ETL421- Assignment 2

Documentation- Teaching context

My teaching context is based upon the year 5 class that I taught whilst on placement. The students come from various socio-economic and cultural backgrounds (mainly Asian immigrants), with very different academic needs and abilities. There are some students who have weekly tutors, therefore exceeding beyond their academic level, whilst others struggle to comprehend even the basics, such as reading simple words or writing simple sentences and thus have problems applying what they are taught to the task at hand. The level of comprehension in this year 5 class varies from a year 2 level up to a year 7 level, therefore needs to be taken into account when developing classroom activities, that are designed to meet the ACARA framework.

Original Activity:

The original task (Appendix 1) was previously designed pre-placement for the year 5 class and was based upon ACARA framework- Compare 12- and 24-hour time systems and convert between them (ACMMG110). The task reflected the Learning By Design model (Vygotsky), which enables learners to apply teachings to real life situations. This activity employed the use of multimodal texts and resources. Asking the students to design their own bus schedule reinforces their learning and ability to apply what they learn in class to real world situations.

Before entering into placement it was assumed that the students could:

Use days of the week, months of the year, seasons and calendars.

Tell time to the minute and use ‘past’, and ‘to’ for analogue and for digital clocks. (http://www.amsi.org.au/teacher_modules/time.html).

Hence developing the original activity in regards to comparing 12 and 24 hour time, which assumed that all students were taught based on the same curriculum framework and that a majority of the students were competent in the before mentioned points.

Redeveloped Activity:

After reflection and consolidation with my mentor teacher and other colleagues I have redesigned the task towards more collaborative work that is based on students’ individual needs and less time on IXL. My mentor teacher Ben Higgins (mentor teacher)advised that a pre-test would be most beneficial in planning the lessons. Therefore upon introducing the notion of time to the students, they were asked to complete a pre-test (Appendix 2). Ben mentioned that "we are not just teachers but we are also facilitators, therefore we need to not just teach the children what is in books or in the framework, but we need to engage them and encourage them to develop their own style of thinking. The students need the chance to be able to explore and utilise what they learn in the classroom into their everyday lives in order for teaching to have a meaningful impact."

Effective Teaching in Mathematics

Pre-tests are beneficial in allowing teachers to see if what is being covered in the lesson or unit is already mastered. ‘They can be extremely effective tools and are an excellent way for teachers to grow in their field’ (Pratt et al., 2000). By providing students with pre-tests and using that information wisely, you can give students productive and more individualized instruction.

Through the data collection from the pre-tests and IXL tests, it was determined that the class needed to be split into four groups based upon their academic abilities.

As a result of the pre-test, the class was split into 3 groups based upon their level of comprehension. This demonstrated which students need more attention for scaffolding and which students may just need revision of prior knowledge.

Group 1 - students needed more individualised, focussed attention.

Group 2- students had an average range of understanding that was expected for their age level

Group 3- students were exceeding above their age level.

The relevance of having the ability to measuring time and understanding about the duration of time are fundamental life skills. It is the ability to understand how calendars work, how the days, weeks, months and years are planned, and the relationship of time to our everyday routines helps us in our work and our leisure. Communicating with other people about time in context is extremely important ( http://www.amsi.org.au/teacher_modules/time.html )

Teachers need to be devoted to enhancing a range of social outcomes within the mathematics classroom that will contribute to the holistic development of students for productive citizenship. In such an area, students are then able to think, communicate, reflect upon, reason, and critique the mathematics they encounter and the classroom becomes a means for developing their mathematical competencies and identities.

Students may one day need to know how to read a bus timetable, a flight itinerary or work in a field where they only use 24 hr time such as the health/defence field. As many students have already decided on which high school they will be attending it will be vital for them to know how to read and understand a bus timetable.

The following improvements of the original classroom activity have been redesigned to:

* Fit into the Australian teaching context

* Find a suitable pedagogy for my teaching context and subject area

*Harness the special potential of the visual mode (as suggested in Assignment 1 feedback)

* Promote greater awareness of an area relevant to my teaching. (Refer to previous assignment)

(Removal of IXL from the activity as it may be too overwhelming for the students and take the focus away from the overall outcome.)

Part 1: Modify the activity to fit into the Australian teaching context

For the subject area (ACMMG110) Comparing 12 and 24 hour time and convert between them an example from the ACARA website (Image 1),

(www. acara .edu.au/curriculum/.../ac_worksample_mathematics_5.pdf )

Students were asked to create a timeline that depicted a typical day in their lives and use 12 and 24 hour time and record their day using both digital and analogue time. This task was used as a level of scaffolding to help build on prior knowledge.

(Image 1- activity sheet for timeline)

Part 2: Find a suitable pedagogy for my teaching context and subject area

Effective teaching pedagogies, which incorporate multiple teaching strategies that support connectedness to the real world, intellectual engagement, encouraging classroom environments, and recognition of difference, should be enforced across all key learning and subject areas. Having an efficient pedagogical practice improves the students and teachers confidence and their sense of purpose for schooling. It also builds confidence in the quality of learning and teaching at that school for the wider community and stake holders.

