'What We Think About Our Maths Learning'

These are comments made my some of my students from my maths group at the beginning of this practicum. (It has taken me a while to upload as it is the first time I have use iMovie...that in itself was a learning curve for me!) We discussed what they enjoyed and would like to change in terms of the structure of these sessions, half way through the unit. They said they liked using materials, including math games, and having whole group hands-on discussions. They were unsure what they would like changed, but they did make the suggestion that when some people understand the concepts and other's do not, then maybe they can help each other.

This feedback was hugely beneficial to modifications for the following sessions. I took on board all of their suggestions, and began including math games at either the end or beginning of each group session. We then started using these with the whole class. I made sure each of the following sessions used materials and had enough for each student to use them in pairs, enhancing their idea of those who do understand helping those who are still unsure. We kept up the whole group discussions and I tried to ensure every student was contributing and justifying their thinking. Their idea of buddying up to help those who need further guidance was enhanced when completing independent tasks; when one student finished and felt confident, they would help a buddy who was still practicing and wanted some assistance.

This feedback is further being enhanced in my whole class mathematics planning and teaching. I am trying to use as many materials and visual aids as possible. When I cannot find appropriate materials, we draw the images (for example, drawing circles and dividing into parts to represent fractions, or using scrap paper as a folding tool to compare sizes). Whenever materials are used, engagement and achievement levels increase substantially. Next week, each session focuses on a different piece of equipment (deci-pipes, hundreds blocks, and number lines). It will be interesting to see how this works with the whole class rather than single groups. I also try to include a quick game at the end, but often we run out of time. Next week I will try to allow time for these games. I am also maintaining lots of group discussions and collaboration in terms of assessment, feedback, and sharing ideas. This means students are responsible for helping other group members in their learning and assessment processes.

I will aim to collect further feedback from students to see how I am progressing and where else I can make modifications to better cater for their interests, needs and abilities.

Week Five - Full Control Planning

This week's overall topic continues on from last week - The NZ Flag Debate. I originally planned for this to only be a topic for one week, however all students were very interested in this topic and it worked really well with all learning focuses. It also became clear that there were gaps in their learning in some areas, so the original plans needed to be adapted and extended for another week. In reading we will continue reading articles about the debate but move the focus towards comparing and contrasting different viewpoints, and may try to use 'kahoot' to create quizzes on the debate. Writing will continue with creating a persuasive piece of the flag, but focus on setting individual goals and group assessing at the end of each session. Maths will focus on the survey and bar graphs they made last week about what our classroom thinks about the debate, whereby we will learn how to analyse and convert the data into fractions, decimals, and percentages. Inquiry will continue with the cultural music focus, with an aim of bringing that to an end this week and being able to move into sport next week. There should be plenty of variety and group work this week, ensuring engagement levels remain high and their achievement of all learning intentions persists.

Here are links to each area's weekly overview.

Reading ; Maths ; Writing ; Weekly Overview

Week Four - Curriculum Area Reflections & Assessment

Here are links to my on-going reflections and assessment for each major curriculum area - Reading, Writing, and Maths.

Writing ; Reading ; Maths

Personal Goals Heading Into Week Five

After completing my first week of full control, I have set three main goals in my teaching to focus on for this week.

Firstly, I aim to include roles within group activities. I believe strongly in collaborative group work and have begun including this in every learning area for discussions, inquiry, and formative assessment. I have discovered that especially in discussions, it is always the same students contributing ideas and that I do too much of the talking. I want them to initiate these discussions and feel confident in contributing. Through assigning roles, every student will have a responsibility within the group. It will be interesting to see how these discussions progress throughout the week, and I will reflect each day on how this strategy affects engagement and achievement.

Secondly, I want to focus on having strong conclusions at the end of each lesson. Assessment is one of my overall goals this practicum; reflective activities at the end of each lesson will provide an insight into students' views on their learning and will assist formative assessment. There will be a focus on peer and self-assessment. Learning intentions are expressed in a questions form, so at the end of lessons students will reflect on this question and answer as much as they can. They will discuss their learning with peers, assess each other's learning, and have specific roles in groups for what aspect of the learning they will assess for each group member (ie in writing one will edit language, another paragraphs etc). I often forget about the end of lessons and run out of time, this week I will aim to use the last 10mins for reflection.

Thirdly, I need to further progress towards my behaviour management goal. Some students can be quite disruptive and detract from other students' learning. I need to trial a few different strategies to see if I can grasp their engagement for longer periods of time. Enhancing roles within groups and giving them specific responsibilities may support this. I also need to remember to focus on the positive behaviours. If someone is being disruptive, do not let that become the spotlight. Quietly ask them to bring their work and sit next to me (if working with a group) or give them choice to have 'think' time about their actions and choose to come back and participate in the learning. This way I can ensure behaviours are managed without detracting from the learning.

