Effective Practice

What have I done to effectively change the practices in my classroom?

Google Forms

Going into Maths this year, I wanted to make sure that my learners felt good about Maths. In the past it hasn't had great attitudes towards it. The first thing I did was put out a Google Forms to my class asking them questions like what did they actually know, what did they feel comfortable with, what did they actually like about Maths, what they didn't like about Maths, and what can the teachers do to help you learn in Maths. Some of the responses I got included "make it more fun, more activities to do, more tasks", and I had one stick with me - "sometimes Maths time confuses me, can we just do the same things?"

Filling in the Google Forms

Maths Tumble

So then I thought about my lessons. I agreed with this student. My lesson did need to be more structured, setting a routine that they will understand and won't confuse them. I created a Maths tumble to ensure that they always had access and a daily visual of what they needed to be doing. I then found that the rotations needed to have equal times. This way they wouldn't spend too much time on one thing, and not enough time doing another. I found a timer on Youtube that I could use, and eventually used learners in my class to be in charge of it. This gave them some sense of independence, ownership and they were using their learning opportunities wisely. It also held me more accountable for how much time I was spending teaching each group, and what I actually needed to be focusing on in each lesson.

Caxton Educational Books

Over the past year, I have been making sure that I am more familiar with the Numeracy Project booklets. By doing so, I was able to understand the distinction between Number Knowledge and Number Strategy, and also learn the different learning stages. I knew I also had to become more familiar with the NZ Curriculum Mathematics (Caxton Educational textbooks), not only at the level my learners should be at, but also the levels below and above, so I am able to see what my learners need in order to move on to the next level.

Google Sheets tool

Rebecca Henderson and I have been working together to create a tool. This tool is being made on Google Sheets. We are both making similar tools, but at different levels. We played around with the different features and formulas on Google Sheets, and found that if we selected a box, typed in =RANDBETWEEN(1,9), it would randomly change numbers in that box every time the document is opened. If we typed this formula in between a problem, or even as an equation, it was like a generated worksheet. Rebecca and I discussed what needed to be on the Sheets - what would our learners need to see? We thought that they would need to see a learning intention, an example of what they are doing, and the fresh set of questions.

I have introduced the first set of Sheets that I made to my class. It's amazing to see how competitive they get. They write the questions down, write the answers, and then they will bring it to me to mark it. They have that sense of empowerment that they are able to do things, and they are getting better at it. 

I still have a long way to go, but it is working in my classroom. I can't wait to see the long-term changes that it will make in my childrens learning.