On my journey for inquiring into accelerated learning to support achievement in mathematics . I have found that I am constantly reflecting on my teaching practise and looking for ways to effectively teach my students. From my recent observations in class some students have not moved beyond using repeated addition for solving multiplication and division problems.
So What:
To help me understand how I can better support these students, I read an article from the NZ Maths website.
Some highlights for me was a reminder of the key principles for effective teaching in mathematics.
1. An ethic of care
2. Arranging for learning
3. Building on students’ thinking
4. Worthwhile mathematical tasks
5. Making connections
6. Assessment for learning
7. Mathematical communication
8. Mathematical language
9. Tools and representations
10. Teacher knowledge
- Practical examples for teaching arrays to solve multiplication and division problems
- Addressing barriers such as lack of confidence which could lead to creating visual flow charts with new facts to be learned
- Revisit inverse nature of mult/div and to reinforce that division equations can be found using known multuplication equations.
Now What:
I found that the deliberate acts of teaching suggested in this reading would be beneficial for the students in my maths club group. So I plan to go through the steps suggested next week.