I will reflect on these goals daily and at the end of the week assess how beneficial they have been, and whether it has improved my teaching practice to better suit the needs of my students.

Week Four Reflection - Teachers Will Always Be Learners

This week I began my first week of full control; I was a bit shaky on Monday but slowly eased into it, and can confidently say my teaching has improved hugely over this time. We had three sequential days in the classroom, which is a rare occurrence for this class. I have learnt how important it is to include plenty of variety within their learning, especially in this particular school environment. I have also further developed towards my behaviour management goal, whereby it has become clear how important it is to have a growth mind set.

My planning for this week had an overall topic, the New Zealand flag debate. This integrated multiple curriculum areas. In reading, we read persuasive articles for and against changing the flag. In writing we discussed how to express our opinion and use facts and reasons to persuade others to agree, with the focus on forming an opinion about this debate. In inquiry we are focusing on cultural representation in art music and games so this tied in quite nicely, and lastly in maths we surveyed our peers about the flag, constructed bar graphs, and found fractions, percentages, and decimals of these graphs. Integrating curriculum areas assists learning in being authentic and meaningful to all students. The learning is linked and all follows the same purpose. Using this topical issue really engaged students and resulted in them wanting to participate in all aspects of learning. This focus will carry over into next week as well, due to aspects of planning not being complete and because there is so much more we can learn alongside this current and relevant issue.

I firstly learnt how valuable it is to include variety in the classroom. Each day had the same learning structure and topical focus, however the activities included a wide range. After reflecting on how Monday went, it became clear how important warm up’s are in every curriculum area to focus their learning, initiate their thinking, and settle them into the lesson. I began including quick 5 minute activities such as pair debates, oral and written games, discussions around the learning intentions, and co-constructing success criteria. The engagement levels increased immensely after focusing more thoroughly on these introductions, making it clear that I need to include these in my planning. We used lots of oral language to initiate written work; this age group loves to socialise so oral activities are highly engaging and great warm ups to focus their thinking. Reading included various articles, a mixture of guided and independent work, as well as using the ‘Zaption’ interactive video online tool to create questioning videos related to the flag. This tool was a risk; technology has not been used in literacy in this classroom before, plus I have never used Zaption. However, after having a look around it myself I knew it was something these children might enjoy, so I took the risk! Turns out it really paid off. We ended up spending the whole afternoon using this tool, making our own interactive videos and completing each other’s. The engagement level was extraordinary, and it clearly showed in their learning progress. I will continue to include warm up’s, oral language, and variety in my planning to ensure this level of engagement is maintained next week.

In our weekly team meeting, a major focus was on behaviour management strategies. These teachers all have one or two really difficult students in terms of behaviour issues, and have got to the point where they are completely stuck; struggling to think positively, and relationships are being hindered. They discussed different things we can do to prevent these behaviours.

The first thing that stood out to me was the quote ‘behaviour grows where the attention goes’. I have always been an advocate for positive reinforcement rather than dwelling on the negative behaviours. However it is vital not to ignore these. We need to focus on the greater good and those students who are doing the right thing, however if someone is being disruptive to others’ learning then we cannot ignore it. It was suggested to give this student ‘think’ time; they need to take responsibility for their actions. Rather than getting into an argument with them, firmly but calmly tell them to bring their book to you and sit next to you, or wait outside until they are ready to participate. There are ways to deal with these behaviours without detracting from the positive vibe we want in our classrooms.

Secondly, they discussed ‘fixed versus growth’ mind-sets. As a beginning teacher, I am always striving to improve my practice and believe I do maintain a growth mind-set. However, it became clear how easy it is for experienced teachers to get stuck in their ways and hold a fixed mind set without realising. If there are behaviour or learning issues in our classrooms, somebody needs to be the adult and take on the responsibility to adapt. If it is not working, then it is the teacher that needs to take a step back, reflect, and adapt their approach to suit the behavioural and learning needs. There is no use in thinking it is the student that is the problem; chances are it is the strategies being implemented that are the problem. It is crucial for me to be aware of these mind-sets and ensure I always uphold the growth mind-set. It is all well that I have that frame of mind now because I know I am still learning. However, teachers are always learning; it never stops. Every child is an individual and there will never be one way that works for all students. We will continually be adapting, every year, every term, every week, and every day. Maintaining a reflective and growth mind-set is crucial for all teachers.

