As a new year begins, planning and programming are often the focus for classroom teachers. It’s a time to try new things, adapt what has worked before, and think about what makes a great lesson. For mathematics, as with any subject area, flexibility is the key. Catherine Attard (@attard_c) provided some good advice regarding lesson…
Annette discusses the Mparntwe Declaration and ways we can work towards an improved education system over the next ten years.
When teaching writing to our students we provide time for planning. When teaching writing to our students we also allow for drafting and re-drafting of ideas, paragraphs, and plot lines. How often do we allow students to revise their thinking or work in mathematics? How often do we allow students a second or third revision…
Considering the interim report on the review of curriculum conducted by the NSW Education and Standards Authority (NESA), and putting it into a broader context.
Last week NESA (NSW Education Standards Authority) released the interim report on the curriculum review Nurturing wonder and igniting passion: Designs for a future school curriculum. This 131 page document presents a summary if initial feedback and early recommendations regarding the future of education in NSW. “The Interim Report is informed by a first phase…
This blog is the second of two reflections on the annual MANSW (Mathematical Association of NSW) conference “Mathematics: The greatest Show”, you can access the first blog here. Following on from the first blog, this reflection focuses on the keynote and a couple of workshops from Day 2 of the conference. Choosing and using problems…
Teachers are legally required to deliver the Australian Curriculum to our students, in some States this is through syllabus documents. The Australian Curriculum website includes support pages of content, achievement standards, and examples of student work. Each State or Territory also provides support material particular to that context; many are accessible online. Teachers can have…
This blog is the first of two reflections on the annual MANSW (Mathematical Association of NSW) conference. This year’s theme was “Mathematics: The Greatest Show” and it didn’t disappoint! What an amazing conference, ever year it gets bigger and better and the calibre of presentations and keynotes was out of this world! (I should save…
Last year I wrote one of my first blogs about the various ways to utilise the Coles little shop toys in mathematical investigations. You may now find yourself as a teacher or parent with an abundance of these little toys after the second release of the new items. Although they may have a bad image,…
In light of last week’s SMH article by Jordan Baker regarding private tutoring, I thought this would be a good opportunity to expand on some of the current thinking and discourse surrounding this topic. Being ‘for’ or ‘against’ tutoring is not the ultimate focus for this blog. In fact, as with many aspects of education, it…