Skip to main content

πŸ“ Weekly Report #26

As part of my NCETM course we had the opportunity to watch some videos of teachers from Shanghai teaching some concepts. 

It struck me the language they were using even for topics such as introducing what an angle is. New words would be introduced early on, clearly defined, backed up with examples and reinforced with students applying the word in context.

Consistent high level language that is built on as the topic deepens can then be used to avoid misconceptions and gives students and teachers a common language to be able to communicate effectively.

 πŸ”Š Listen: 
Becoming educated speaking to Michael Child's about his book The Sweet Spot. In the podcast the underlying focus was on optimizing teaching whether through improving your classroom layout or ensuring time is better spent on improving explanations than peeling displays for your classroom. Listen here.

 πŸ“š Read:
My blog on the benefits of using Ratio tables in the classroom. Over the next few weeks I will be posting some examples of how I use them to teach specific topics, first up is Speed, Distance, Time. Read it here

Popular posts from this blog

Literacy in Maths

I'm a Maths teacher, I teach numbers. Why is Literacy so important for me? Well….here's why: "Literacy is fundamental for success in school and later life. Students who cannot read, write and communicate effectively are highly unlikely to access the challenging academic curriculum in secondary school and are more likely to have poor educational outcomes across all subjects." (Link 3)  Unfortunately there are a lot of Maths teachers who believe (wrongly) that literacy is a thing that the English department do. They see it as a tick box for observations. Rather than being an essential component of students being able to learn maths.  -  So what does it look like in Maths? Answer the question: Blindle 4x + 6 Are you able to do it?  This is the challenge a lot of students face in Mathematics. Subject specific vocabulary can seem really confusing to a lot of students. Understanding what a keyword is asking of students is often the hardest part of a question and can hold s...

Percentages with Ratio Tables

What if I said you could teach your students one thing and they could answer everything to do with Percentages? Don't believe me? Let me show you: Finding a percentage of an amount Q: Find 20% of 925 Increasing/Decreasing by a percentage Q: Decrease 45 by 16% Expressing as a percentage Q: A cereal bar weighs 24g. The cereal bar contains 3.6g of protein. Work out what percentage of the cereal bar is protein Percentage Change Q: Rebecca bought a dress for Β£80.  She later sold it for Β£116. Find the percentage profit. Reverse Percentages Q: A car increases in value by 35% to Β£2500. What was its original price? Ratio tables can be used for it all. There is obviously going to need to be some further teaching about what an increase/decrease is, how to work out the multiplier etc, but it is a great tool we should all be using more often You may have worked out by now that I like using Ratio tables. 

England v Wales: Who teaches Maths better?

England V Wales: Who teaches Maths better? Times are changing in Wales, there is a new Curriculum focus and in Maths there are 5 proficiencies that the government want to see. Here's my take as a new HOD crossing the border from England. The Welsh government have overhauled the curriculum and not just in Maths. They have identified key statements of what matters and laid out principles for progressing in each subject.  Maths in every country is the same though surely.... Well yes... we still focus on Number, Algebra, Geometry and Statistics. But also no....in Wales it is mandatory to use their 5 proficiencies to progress students in Maths. This isn't an explicit thing in England. The 5 proficiencies are: conceptual understanding, fluency, logical thinking, strategic competence and communication with symbols Lots of big words. But if you dive deeper into the detail that the Welsh government provides on each of them it is no different to what the NCETM in England recommend with t...