Manaiakalani Maths Intensive Day 9 - Create and Share

Today marked the final day of the Manaiakalani Maths Intensive, with a focus on two key ideas: Creating and Sharing. 

Creating in Maths

I’ve always found creating in maths more challenging to implement than in literacy. This is due to a number of reason however the main one is getting too focussed on the learning aspect of maths. There is a myriad of new concepts to learn which often takes priority, leaving little room for create tasks.

However, today reminded me how valuable create tasks can be in deepening students' understanding and engagement with maths. The act of creating allows students to connect their learning in meaningful ways, whether through visual models, digital presentations, or collaborative projects. It’s not just an “extra” but a powerful way to consolidate their learning.

The key, I’ve realised, lies in planning ahead. It’s about being intentional in setting aside time for these creative tasks, ensuring they are not rushed or overshadowed by the pressure to move on to the next topic.

Tools for Creativity

Over the nine sessions, Dorothy Burt has introduced an incredible range of tools that open up possibilities for creativity in maths. From dynamic apps to interactive platforms, these tools encourage students to not only engage with concepts but to share their understanding in innovative ways.

Looking Ahead

One of my goals during the upcoming break is to dive deeper into these tools, exploring their potential and planning how to incorporate them into my teaching in 2025. I want to build a toolkit that balances foundational skills with opportunities for students to think creatively and express their ideas.

Manaiakalani Maths Intensive Day 8 - Statistics and Probability

Today's MPI session was all about Statistics and Probability. Below are my thoughts/takeaways.

Data Talks

One takeaway was the idea of data talks. Data talks are all about presenting students with a graph, chart, or dataset, then letting them take the lead in analysing what they see. The aim is to prompt students to make their own observations, ask questions, and spark a discussion based on their interpretations of the data.

I love that this approach turns math into a more interactive and student-driven experience. Instead of me explaining what’s going on, I get to see students actively involved, pointing out trends, forming hypotheses, and discussing ideas with their peers. Data talks can be adapted to so many different topics too. I can picture using them in lessons covering everything from sports statistics to environmental data, or even something fun like snack preferences in the class.

Investigative Questions

I was also interested in hearing about the different types of investigative questions and how they align with the various NZC maths phases:

Summary Questions – These focus on a single dataset to highlight the main features. Example: “What’s the average number of books read by our class this year?” They help students grasp the general behaviour of a group.

Comparison Questions – These involve comparing multiple datasets. For instance, “Do boys and girls in our class spend the same time on homework?” They encourage students to think critically about similarities and differences.

Time-Series Questions – These track changes over time, such as “How have temperatures changed monthly this year?” They help students identify trends and make predictions.

Relationship Questions – These explore links between variables. Example: “Is there a relationship between study time and test scores?” They prompt students to consider cause, effect, and correlation.

I had never had this shown to me before. Knowing this will help me guide my future lessons and discussion around data with my students. 

This has given me some great things to think about and I look forward to sharing them with my team.

Manaiakalani Maths practise Intensive - Day 7 - Geometry

Today's session was all about geometry.

One thing that really stood out to me is how vocabulary-intensive geometry is. It involves a lot of subject-specific terms like vertices, supplementary angles, complementary angles, vertical, parallel, adjacent, tessellation, transformation, and more. Each term is not just a label but a concept that students need to internalise and apply correctly. This poses a significant challenge for students, especially when they encounter so many new words in such a short period. I’m left wondering how to help them grasp all of these terms effectively and, more importantly, retain them beyond the current unit. I believe this requires regularly incorporating this vocabulary throughout the entire school year, not just during the geometry unit. By normalising the use of these terms in the classroom—whether we're discussing shapes, angles, or even patterns in other contexts—I suspect they will become a natural part of my students' vocabulary. The goal is to get to a point where these words aren’t intimidating or foreign, but rather part of their everyday language when discussing mathematical concepts.

Another thing that really stood out to me was the number of incredible digital tools available to make teaching geometry easier and more engaging. One tool I’m especially excited to try with my students is Amplify Polypad. It’s packed with interactive features like virtual manipulatives, grids, and geometry tools that help students not only visualise but also experiment with different concepts. This kind of hands-on exploration can be so beneficial, especially in a subject as visual as geometry. For instance, students can manipulate shapes, explore transformations, or work with tessellations directly on their screens, making abstract ideas more tangible. I think using something like Polypad will transform the way students engage with geometry, turning it into something dynamic and interactive, rather than just working through problems on paper. I’m hopeful that tools like this will help demystify some of the more complex concepts and lead to deeper understanding and excitement about geometry.

I hoping by incorporating these tools along with a focus on language will help make geometry more accessible and enjoyable for  my students. 

Manaiakalani Maths practise Intensive - Day 6

Today's session was abut multiplicative thinking, fractions and decimals and measurement.

