Posted on 04 May 2011 - 8:04 AM
Kia ora and welcome to the Assessment/Mathematics Pedagogy Working Party Blog.
Please feel free to add our thoughts to our discussions.
For us to be able to identify what we need to do to enhance Mathematics learning and our teaching, we need to know what we want for, and expect of our students.
What educational outcomes (in Mathematics) do we value for our students?
Comment by Bruce Henderson on 13 May 2011 - 12:18 PM:
Wow! Glenda Anthony was a delight. I was chuckling and grinning all the way through her presentation yesterday, and wanted to hear more. There was so much that I instinctively knew was dead right, and what I've always believed were flaws in the structure and pedagogy of the Numeracy Project. It was great to hear of research that confirmed it.
It does however give rise to the question: "Where to from here?" -how do we take what she told us (and demonstrated) and integrate this into our programmes?
I understand that Glenda is heading away on a Fulbright Scholarship very shortly, and that she is already very heavily booked -so is there someone else on her team who can pick up for us and put time into the Cluster?
Comment by Kaye Brunton on 16 May 2011 - 8:58 PM:
Glad you enjoyed the presentation Bruce! Yes, everyone...where to from here??? What do we want now???
Comment by Sue Brown on 20 May 2011 - 8:48 AM:
Not sure about the cluster as a whole but..some very attainable steps we could all take to move us on - at least a little! Think carefully about the delivery of maths keeping in mind the BIG IDEAS and constructing WALTs accordingly.We're often narrow and limit students exploration with some of the WALTs we use.
Rethink what group work really is - Glenda reminded us again that it's more than proximity and individual responses.Planning some truly cooperative maths tasks, at least sometimes, is something we can all do. to challenge kid's maths thinking and provide opportunities or rich discussion.
And - probably most controversial - reconsider the streaming of students for maths, thinking about the equity issues Glenda reminded us of.
Comment by Jess Ward on 20 May 2011 - 9:51 AM:
I found Glenda enlightening and engaging. Her talk certainly gave us lots of food for thought with regards to our own practice. Her perspective highlighted many of the things I've long questioned about the Numeracy Project and if the opportunity arose to listen to her again, I would jump at it. Whilst I caution people to act immediately on everything she said, I believe there are many current practices in mathematics teaching which we need to actively reflect on. I particularly appreciated her views on 'ambitious practice'. Thanks to the cluster team for arranging this superb speaker!
Comment by Rod Gilman on 21 May 2011 - 9:19 AM:
I found Glenda’s presentation thought provoking. I would not want to think that people would take from it a justification to abandon the numeracy project. I think the main point she was making was the need to engage students in the thinking and understanding behind the strategies they are being taught. The intent of the numeracy project is to expose learners to a range of strategies that will increase there understanding of numbers and operations. The difficult arises if the strategies are simple taught a series of methods that children have to learn without the development of understanding. In today’s world there are better ways to find the answer to number problems than to use a mental strategy or a “pencil and paper” method. Technology has replaced this need but it has not replaced the need for people to have an understanding of number operations, decimals, fractions, integer, percentages, ratios, etc.
Comment by Jess Ward on 20 June 2011 - 11:06 AM:
Read "The Numeracy Project Delusion - When theory dictates practice" by Kevin Jephson in June issue of NZ Principal
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