Next week I continue with full control, and the planning will be continued with similar focuses to this week. I will strive to include strong warm up’s and conclusions in all lessons and continue to include lots of variety daily. A new focus for myself is the introduction of roles in groups. Every lesson will be structured around groups, teamwork, peer assessment, and all having a specific role and responsibility within their groups. This will ensure every student is participating and contributing to their own and each other’s learning. I will also aim to maintain my reflective approach, and try to seek feedback from my students about their learning and my teaching strategies. My confidence will continue to grow, and I am sure this will reflect in the engagement and achievement of all students.

Week Four - Full Control Planning

I have begun full control, so my planning now consists of overall units that are split into weekly overviews. Here is an overview of my planning for the week for each main curriculum area. The topic focus this week is on the NZ flag debate. We are focusing on persuasive writing and will work towards writing a persuasive piece either for or against changing the flag. Within that they are reading articles about the debate to identify the author's opinion and reasoning. In mathematics we are learning about fractions, decimals & percentages, so at the end of our 3 days in class they will conduct surveys to see what each student believes and why, graph the data, and find percentages and fractions of their graphs. Many changes have occurred over this week already, so at the end of the week I will upload all of my on going reflections that have resulted in modifications being made to this planning.

Numeracy ; Reading ; Writing ; Whole Week Overview

Week Three Reading Group Reflections & Assessment

Here is a link to my reflections and assessment of learning from week 3 with my reading group. Next week I begin full control so will not be able to complete specific individual student assessment. I will still be tracking their progress but in a more simplified way.

Reflections & Assessment

Week Three Reflection - Behaviour Management Development

Another eventful week has flown by, and I am beginning to settle in to this school environment regardless of the obstacles I have already faced. Last week I learnt about the importance of looking after myself; this week I implemented it. I have been overworking but I believe I have now found a balance. I start each day fresh with a positive attitude, do not take extra occurrences personally, and ensure I have some down time to myself outside of school. I have had a larger teacher presence in the classroom this week; I had full control of inquiry and assisted more than just my own group in maths and reading. Next week I begin a two-week period of full control, which I am very excited about and feel prepared.

One major learning curve this week was in regards to my behaviour management goal. I am a positive and calm person; I do not like to raise my voice and prefer to give students responsibility for their actions rather than telling them what not to do. This personality trait means that behaviour management has always been a difficult aspect for myself as a teacher. I only experienced negative reinforcement through my schooling and only had minor behaviour issues in my placement last year, which meant that this was a perfect goal for this placement. There are multiple behaviour issues in this classroom and they are all used to being growled as punishment, which means it has been difficult to implement by philosophy within this behaviour management. However, my associate teacher is very aware of this difference between our styles and she encourages me to use strategies that reflect who I am. I have been doing this throughout, but this week it became clear I am making progress. When students are off task or being disruptive I tend to ask ‘what are you supposed to be doing? Are you being respectful and responsible?’ or I give them choice ‘You can either choose to participate in the learning, or go and wait for me in the cloak bay.’ If they continue to be disruptive, then I follow up with the correct consequence. I am still at the beginning of this development, however it is clear that it is becoming effective in the classroom. One area I need to be aware of is not coming across as confused. I am a student teacher and still unsure about some of the procedures. In my mind, I thought it would be degrading if I were to call on another teacher to carry out the correct procedure. I discussed this with my associate teacher and she made it clear that when a major incident occurs and I am unsure, firstly clarify the decision the student has made (ie ‘Your final decision is to be disrespectful towards myself and not participate in PE? If so, then I will need be getting __________ ‘), and then get another student to get either my associate teacher or the team leader. When these situations arise, I will take this feedback on board and make this next step towards achieving my personal goal.

Questions often come to me spontaneously and naturally. I thought my technique was effective last year, however it is clear that this strategy needs to be adjusted depending on the students. One thing I have noticed is that when I form discussions with my reading group, they are too teacher-led. I firstly thought this may be a result of students being unengaged, but I have discovered that students are engaged and listening to the discussion. They do contribute throughout and display understanding, however their responses are short and they do not ask any questions themselves. When I critically think about it, I question whether maybe students do not feel safe enough to ask these questions, might lack understanding of expectations and purpose, or are unaware of how to expand their ideas. I have tried to find ways to make discussions student-led, but it is clear that the things I try do not work as well as I firstly think. Next week I will ask my associate teacher to observe these discussions and seek her feedback for how I can have less of a lead role during them and encourage students to ask questions. Maybe I could work on this as a comprehension strategy?