(http://education.qld.gov.au/curriculum/learning/teaching/technology/pedagogy/index.html)

The Constructivist approach, which is based upon observation and scientific study of how people learn, demonstrates that people construct their own understanding and knowledge of the world, through experiencing things for themselves and reflecting upon their experiences. It is only then that they are able to apply their knowledge to the real world. This approach means that learners are building an internal connectedness to prior knowledge to make sense of it all (Borich et al, 1997). Having said this, the students need to form a relationship with the knowledge they have already sustained and use this knowledge with new knowledge to make sense of it all.

Partners and small groups

Working with partners and in small groups can aid students in seeing themselves as mathematical learners. This type of arrangements can often provide the emotional and

practical support that students need to clearly understand the nature of a task and identify possible links to progress further. Having pairs and small groups are beneficial for increasing engagement, encouraging higher level thinking and initiating mathematical argumentation and validation. Hunter (2005), comments that effective teachers provide students with opportunities to work both independently and collaboratively to make sense of ideas. Hunter. It is thus the teachers’ responsibility to ensure that the students engage in roles of listening, writing, answering, questioning and critically questioning for the lesson to be most beneficial.

The transcript provided demonstrates a mini lesson that was conducted with the group 1 students when completing the 12-24 hr time comparison chart (appendix 3). The transcript provides detail on how students question the teacher and other students in the group to reinforce their understanding.

Ok, so as a group we will be working through this chart to fill it out. Now how many hours are in a day?

Student 2: There are 13, oh no I mean 30.

Student 4: NO, there are 24 hours.

Thank you Student 4. Student 5: I have already started filling it out.

Student 5, please wait so we can work through it together to make sure that everyone has a good understanding of how it works. Can I have hands up who here already has an understanding or can see a pattern in the chart?

Ok so everybody now knows that there are 24 hours in a day, but on a clock it only shows up to a number 12. That’s because you can either read time in 12 or 24 hour time. It is more common to read in 12 hour

Student 6: Army time.

time but in some jobs people need to know how to tell 24 hour time. 24 hour time is also known as something else, does anybody know?

Good try, it is also known as ‘Military time’, but yes they do use it in the army and in other jobs like nursing.

Can anybody tell me what they notice about the time in both groups?

Student 4: Why is there 0000 in the 24 hr side?

Does anyone have the answer to tell student 4? Student 5: My Dad told me that it was because it is the start of the day, there is no 2400.

Good, thank you student 5. So as you can see I have highlighted half of the chart. Does anybody know why?

Student 3: Is it because the dark part is the morning and the light part if the afternoon?

Yes it is. So what is another way of writing/saying morning or afternoon when we are talking about time?

Student 4: AM and PM.

Ok so we will now need to work through the chart. Are there any questions before we start?

Student 2: Why do we need to learn this?

Student 2, you need to know this because one day you might need to use it. You might like to catch a plane to go overseas or catch a bus to go to your high school. It may not seem as though you will use it now but in future you will need to know it.

Well then, pay attention. So the task today is just for me to see and make sure that you understand the difference between 12 and 24 hours. We are not going into too much detail yet as I want to see that you can fill in this chart correctly, then we will talk more about how to work out 24 hour time.

So now fill in your chart and at the end we will go through it to make sure that everyone understands the idea. When you have finished wait quietly for the others to finish.

Student 4: Because you don’t know how to tell the time properly and you don’t listen.

Student 2: Yeah, I want to go to Vietnam and visit my family.

Student 5: Well, I don’t really know the pattern I can only see that the left side goes up to 12 hours then starts again. The right side goes up to 23 hours, then 00. The left side stays the same like on a clock but you have to change the right side and I just use the write the number that comes after the other number

Student 4: That’s how I did it too.

Ok, Student 5 because you have already started can you please explain the rest of the group the pattern and how you have worked it out.

Ok good, so does everyone understand how student 5 worked out the answers? Any questions? It’s good to see that you all have understood the task. We will work on this more next lesson.

Part 3: Harness the special potential of the visual mode

New technologies

There are so many new technologies out now that are useful resources and can benefit the teacher greatly, especially in mathematics. The teacher has an interactive whiteboard which was beneficial in teaching the students about time and allowing them the opportunity to come up and share with the class their working out. “These dynamic graphical, numerical, and visual applications provide new opportunities for teachers and students to explore and represent mathematical concepts” (Thomas et al, 2008). With support from teachers, technology can assist with independent inquiry and shared knowledge building. These technological tools can assist students in linking maths with the real world. The use of You Tube was also very beneficial and was played to the groups of students to demonstrate how to work out 12 and 24 hour time (Appendix 4). There is an array of helpful teaching videos can assist in making the learning more engaging for the students.

PART 4:

Having pedagogical content knowledge is crucial at all levels of mathematics and with all groups of students. It has been established that teachers who have a great deal of knowledge on a topic can become competent on procedures and are able to extend and challenge student ideas. They use their knowledge to make decisions about tasks, classroom resources, talk, and actions that feed into or arise out of the learning process (Thomas et al, 2008). With that being said, teachers with limited knowledge tend scrape the surface of various concepts instead of creating wider connections between facts, concepts, structures, and practices (Thomas et al, 2008).

