GTP Maths Day IV

The mathematician returns!

Turning point has positive

x value

Turning point has a

positive y value

y-intercept is positive

Aims for today

• To present information on relevant areas of mathematics

• Assessment: Why? What? How?

• Impacting attainment

• To look at different ways of approaching learning within mathematics

• To do some mathematics

Homework Task from last session

• To work in pairs and research one of the following areas of mathematics.

• To produce a 10 minute presentation (in which everyone talks) on your dedicated area of research

• To produce 1 hand out sheet encompassing the most relevant ideas.

Pairs…..

• Functional Skills – Ivor B & Victoria M• APP - Judith F & Susie S• Entry Level Maths – Anita D & Daniel S• Bowland Maths – Rob F & Faye W• Alternative Courses for GCSE - Ian F, Richard J & Gary P

Success Criteria

• I have researched one of the following areas of mathematics.

• I have produced a 10 minute presentation (in which everyone talks) on my dedicated area of research

• I have produced 1 hand out sheet encompassing the most relevant ideas.

Aims for today

• To present information on relevant areas of mathematics

• Assessment: Why? What? How?

• Impacting attainment

• To look at different ways of approaching learning within mathematics

• To do some mathematics

Assessment

• Why?

• What?

• How?

Mathematics: Understanding the score (2008)

• The fundamental issue for teachers is how better to develop pupils’ mathematical understanding. Too often, pupils are expected to remember methods, rules and facts without grasping the underpinning concepts, making connections with earlier learning and other topics, and making sense of the mathematics so that they can use it independently. The nature of teaching and assessment, as well as the interpretation of the mathematics curriculum, often combine to leave pupils ill equipped to use and apply mathematics. Pupils rarely investigate open-ended problems which might offer them opportunities to choose which approach to adopt or to reason and generalise. Most lessons do not emphasise mathematical talk enough; as a result, pupils struggle to express and develop their thinking.

• Assessment has a vital part to play in building pupils’ understanding of mathematics but it remains an area of weakness, particularly in secondary schools. This is not just about lesson objectives, questioning and marking, but about seeking and acting on clues from pupils’ responses and their written work, noticing early errors and the sticking points that hold back learning. Teachers need to see the learning from each pupil’s viewpoint and then use activities that progressively challenge their thinking.

• The frequency and quality of homework varied widely. The tasks set for homework rarely captured pupils’ imagination or extended their learning, concentrating instead on pupils practising taught skills. While this is important, since pupils need to be fluent in skills if they are to have the intellectual space for thinking when they tackle more complex or unusual problems, it should not be pupils’ only experience of independent work. An example of homework being used constructively was the setting of a small amount after every lesson. This helped pupils to reflect and build on what they had learned and, in the following lesson, to ask for help with any difficulties, ensuring that they did not fall behind. Some teachers used the problems posed in the closing minutes of a lesson creatively, requiring pupils to work on them before the next lesson, when they became the starting point of that day’s learning. One pupil said, ‘We don’t get any homework in our set. We were supposed to use [an online revision service] but we didn’t, so the teacher gave up.’

• The use of self-assessment, a crucial part of pupils taking responsibility for their own learning, is improving slowly. It is more advanced in primary schools but often still in its early stages. Good practice during the survey included meaningful reference to the learning objectives during the lesson as well as thoughtful use of checklists and regular assessments to aid pupils’ understanding of their progress and attainment. But much of pupils’ involvement in self-assessment was relatively superficial: pupils showed their understanding and confidence through systems such as ‘traffic lights’ and ‘thumbs up’ or ‘thumbs down’ but, because pupils wanted to succeed and were eager to please, some signalled their understanding too readily when using such systems. Sometimes they confused ‘understanding’ with knowing how to carry out the steps of a taught method independently. This blurred the usefulness of their self-assessment.

assessment for learning

• Sharing Learning Objectives; • Effective written and oral feedback;• Peer and self assessment; • Effective plenary;• Questioning skills.

• Misconceptions;• Follow up to past papers and revision tests.

Marking

Attainment

variables• Innate ability & prior attainment • The class teacher• The head of department• Ethos of school – head/senior management

team• Lesson planning• Quality of resources • Scheme of work• Range and appropriateness of teaching styles• Interactive teaching• Use of ICT • Assessment for learning• Using and applying – problem solving

approaches• Independent learning• Thinking skills• Starters and plenaries• Past paper practice• Attitudes to mathematics• Behaviour – rewards & sanctions• Mentoring• Links to real world – business & industry

• Homework• KS2/KS3 experience• Enrichment• Single gender classes• Mixed ability• Early entry -

acceleration• Modular scheme• Diagnosis of

weaknesses• Time taught in week• Class size• Size of school• Private tutors • Parental influence• Revision programme• Use of data• Intervention strategies• Deployment of staff• CPD – departmental

INSET• Collaborative practice• Specialism – SSAT

dividend

impact on attainment (SSAT)– the magnificent 7

• The class teacher• The head of department• Range and appropriateness of teaching and learning

styles • Scheme of work and quality of resources • Effective use of ICT• Assessment for learning• Use of data and consequent intervention strategies

“The teacher’s job is to organise and provide the sorts of experiences which enable pupils to construct and develop their own understanding of mathematics, rather than simply communicate the ways in which they themselves understand the subject”

OFSTED 2008

Functional Maths

Learning

Different ideas

Elements of a Thinking Maths Lesson

Concrete Beginnings

A clear starting point

Informal Jottings but NO formal note-taking

Bridging – Linking to different contexts

Other TM lessons / maths lessons /

subjects

Teacher Facilitating Collaboration &

Provoking Conflict

Discussion

Small Group & Whole Class

Reflection