“Children are always learning.” Rebecca Brooks, The myth of ‘catching up’ after Covid-19 As restrictions continue to ease in NSW, I have resumed some of my support and professional learning with primary schools via Zoom. One of the first things I have been reiterating to teachers is, don’t feel the pressure to ‘catch up’. My…
I love checking Twitter daily to read about what’s happening in classrooms both locally and internationally regarding mathematics education. I find great new articles about mathematics research, see amazing tasks and engaged students, observe innovation in action, and collect ideas that I can use with young students as well as with in-service teachers and pre-service…
This week my blog is inspired by a lovely Twitter post by @johnqgoh (principal at Merrylands East PS) and the discussion that followed regarding mathematics-focused picture books. John shared images from a book called A Million Dots by Sven Völker. A beautifully illustrated picture book that explores the growing pattern of doubling. Michelle Tregoning (@TregoningMich)…
As students start to return to school one day a week and then full-time, teachers will be spending much of this time re-assessing what students know and planning future teaching based on where to next. When it comes to mathematics, identifying students’ prior knowledge is essential as mathematics concepts build upon each other. Identifying key…
In a time when everything is being home delivered, I thought I’d take this opportunity to remind teachers of the online courses we have available through our website. Annette just launched her first course Talking about Learning and wrote about it in her blog from a few weeks ago. I have written 10 courses about…
In these current changing times, learning online has rapidly become part of our students’ lives. One element of using technology is accessing games. In the physical classroom we utilise mathematical hands-on games to engage students, practice important number sense skills, and to provide opportunities to develop critical thinking skills that many games (within their strategic…
This week’s blog is to assist parents and carers who are WFH and helping children with learning from home. A friend of mine who is a primary school principal contacted me this week with a request for mathematics activities/games/sites that are easy for kids to complete independently but still educationally sound. I think this is…
In these uncertain times as teachers, parents and carers prepare for learning from home, I thought it would be good to share some strategies to keep young students engaged – particularly in mathematics. Keep it short I remember somewhere along the way in my teacher education degree being told that to work out young children’s…
Keeping up with current research is an essential part of any teacher’s pursuit for improving practice. Our learning isn’t over once we graduate from university, in fact it is only just beginning. Although much of teaching is about on-the-job learning, we must also continue to adapt our teaching to suit the differing needs, interests and…
Teaching is hard work, and learning isn’t easy. It is time to appreciate the complexity of the job and to talk about the real purpose of education, to improve student learning. Actually, it could be better phrased as to improve an individual’s learning. Something that all teachers work hard to achieve. To help students move…