I was particularly interested in using visual representatives and materials to teach multiplying fractions. Historically, I have taught a rule for solving fraction multiplication such as 1/2 x 1/3 however, as was pointed out to us, only teaching the rule does not enable the kids to develop a conceptual understanding of what actually happens to the fraction when multiplying them. Much like teaching algorithms for whole number multiplication, children could complete the steps but didn't understand why it worked. In the coming weeks I'll be endeavouring to use materials and visual representatives to teach the multiplication of fractions in the hopes my children will develop their conceptual understanding of it. 

I am also interested in using Polypad  Blockout game as a digital tool to help my children develop their understanding of arrays and multiplication skills. It was great to see something that was easy to use and didn't require a login. I'm sure my kids will really enjoy this game.

Manaiakalani Maths practise Intensive - Day 5

Today focus on the MPI was Algebra.

Vocabulary

I was reminded of the vast amount of vocabulary students need to comprehend in order to understand algebraic thinking and reasoning. 

This has got me wondering how I can go about ensuring my students are being exposed to this vocabulary regularly. A good example of this is number properties as listed below. While my students have experienced these properties they would not be familiar with the names of the properties. I will be endeavouring to teach vocabulary more explicitly with my students. 

Equations, Patterns and Relationships

I was also reminded about giving my students multiple opportunities in a variety of contexcts to recognise and analyse patterns and relationships. Progressing from recognising and predicting patterns to generalising and identifying rules. I got some interesting new ideas to try with my students that I suspect both them and I will find engaging.

 

Manaiakalani Maths practise Intensive - Day 4

Today we spent the day exploring number - Place Value, Fractions, Decimals, Percentages and Integers. Below are some of my takeaways. 

Materials/Manipulatives

I was reminded again how important it is to use materials to introduce new maths concepts, to further student's understanding and to correct misconceptions. In the coming weeks I'm looking forward to using deci-pipes and deci-mats to teach decimals. 

Vocabulary

I was also reminded how important maths vocabulary is in students mathematical understanding. I have come away thinking about how I can be more intentional and explicit about tending to this vocabulary. I have been guilty of focussing so much on teaching a new mathematical concept that I can brush over the vocabulary instead of taking the time to tend to it. 

Choral Counting

Choral counting is an activity in which the teacher leads children in counting aloud together by a given number. Today was the first time I was introduced to it. I can see how beneficial it could be for developing student's number sense and computational skills. I'm interested in using it particularly with decimals numbers for my year 7/8 students. 

Teaching inquiry update

 Inquiry Focus Question

How can I enhance the enjoyment levels of reading for my students and what effect will this have? 

Towards the end of Term 2 I gave my literacy class a reading challenge. The purpose of the reading challenge was two fold.

1 - To increase my students reading "muscle"

2 - To encourage my students to read for enjoyment

The reading challenge involves students selecting a text of their choice based on 15 genres (historical fiction, humour, poetry etc). As students finish reading each text they complete a quick create task, again of their choosing. As students read a range of genres and texts of their choosing I hope this will develop their reading muscle (ability to read texts more consistently) and their enjoyment of reading.  Time will tell.

Manaiakalani Maths practise Intensive - Day 3

Today was the third day of the Manaiakalani Maths Practice Intensive (MPI), focusing on planning an effective math program. Here are some reflections on the content I found particularly interesting.

Weekly Timetable

I was particularly interested in the discussion about structuring a weekly timetable for a class. In the past, I have used a tumble/rotation system, but it has always been challenging for students to complete their tasks or follow-up activities due to insufficient time.

Georgie introduced a new approach today: a tumble system where, aside from the time spent with the teacher, students have the freedom to choose what they do during the other slots. This method fosters student agency and allows them to take control of their learning.

I am eager to explore this approach. While I anticipate it will require significant scaffolding initially, I believe it will be beneficial in the long run.

Tracking my kid's progress

Another area I’m interested in improving is tracking my students' progress against the curriculum. Although I have the maths progressions as a starting point, I would like a spreadsheet with a more granular breakdown of achievement progression, such as knows times tables from 1-10. This detailed tracking would be extremely helpful in monitoring progress. I am hopeful that once the new curriculum is finalised, such detailed progressions will be included.

Independent activities

We had an opportunity to explore independent learning activities for children to do when they are not with me. I'm looking forward to trying out some of the activities listed below. My hope is to find something fresh and engaging that will be beneficial for my kids. While I already use independent activities, they could use some refreshing. The challenge I see is finding the time to track my children's progress on these independent activities.