Overall, my teacher presence has extended hugely and this is showing in the students’ responses towards myself. They show respect and enjoy having me in the classroom. I have built strong learning relationships with all of them, know the structure of the classroom, and have developed behaviour management strategies, so this should form a good foundation towards taking on full control. I will focus on increasing student engagement in each lesson and try to make discussions more student-directed, whilst figuring out how I can bring my teaching philosophy into this classroom environment. My confidence is improving, my professional development is growing, and I am getting closer to becoming an effective teacher each and every day.

Week Three Reading Group Overview

Here is a link to my planning for week three for my reading group. The main focus is on identifying the main theme in texts. We are moving towards persuasive writing so trying to link in emotive language within reading and writing.

Reading Plan Week 3

Week Two Reading Group Reflections & Assessment

Each week I will post the ongoing reflections and modifications I make based on the original plan. Here is a link to my ongoing reflections of the learning and my teaching in reading from week two. It also includes formative assessment of each student against each learning intention, based on my own judgements.

Reflections & Assessment

Week Two Reflection - Importance of Seeking Feedback

This week has been another very eventful week; to be honest it has been quite overwhelming. I have been battling tiredness and headaches due to being unwell. I have also been struggling to fit in to this classroom; my teaching philosophy and style is very different to my associate teacher’s approach. However I have come to realise that diversity in teaching styles is beneficial. I can learn from my associate’s expertise and grasp the opportunity to bring in my own modern teaching styles to this classroom environment.

I have firstly learnt that using a variety of teaching approaches is crucial in catering for varying learning needs and abilities. Decimals can be a difficult concept to grasp; it lacks meaning in their lives and is very difficult to visualise. My class is not used to working in groups or having materials to support their numeracy development, however I strongly believe they are crucial in being confidently numerate and understanding ‘why’ rather than simply ‘how’. The decimal unit I am teaching follows the ‘Numeracy Project Strategy Teaching Model’, which is a new approach I am bringing to the classroom. However as a result of the three lessons this week, it is clear that this approach is appropriate and beneficial to the needs of my students; they need a visual aid to make connections and maintain engagement.

One major learning curve for myself as a teacher in these numeracy lessons is the importance of making connections to every day lives, and having realistic but high expectations. Decimals are a very difficult concept; my approach of using materials is assisting their understanding. I thought that as long as they had a visual aid then it would not take very long to develop and learn how to apply this knowledge. In reflection most students have only confidently achieved two of the learning intentions. It is clear my students are still finding it difficult to grasp this knowledge and apply it in other problems, so something needs to be modified in my approach. I struggled to realise how it could be changed as this seemed like the most effective approach to me, which encouraged me to seek feedback from my students and my associate teacher.

My associate teacher firstly indicated that the expectations I have might be too high. These students are all below standard and have troubled backgrounds; I need to take this into consideration when setting my expectations but not use it as an excuse. She mentioned that we needed to focus on scaffolding them towards understanding the fundamentals that they need to progress forward, rather than expecting them to develop the knowledge and apply in advanced situations. This clearly indicated that I needed to reassess my expectations and move towards a focus on developing the basic knowledge and applying this in meaningful problems, without trying to push them too far. Once they have developed this competently, then we can re-evaluate and extend them further. She secondly suggested connecting to money; they all know the value of dollars compared to cents. Through doing this the learning will be meaningful and relevant, which has the potential to guide them towards understanding these concepts in a much easier and authentic way. In the next half of my unit I will take on board this feedback and try to connect the learning to their lives and set realistic expectations.

I also turned to the students in my group to see what they would like to continue in our lessons and what could change. They were positive and said they really enjoyed using materials, having games, and working as a group rather than independently. This is very different to the classroom teachers approach; they are used to whole class written teaching, so it was beneficial to hear that they enjoy group work and hands-on learning. They then mentioned that we could try pairing the students that understand the concepts with those who do not; to see if peer guidance may support everyone’s learning. This feedback really broadened my views and gave an insight into how I could extend the one’s who do understand whilst still scaffolding those who need more practice.

A second learning curve is the importance of looking after myself. I am so passionate about teaching and always put everything I have into it; sometimes we need to take a step back. If I am not in good health, then I will not be equipped to support my students sufficiently. I had a bit of a tumble this week. I have been unwell, causing myself to be tired and lacking energy in the classroom. However, I continued to push through. On Wednesday it was clear I had pushed myself too far and reached breaking point; a situation arose and I was unable to cope when usually I would have been fine. I took a step back and realised that if I was not in a good headspace, then there is no way my class would be supported as well as they should be. I need to learn my limits and make sure I give myself breaks when possible. Teaching is my passion and all I want to do is support children’s learning in a meaningful, safe and engaging way. However, I will not be able to uphold this if I do not look after myself throughout the process.

