Where are you at?

 For every inquiry it is important to know where the children are at and how the children are working. 

As part we gathered data in term 2 to understand not only where children are working in terms of number knowledge but also how they can apply this in strand. 

It again confirmed that for my learners at year 4 there is a wide spread of knowledge and gaps that has a huge impact on children. On way in which we did this was by using e-asstle tests to provide a picture of where children were at. I read the questions when needed so that did not impact the test results. 

What we think Children...

As part of my Inquiry I worked with Hannah and Danni to create surveys for the learners,  Leadership team and children about maths at our school. 

By far the most interesting and influential of the surveys was reading what the kids had to say about their maths. 

What I found interesting was the level of recognition they had about their strengths and needs. Many identified the need for more times table knowledge and the attitudes of learner in maths were very different from the completely positive view the children had when we did a reading survey earlier in the term. 

I appreciated the honesty that come through when the children wrote about what they wanted their teacher to know. 

Below are the results from the Child Survey found here. 

What we think teachers...

As part of my Inquiry I worked with Hannah and Danni to create surveys for the learners,  Leadership team and children about maths at our school. 

It has been interesting to see what the teachers think are the key areas of need and to read descriptions of what is happening in each year level. 

What I found most interesting was that well teachers felt they were teaching basic facts with a whole class approach through song, movement, Xtramath, Mathwhizz. It was also an area in which they felt there was a big need for children that wasn't being addressed. 

They also mentioned the different between strand and number knowledge teaching and the pressure this creates for doing everything well which was similarly mentioned in the SMT survey. 

What I liked and appreciated about this was the clear links to what the children thought about their maths (although these were only year 4 learners) and what the teachers noticed as needs.  

Below are the results from the Teachers Survey found here. 

Teacher Only Day: Animate a Poem

To finish off a very informative day we had create workshops. In this time we shared ways in which we create with our student in Literacy and in responding to or engaging with texts. 

What I really enjoy about this time is have a chance to share practical examples of what we are actually doing in our classrooms. I love poems and it was great to share that with others. 

Causal Chain, So what?

 This year I have been looking at what I can do to support learners in maths when they have a varying degree of knowledge, skill and understanding. 

How do I make this fun and what do I need to do as a teacher to know the issue, where to and what next? 

This is what I have come up with so far. 

What do you think SMT...

 As part of my Inquiry I worked with Hannah and Danni to create surveys for the learners,  Leadership team and children about maths at our school. 

Looking at the results has given me an interesting preceptive on what are believed to be shared challenges across the school and what are challenges that only the children identified. 

Below are the results from the Leadership Survey found here. 

The first view I wanted to share was that from one of our management team. I share that basic facts, place value and foundation teaching are strength, well more consistency, earlier teaching of multiplication and teacher knowledge building are gaps that we need to work on improving.