Manaiakalani Maths practise Intensive - Day 2

Teacher Workbook

Day 2 of the MPI brought a great bunch of things to think about and work on. I was particularly interested in the Teacher workbook that was highlighted. Essentially this is a one-stop shop spreadsheet that contains all the information you would need to plan and track your teaching and leanring. Some of the big pieces included:

• Student assessment data
• Responses to student maths profile survey
• Long Term Planning Coverage
• Weekly planning sheet
• Curriculum leanring intentions for the various year groups

When I initially saw the workbook it was easy to get overwhelmed by all the tabs and the amount of possible information it could hold. However, I can see how it could be very useful in planning and tracking leanring and I'm looking forward to putting it to use. I like the idea of having everything in one place to plan and track for leanring rather than multiple spreadsheets, documents and sites etc.

Student Task board

I was also interested in the suggested student tasks boards. Like the planning doc, it was initially quite overwhelming with a load of content but I can see how if it was dialled back a bit it could be very helpful for our learners. I'm particularly interested in including more student choice into my practise.

 

Maths Student Survey Responses

I recently gave my maths class a survey about how they view themselves as mathematicians. The results were interesting. Below I have shared some reflections from the data. There was a total of 28 responses from individual students.

How do you feel about maths?

1) I hate maths  -  4) I love maths 

43% either hated or disliked maths. I would like to dig deeper and find out why these children feel this way. My hope is that by the end of the year we will have a more positive result to this question.

Do you feel confident when solving maths problems?

1) I'm not confident at all  -  4) I feel very confident

Does your teacher think you are good at maths?

1) No the think I struggle  -  4) Yes they think I'm really good 

I was initially surprised by this response because I thought more of them would have picked 3 or 4. Upon reflection I wonder if a better question could have been 'Does your teacher believe you are capable of achieving in maths'. The reality is, some children do struggle with maths, they know it and the teacher knows it. It would be ignorant for a teacher to believe a child is good at maths when clearly they struggle however hopefully teachers are believing their children are capable of achieving despite them struggling.

Do you like your maths problems to be:

1) Easy -   5)Hard

I found it interesting and reassuring that 36% wanted reasonably hard or hard problems. I assumed it would have been less. I suspect the 50% that selected 3 want problems that aren't to hard or too easy but somewhere in the middle like the Goldilocks Zone.

Overall, these survey results gave me some great things to think about. They have actually given me more questions than answers however that is a good thing and I'm looking forward to finding out more. 

Manaiakalani Maths practise Intensive - Day 1

Today was the first day of the Manaiakalani Maths practise Intensive (MPI), a 9 day maths development course aimed at equipping teachers with the necessary skills and knowledge to teach maths effectively. 

For part of the day we reflected on the Pillars of Mathematics Practise. We asked ourselves what elements are we doing well in and what elements need attention. I found this a productive and worthwhile exercise. In the business of teaching you often don't have the time to do this, or if you do it gets taken up with something more pressing.

From this reflection I came away wanting to focus on developing extended mathematics discussion in my practise. Years back I did a lot of this, particularly when our school was adopting the Developing Mathematical Inquiry Communities (DMIC) pedagogy. However, in recent years I haven't been using discussion based leanring in maths. I look forward to teaching my students about the Ground Rules for Talk and developing their ability to robustly discuss maths problems and to share and justify their thinking.  

I was also interested in how I could integrate other curriculum areas into maths. Because I see another group of students for literacy I have often shied away from integration in maths however, I see the benefits am looking forward to embracing the integration challenge. Stay tuned for more updates.

Teaching as inquiry target group

Inquiry Focus Question

How can I enhance the enjoyment levels of reading for my students and what effect will this have? 

My target group for my teaching inquiry is made up of 6 year 7 & 8 children -  2 girls and 4 boys. 

Through the reading survey, all 6 children indicated they were not reading a book for enjoyment and they do not enjoy reading. 

NAME	YEAR	GENDER	READING AGE
JF	8	Boy	14
NG	8	Girl	13.5
NM	7	Boy	13
JF	7	Boy	12
TR	8	Boy	12
OV	7	Girl	12

Manaiakalani Class OnAir 2024

This year, I am one of the Manaiakalani Class OnAir teachers. My focus is to demonstrate and showcase content form the Manaiakalani Reading Practise Intensive (RPI) I participated in last year. The RPI is a reading professional development course that seeks to equip teachers with the necessary skills to effectuively tecah reading in the 21st century. You can read more about this by reading my posts from last year. 

My first Class OnAir episode is complete. A full lesson plan, video and reflection can be found here.

Teaching Inquiry 2024

 Inquiry Focus Question

This year my inquiry focus question is very similar to my focus from last year: 

How can I enhance the enjoyment levels of reading for my students and what effect will this have?

I selected this focus because, generally speaking, my students do not read for enjoyment. A recent survey indicated about 1/2 of the students were reading a book for enjoyment however when asked about the book they were reading many struggled to talk about it. I wonder if they filled in the survey with the information they thought I wanted to hear.

I will be giving my students another survey to dig into this a bit deeper.