I feel that in the assignment 1 the task was very structured and did not allow for the students to develop their own ideas or express their creativity therefore hindering them from creating a wider connection. I feel that through my completing my practical placement I was invited to conduct more research and was able to reflect/discuss with my colleagues. This given me to opportunity to grow and develop a better understanding of what is expected of me as a teacher and how I can be more of an attribute to the students’ lives in a more practical and engaging classroom. I believe that through this assessment I have enabled the students’ ample opportunities to discuss and share ideas with peers, for questioning and validation. New technologies and multimodal texts have been incorporated as helpful resources to ensure that the classroom is an engaging and enriching environment, where students will further develop their learning experiences.

Redirection:

Numeracy is the foundation of mathematics which provides students concepts and skills to prepare them for everyday life. Therefore, it is important for students to have the mathematical knowledge behind them to problem solve in any given situation. Lessons need to be delivered in a variety of ways to help each level of ability apply their understandings.

As my mentor teacher told me on placement “Teaching is an ongoing journey of making mistakes and learning from them to improve on your teaching strategies in the classroom”. If something doesn’t work the first time round go back to the drawing board and try to improve on it through research and discussion. There is an abundance of resources out there that needs to be utilised in the classroom to ensure that students are gaining the most out of their classroom experiences.

APPENDICES:

Appendix 1: Previous Assignment ETL 421- (Assignment 2 was formed from the structure of Assignment 1. The lesson idea was further developed with enhancements and removal of previous ideas to ensure that it would have a beneficial impact on the students and target individual’s needs).

The lesson will be based on the framework from ACARA - ACMMG110- Compare 12- and 24-hour time systems and convert between them. Students will be learning to tell the time with the assistance of visual aids.

Consolidation

Curriculum area: Time - compare 12hr and 24hr time

Objectives:

1. Identify that there are 24hrs in a day

2. Understand the difference in writing AM and PM

3. Design a bus schedule using 24hr time as a game board to complete with friends.

A clock will be introduced to the class that demonstrates both 12 and 24hr intervals. Teacher to explain that 1pm in 12 hour time is the same as 13:00 in 24 hour time. Students will then be asked to complete activities on IXL (interactive math's computer program), in relation to time. Their results are summarised in the program. Once students have completed the program and it is clear that they have an understanding of the concept, they can then start to design a bus schedule. The teacher will provide them with an example of what is expected. For instance, if the time is 15:00 where is Sue expected to be. Students are to then prepare a board game and share with class mates. This is reflected through the Learning by Design material, which is applied appropriately enables learners to apply teachings to real world situations. This activity does employ the use of multimodal texts and resources, by using technology the students in this modern generation are more engaged and the use of designing their own bus schedule reinforces their learning and ability to apply it to real life situations (Vygotsky).

Appendix 2: Pre-test

A pre-test was sourced to gain a better understanding of each student’s competency level. By providing students with pre-tests and using that information wisely, you can give students productive and more individualized instruction and assists with further data collection.

Appendix 3: 12- 24 hour time comparison chart

The time chart was developed to provide students with a visual of 24 hour time. They were able to apply their understandings of time to the chart and use it for further activities.

Appendix 4: Reading Time in Different Clock System - The 12 Hour and 24 Hour Clock System

REFERENCES:

Importance of visual aids in schools, accessed 8/10/14

http://www.christianschoolproducts.com/articles/2007-December/Departments/Visual-Teaching-Strategies-for-the-Classroom.htm

Maths year 5, accessed 9/10/14

www. acara .edu.au/curriculum/.../ac_worksample_mathematics_5.pdf

Pedagogies in Mathematics, accessed 10/10/14

http://education.qld.gov.au/curriculum/learning/teaching/technology/pedagogy/index.html

Teaching mathematics in primary school, accessed 10/10/14

http://www.amsi.org.au/teacher_modules/time.html

Borich and Tombari (1997) Educational psychology : a contemporary approach. New York : Longman

Hunter, R. (2005). Reforming communication in the classroom: One teacher’s journey of change. In: Clarkson, P. et al., eds. Building connections: Research, theory and practice (Proceedings of the 28th annual conference of the Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia, pp. 451–458). Sydney: MERGA.

Pratt, C. C., McGuigan, W. M., & Katzev, A. R. (2000). Measuring program outcomes: Using retrospective pretest methodology. American Journal of Evaluation, 21(3), 341–349.

Steinberg, R. M.; Empson, S.B.; Carpenter, T.P. 2004. Inquiry into children’s mathematical thinking as a means to teacher change. Journal of Mathematics Teacher Education, no. 7, pp. 237–26

Thomas, M.; Chinnappan, M. 2008. Teaching and learning with technology: Realising the potential. In: Forgasz, H. et al., eds. Research in Mathematics Education in Australasia 2004–2007 (pp. 165–193). Rotterdam: Sense Publishers