NEWSLETTER

TEACHING & LEARNING Edition #21

26th Sept – 10th Oct 2016

LESSONS FROM THE FRONT: Y6 MATHS

Investigative Questioning I didn’t see Kristen tell her students a single thing through-

out the lesson. Questions like ‘How do you know? ‘What did you do next?’ ‘How many agree?’ ‘Is there another way we

could do that?’ ‘Who can help make this answer even bet-ter?’ ‘What do our success criteria say?’ All guide students

to investigate the topic while maintaining high expectations

and encouraging independence. Instead of telling her students the rules for finding angles,

Kristen asked them to do a practical activity first, then asked them what they did and how it could be improved. She

asked specific students and then ticked them off on her seating plan to ensure she kept track of exactly where each

student was.

Students had real control over their learning in this lesson.

Firstly, students determined their success criteria for finding an-gles. Kristen didn’t tell them a single step. They wrote these in their rule books.

Then, they hunted for shapes around the room and chose which they wanted to measure.

Thirdly, they were excited to be able to self-differentiate which activity they tackled. Miss Bauer gave them a choice of 4 levels of difficulty to start at, as long as they got their worked checked before they moved on. I could hear students excitedly discuss-ing with each other which level they would start on.

Please send any contributions, tips and ideas to the Education Development Department or to athene.church@educoreservices.com. We have some wonder-ful practice going on in our classrooms, and it is very powerful when shared. Your expertise is our most valuable resource.

Seating Plan—

I loved how the seating plan is used in

this class. Each week, Kristen prints a

fresh seating plan. She uses it as a weekly

progress check, writing reminders of who

she’s called on, their Cambridge grades,

comments on their progress and targets.

These records are not only invaluable in

her planning, but also a great help in end

of term reports.

Show Me boards—

Here you can see the class

holding up their responses to a

progress check on their own

mini whiteboards. This class is

very used to using mini white-

boards throughout the lesson

to practice skills and do progress checks. These boards are great because

they allow the teacher to see at a glance exactly where each student is.

They can be used in an infinite number of ways, and enable peer assess-

ment and support.

If you don’t have access to these

boards, there are many other ways you

can either make similar, or do different

instant progress checks in your les-

sons. Here, Y6 shows thumbs up/

thumbs down to demonstrate their

own assessment of their progress.

This week marks the first in an occasional series spot-lighting the great practice going on in our classrooms. Today, we visit Kristen’s Y6 Maths class. Y6 are near the beginning of a topic on angles.

STUDENT CHOICE

Try to visit each other in your classrooms at least once a term—observing other’s practice has the highest impact our own.

Look at these clever standing desks. In Y6’s classroom, there are not enough stools for everyone to sit down. Stu-dents have to negotiate with each other to get a standing or sitting desk. Not only is this great for health but also teaches them valuable social skills.

STRAIGHT FROM THE HORSE’S MOUTH! “In Y6 I really try to encourage a high level of inde-pendence and responsibility. I like giving them some freedom in choice to challenge themselves with a higher level task. Often times my lower achieving students will go for something more difficult and because they are motivated to succeed, they do succeed. That's rewarding for me to see. I've also worked hard to incorporate regular move-ment in my class. When it's time for Maths the chil-dren know to go to their assigned partner and choose a place to work. Obviously I can intervene at any point, if necessary. I try to remember that they are only kids and can't sit for too long, so we move from the carpet to desks and back again throughout our lesson. It's chaos at first but if you enforce your expectations it will run smoothly soon enough. I even like to send them outside for a walk or jog when we shift between two lessons. It gives them a chance to talk and a little bit of fresh air. Lastly, I guess I'm always trying to find new ideas; a new way to introduce, teach, or practice a particular skill. We, as teachers, just have to be willing to get out of our box and find some new things to try. I like incorporating very short videos to introduce or teach concepts, like how to draw an angle or explain why boats float. Kids do so much today on screens and with videos that I think it really keeps their attention and mixes up the delivery.”

“I see some of us are double checking our

work, that’s great”