(Term 3 2018) Maths Successes




ERO created a 68 page document in 2014 (see link above)  to identify what schools around NZ did to be effective in accelerating student progress in mathematics.  
Honor Ronowicz, our maths facilitator, has been helping to create change in how teachers at our school teach maths.  It came to a point that no matter what PD we did around maths it did little to change the outcomes for our students. This need for more extensive PLD was triggered by my attendance at an ALiM.   The professional development Honor has provided (along with the maths leadership team) to our school is well-planned and targeted for the needs of our staff.
This PLD was designed to improve the teaching of maths in our school from year 0 to year 6.  It became a more collaborative approach to how we used to teach maths. That we as a staff had a collective responsibility to improve our teaching.  Like schools elsewhere we decided that it was teachers who needed extra support to deliver maths in a way students could access easier. This has taken years.  We are in our third year of transforming how we teach maths. And it has taken until now for the ideas around effective teaching pedagogy in maths to become embedded in our practice.
Strand work was looked at in greater detail though PACT.  We had a year of unpacking how we could improve the teaching in these areas.  More work needs to be done. But that will be for another time and teaching inquiry I expect.  
My syndicate team revised our long terms plans and looked for areas where we could integrate maths into other learning areas.  In effect, I totally changed the way I taught maths. This included the introduction of mixed ability group instruction when problem solving using authentic rich maths in contexts relevant to my classrooms and students.  
I use talk moves to as a strategy to deliberately teach the kids how to engage in problem solving discussions.  Wait time, is on my part something I am continuing to work on. Workshops are then used to teach processes that students need extra support or practice with to help them participate challenging tasks and to help clarify their ideas.
This type of problem solving groups has the knock on effect of preparing the students to help them set goals.  They have an idea of what they need to improve upon. This is a next step for me. Presently I have students working on setting knowledge goals.  But having them aware of the hierarchy of the efficient use of strategies when reflecting and sharing in mixed ability problem solving groups means they are better able to recognise achievement and progress.


There is still lots to be done.  Another future focus area will be to actively involve families and whanau from our community to seek their perspectives.
But for now it is important to reflect on how far we have come and improved our delivery of teaching maths to our students.  It is also time to take to take stock of what I do as an effective teacher in maths and how I can not only sustain but grow my capabilities in this area.

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