This week has been a bumpy ride, but I have learnt so much. Seeking feedback is crucial in adapting my teaching to best suit the learning needs. Without it, I would continually stay stuck in my own ways. Most importantly, I need to find my limits and ensure I do not push myself too far. This profession can be demanding; if we do not look after ourselves, we will struggle to manage and will be unable to sufficiently support our students.

Reflection On Students' Learning - Decimal Maths Unit

Here is a link to reflections from each lesson in the decimal unit.

Reflection One ; Reflection Two ; Reflection Three ; Reflection Four ; Reflection Five

Week Two Reading Group Overview

My reading group planning will consist of weekly plans with around three lessons. It is often that some weeks we may only get through two lessons, and others we may be able to have four. Focusing on having an overview for three lessons provides flexibility as I can modify the plan after each lesson. These modifications will be published on this blog at the end of each week, to show what I planned for and what actually happened. Here is a link to this weeks reading plan.

Week Two Reading Plan

Reading Group Observations and Assesment Week One

Here is a link to the initial group discussions I had with my reading group. The discussion was based on my associate teacher's overall plan, and gave me an insight into how I can extend their learning; this group would become my reading group.

Week One Reading Assessment

Decimal Unit Plan

Here is a link to my first Maths unit for this practicum. It is based on an assignment for University that needs to focus on a 5 session unit around an aspect in number. My students are focusing on decimals and it is clear they are lacking knowledge to be able to apply this to additive strategies. The focus for this unit is to develop their knowledge of place value and extend them towards applying this in the additive strategy of place-value partitioning for addition and subtraction. I will carry out ongoing reflections to adapt and modify the following sessions. These reflections will be posted on here throughout the teaching sequence. 

Maths Unit Plan - Decimals

Week One Reflection - The Power of Relationships and Attitude

My first week on practicum has had its up’s and down’s, and most definitely has involved a huge amount of learning for myself. Most importantly, it has shown me the importance of student feedback in my development, building strong relationships, and having a positive attitude.

I arrived on Monday and spent the morning getting to know my students, and letting them get to know a bit about myself. Students then collaboratively decide upon the most important characteristics of an effective teacher. I was very surprised by their responses; I assumed they would identify personality traits. However, planning and communication were the most evident in their responses. These students clearly appreciate having a teacher who is organised and plans appropriately to the level of their needs. They also believe teachers need to help students understand the learning through effective communication. Intertwined with these is the need to have a sense of humour and a helpful nature. This firstly exemplified the type of teacher I need to be to suit these students. It also demonstrated that they have a very clear idea of what they appreciate in a teacher; their feedback is crucial to my professional development and ability to enhance their learning.

Relationships are vital in teaching; I have always believed and valued this. From one week in a classroom with children from low socio-economic backgrounds, it is so clear how crucial these are for the wellbeing of all students. Some of these students have tough home lives, lack confidence, and have minimal support. Having strong classroom relationships will ensure they enjoy learning and feel appreciated regardless of their backgrounds. They need to feel safe, supported, and valued. If we do not take the time to get to know them individually, we will not be able to connect their lives to the learning to make it meaningful. Without authentic contexts, how are we supposed to support motivation and success in every child? I believe that we need to support children holistically before we can support their academic skills. Relationships are key to creating safe and supportive classroom environments. If we successfully create this classroom culture, then we can make learning meaningful and support students to reach their full potential through intrinsic motivation; they need to believe in themselves and know how to learn.

The most important thing I have learnt this week is about attitude. There are various behavioural issues that occur in this classroom; one day may run smoothly, the next may be disruptive. It became so clear halfway through the week that the teacher’s attitude could make or break the day. Students’ know if you want to be in that classroom and can easily sense whether you believe in and trust them. We need to leave negativity from our personal lives at the door. If we have a negative mind-set, there is no doubt this will transfer to our students. Every child comes to school to learn and be supported. Seeing students engage in the learning and enjoy being in the classroom is the reason we are in this profession. We cannot risk being the cause of negative actions. Regardless of how yesterday may have been or any events that occur, each day needs to be a new day. Every time we enter the classroom it is crucial to be positive, happy, and confident. If we do not uphold this, how can we expect our students to?

I do believe I have built strong relationships with each of my students, and I will continue getting to know them further in the weeks to come. They respect me as a teacher and know I will support their learning, as well as learn from them. I have learnt to take each day as it comes, and most definitely always be positive, confident and supportive towards every student and their learning.