Online CPD
I started hosting online meetings during lockdown to share my passion as I love doing CPD. However, I received requests to share them further so I decided to load them all online!
I hope you find them useful. Below you will find sessions on different areas of representation, the importance of language that we use, and also a number of videos on the NCETM’s approach to Teaching for Mastery. As much as the sound quality is a little poor, if you are short of time, I would start with the “Teaching for Mastery? How about Teaching for understanding?” and then watch the further videos on each of the five big ideas.
As always, any feedback or thoughts, please do get in touch.
This session came about when I was feeling a little lethargic after xmas and was itching to get back to work.
I really believe in consistency in departments when teaching maths. One teacher uses one rule in year 8, and then a different teacher in year 9 says something different. Which one uses the proper vocab, if either? Is there a preferred method used in the school? Should there be one? Have tricks been taught that inhibit conceptual understanding?
As such, I put a tweet out asking what is it that teachers have said that they shouldn’t say? What methods (tricks?) have we used that we now know didn’t encourage proper understanding of a topic? Most commonly, people suggest KFC for dividing fractions as a commonly used trick? What about the use of the word “diamond” when we should be saying “rhombus”
This session covers the responses I received which took me into some very interesting research papers.
If you want to see my presentation of this at MathsConf23, please use this link (it was probably a better version!) View the presentation here.
This webinar was on Algebra Tiles – these have changed my teaching and are ridiculously effective in helping students overcome misconceptions with algebra, and support conceptual understanding
The video will consist of an introduction to their use, as well as their use with brackets, factorising and collecting like terms.
Given its content, I would suggest this is particularly useful for KS3-4 teachers, but a number of KS2 teachers told me it was useful to them also
I hope this will be of interest to any maths teacher who wants to start including more representation into their lessons, with this session focusing on bar modelling. The content mostly used topics within the key stages 2 and 3 curricula, but I hope all maths teachers would find the presentation of interest.
I try to introduce the many uses of bar modelling in many different topics as well as its use as an amazingly helpful tool to aid problem-solving, whilst including a little bit on cuisenaire rods and how they could be used to support progress in the classroom.
This session delved deeper into how I like to use algebra tiles, and looked at introducing integers and the four operations (although I actually used double-sided counters for these!)
In addition, it covers substitution and some solving equations also.
Given its content, I would suggest this is particularly useful for KS2-4 teachers.
REFERENCES
Ideas and screenshots taken from: “Great maths teaching ideas” by William Emeny http://www.greatmathsteachingideas.co…
I invited two colleagues (primary and secondary) that I really respect to join me to share how they plan their lessons. We analysed and discussed the similarities and differences between the two school phases, whilst also being able to share some fascinating ideas for all maths teachers to find interesting and I hope learn from!
Helen Hackett (@HyperHelga) is an SLE with huge passion for her role supporting primary schools as a maths consultant across the country. She is an NCETM PD Lead as well as TfMastery specialist, leads maths across her multi-academy trust and participated in the first Shanghai exchange with the NCETM.
Alan Bannister is an enthusiastic, experienced teacher, and has been Head of Department in two different state secondaries, teaching both mixed-attainment schools as well as in selective schools. He specialises in the history of maths, and A-level curriculum provision. He is also course leader for the Prince’s Teaching Institute’s “New Maths Teacher” subject days, and, in his own words, “a connoisseur of fine Maths jokes and punnery.”
A session I delivered for ATLP primary and secondary schools on the NCETM’s 5 big ideas on Teaching for Mastery in Mathematics.
Excuse the poor quality sound – will be investing in a better mic!
Many of the resources I used can be found at www.ncetm.org.uk
Also, do please access Education Endowment Foundation (2018), Improving Mathematics in Key Stage 2 and 3. Available at: https://educationendowmentfoundation…. (Accessed 21st April 2020)