Keep a bag of sugar on top
of your blackboard (or other unreachable place). It makes a memorable example of 1
kilogram.
We organise a residential
weekend for 15 pupils and staff. It's lots of fun. We join with another school and learn
from each other through the activities. It helps the department to develop. The Youth
Hostel at Malvern is good.
We organise Saturday morning
workshops in school for pupils, parents and their families and friends. An article in the
Birmingham Mail about it was good PR for the department and school. Aston Villa F.C.
donated tickets as prizes. The Titan business partnership also funded prizes. There are
two workshops each term.
Thanks to Liz from Aston Manor School for this idea.
Why not extend the
opportunities for learning mathematics by posting number sequences in different areas of
the school. Perhaps the seven times table could appear below the skylights of the long
school corridor so that pupils associate the numbers with places in the school.
Thanks to Ann from St Paul's Girls' School for this idea.
Did you know that most new
maths teachers mark their pupils' work twice! They walk around the classroom while pupils
are working and discuss the solutions to problems pupils have written in their exercise
books. That evening they take those same exercise books home and spend time putting red
ink on the pages.
Wouldn't it save a great deal of time and be more meaningful for the pupils if the teacher
took a red pen with them around the classroom while discussing pupils' written work. That
way at least half the marking will be done in front of the pupils.
Begin your
lesson with a
Lesson Starter not only for the learning benefits but also for the time
it will free up for the teacher to ensure everything is ready for the main
part of the lesson.
Year 11 after school revision
classes can be enhanced by showing extracts from the many GCSE revision videos currently
available.
Flat egg box lids help
quieten dice throwing activities.
Demonstrate the probability
line (from certain to impossible) as a washing line! Statements can be pegged out at
various positions along the line perhaps represented as items of clothing!
Conduct departmental or staff
meetings in a different classroom each time. Staff attending the meetings should have time
to admire the mathematical displays and the organisation of resources in the classroom.
As a school, join the
Mathematical Association or the Association of
Teachers of Mathematics. Their magazines and other resources contain a wealth of ideas
for improving your mathematics teaching.
Neil ... at Frankley High
has a word wall in his classroom with key maths words from the current and recent topics.
He changes it frequently to keep it up to date and refers to it during teaching for
current work and quick revision. Brian Wardle,
School Adviser (Mathematics) BASS
What a difference it makes
when your pupils have been trained to us the classroom properly. Pupils can
become more and more independent finding their own equipment stored around the room and
putting it away tidily saving the teacher hours over the course of a week.
Trish Morgan, Primary Team, BASS
Our Reading Enrichment
initiative has produced accelerated reading and writing for all our Reception-aged
children, and by comparing the results with those of previous years we realised that we
have improved on previous best. If this could be achieved in English. what could it do for
Mathematics?!!!
With so many areas of the curriculum to cover, time-management was at
the forefront of our thinking, and so the same principles that govern our teaching of
English were applied to the teaching of Mathematics.
Three times a week we focus on numeracy, and during the hour-long
sessions the children in both Reception Classes are divided into 5 groups. The children
move around the various mathematical activities provided for that week which consolidate
and challenge the concepts previously taught, thus developing continuity and progression.
During the week each group will benefit from direct input by the
Classteachers and Nursery Nurses as well as having the opportunity to work on their own. Independent learning is developed by
allowing each child to consolidate and practise skills already introduced. This is done in
pairs or on an individual basis. While this is proceeding other children will be
experiencing new mathematical concepts introduced by a member of the Reception team.
Staff are sharing their ideas and expertise with other colleagues
throughout the school. and the teaching has become more focused and beneficial to each
child. The children are enthusiastic about
this new approach and realise that Maths is FUN.
Don't forget to take time in lessons to
ask pupils to explain, in their own words, to the rest of the class how they solved a
particular problem.
Don't forget to save five minutes at the
end of the lesson to recap. Begin with the question "What did you learn today?".
"Lunch box" times tables -
establish regular time slots for learning tables - at home or at school.
Count everyday (Nursery/Reception)
Teacher makes occasional deliberate error
on blackboard... merits for pupil who spots the error first(keeps them on their toes!)
Conclude lesson in a positive way ...
Ask pupils to construct a mathematical
problem for other children to solve.
For pupils working too slowly, write the
time of your visit to their desk in their exercise books and mark the questions they have
done already .. tell them you'll be back in five minutes to mark some more.
If more than two pupils are having
problems with the same question. go to the black board and initiate a whole class
discussion.
Visitors to the classroom provide an
excellent opportunity for pupils to explain the mathematics they are working on.
Keep a pair of bathroom scales
and a 2-metre measure (attached to the wall) in your classroom so pupils always
know their height and weight in metric as well as imperial units.
The 24 Game available from
Summus provides a rich mathematical activity to encourage mental arithmetic.
Students can play against the clock, against each other or in teams.
Mathmagic is also fantastic to encourage the four rules of number.
Faye Linley
Don't be tempted to show a
commercial (unrelated to maths) video on the last lesson of the term. They
get enough of that at home. Try some
Fun Maths
instead.
In my Year 2 class I give table
groups the names of mathematical shapes. Items belonging to that table are
labeled with different properties of the shape. After that I use either the name
or a property of the shape when I bring attention to the table. The children
love the game and soon learn a lot about 2D and 3D shapes in a fun way.
Nigel Turner
Milk time, counting in various
patterns eg; every number, every other number distinguishing between loud and
quiet etc.. time the milk monitors, at end of week look at times which day were
they the quickest/slowest John Kervin
Vary your exposition with a
little video. Here are some
Maths
videos on YouTube.
