Inquiry Update November

My inquiry this year focuses on the question:

How can I efficiently and effectively help my students learn the multiplication basic facts?

The table below shows the individual times tables scores of my five target students. The four tests were taken at different points throughout the year. The highest possible score for each test was 100.

As the table shows, all target students made progress in their ability to recall basic facts, which was promising. While these students improved, this was not the case for all students. Although most children made some progress, four students did not show any measurable improvement in their test scores.

Overall, it was encouraging to see these results. Next year, I plan to continue using a multi-pronged approach to help my new students learn the times tables effectively.

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One approach I focused on was developing my students’ number sense. As part of this, I aimed to reduce maths anxiety, as this can prevent children from sharing their thoughts and engaging in discussions. Recently, I recorded a maths lesson and used Vosaic to provide feedback. Below is the prompt I used and a summary of the feedback:

Prompt: How well did the teacher create an environment that reduces maths anxiety in children, and did the children have opportunities to express their multiplicative thinking?

Feedback Summary:

Strengths:

• The teacher fostered a low‑anxiety, mistake-friendly classroom culture, encouraging risk-taking and normalising errors as learning opportunities.

• Students were repeatedly prompted to share their thinking, justify answers using “because,” and use metacognitive language, supporting clear mathematical reasoning.

• Multiple opportunities were provided for students to articulate multiplicative thinking through partner discussions, whole-class explanations, and using multiplication to check division answers.

Areas for Improvement:

• Quick pacing and classroom management interruptions (e.g., reminders about cameras, doors, or borrowing materials) sometimes disrupted the calm atmosphere and may have increased cognitive load.

• Some students needed more structured wait time after prompts to formulate responses without pressure, particularly quieter students.

Key Moments:

• Lesson start: Positive framing of mistakes and encouragement to share uncertainty helped reduce maths anxiety.

• Throughout the lesson: Students practised and explained multiplicative reasoning, using multiplication to check division.

Recommendations:

• Provide slightly more wait time after prompts to support quieter students.

• Minimise non-instructional interruptions during problem-solving to sustain a calm, low-anxiety environment.

I was particularly interested in the feedback on using wait time under “areas for improvement,” as I thought I had done reasonably well in this area. It really highlights how our perception of our teaching can differ from reality. This was valuable feedback for me and something I will make a conscious effort to implement more effectively in future lessons.

It was also helpful to realise that my enthusiasm and quick pacing could unintentionally create stress for some students. Frequent transitions and classroom interruptions, such as reminders about materials or moving between activities, sometimes broke the flow of the lesson and may have added to students’ cognitive load. This insight will help me plan lessons with a steadier pace and minimise unnecessary disruptions.