there are several positives to this approach. Benefit for more able mathematicians was that they think more deeply about alternative solutions. It helped with children who were not positive about maths by changing their thinking as they gained more confidence since working in mixed ability groups. These children were also able to experience a wider variety of mathematical strategies.
• Maths Talk-  A good thing that I can see from this approach is that they speak more maths talk. It is important that they are taught how to do this and how to approach the maths problem. If children share their approaches to a problem it will help them have a deeper understanding of what they have learnt. Children were noted to say that they liked being taught strategies by their peers because they found it easier to understand their language.
• Support- There is a need for some Professional Development in this problem solving approach  to ensure all teachers are on the same page in going forward. Parents/caregivers need to be aware of this different approach for maths and how it can benefit their child and also how they can help at home to support their child. 

I plan to get started on including more problem solving in my maths programme and reading this does certainly show some positives for starting this type of approach. I of course still admittedly have a few concerns about mixed ability but do like the idea of doing problem solving that is authentic and will give definitely give a go. I wish to get some resources in the area of teaching the children how to approach problem solving questions. I have found in what I have done so far they need some work in this area. 

 

Maths-New Way of Thinking

Well the start of another year and some exciting things to consider. Currently as a team we are looking at how we do things in the area of maths. This has lead to some interesting thinking that I have had in the back of my mind for around a year or so since I heard about different approaches. It is good to change things up and after looking at some statistics there is hard evidence to suggest another approach could be good.
I have enjoyed teaching problem solving, as I have mentioned before, when I was younger this was a real struggle for me as a young child and I don't wish to make this the case for other children. We are looking at how we could incorporate this into a daily maths programme effectively. The other part we plan to do as a team is to include workshops into the programme as well.

So after a good discussion on this as you can see from the whiteboard, we discussed some good questions and things to ponder on.
Some of the questions I have are
How do we ensure all children benefit from this approach?
How do I ensure that the children are supported in this new approach?
What resources are available to ensure the children get suitable problem solving activities?
What will workshops look like?

I liked how we discussed having some baseline data as this will be an interesting to compare with later on. Although the case study I read mentioned it is possible there will be small dip but getting information from our year 3 children and teaching them again next year may help give us some interesting results.

Here are a few things I am looking forward to seeing
- more maths talk
-children using maths in more practical problem solving ways
- hopefully more children speaking about maths and sharing their ideas
-more discussion about maths in everyday situations

I plan to read more case studies and generally find more information on doing workshops on the problem solving approach.

MATHS IS EVERYWHERE!