Ann Baker presented a full day’s thought provoking training at Hackham East Primary.

The following things resonated:

There should be three parts to a Maths Block.

1. Mental Routines
2. Problematise Situation
3. Reflection

Mental Routines – 10 minutes daily

The traditional mental routines have an adverse effect on student self esteem, learning and attitude to maths.

Ann demonstrated many activities using the 100 grid for mental. Children share multiple strategies for solving problems.

Present the same mental routine for a fortnight. Kids need to be speaking the maths language and meta language. Teach the vocabulary or terminology (factors, multiples…) explicitly for those routines. Display on the board.

Terminology requires 200 repetitions to embed.

Ask Guy Claxton type open ended questions:

What if…?

What might…?

What could…?

Reflective learners need time to process therefore think that they’re dumb if they don’t get it as quickly as others.

Similarities with Dylan Wiliam – Wait Time or Processing time is essential for thinking – ask and wait. Let kids think. Then flip the asking of the questions over to the kids. Ask reflective thinkers if they’ll ask the first question. Cue them in at the beginning of the lesson. Tell the more able students to wait until after the 4th question before they can ask.

Problematised Situation (Problem Solving)

ACARA Mathematics Proficiency Strands: Understanding, Fluency, Reasoning, Problem Solving

Higher order thinking and reasoning should be built into everything to develop adaptive reasoning.

As over 60% of all children are Visual Learners, provide visual support. (Just as oral comprehension precedes written comprehension.)

Echoes of TfEL 2.4 Challenge and Support. Let kids struggle. With best of intentions we too often over praise, over provide and over protect.

All problems should have Easy Peasy, Middly Puddly and Sting in the Tail.

Encourage collaboration and discussion. What you do with the help of a friend you’ll do tomorrow by yourself.

Do not rehearse inappropriate strategies. Practice makes permanent.

The Secret Code

Subitize from subito meaning to “suddenly know”. The importance of being able to subitize cannot be over stated. All success in mathematics is built upon this.

Subitize and Count on. (Take the largest number and count on) If Receptions cannot count on they will never catch up with others.

Tell children that we are all born with a Lazy Brain – it tries to chunk things together.

Subitizing games:

• Magic Cloak – throw a large die, and immediately cover it with the Magic Cloak (tee- towel). Children draw what they saw.
• Children throw 2 dice repeatedly. Teacher calls doubles, one less then, one more than etc. Children put their hands up when this combination is thrown. Teacher acknowledges as the hands go up.

Explicitly teach children the Secret Code:

Count on (co)

Double (d)

Rainbow facts (rf)

Near double (nd)

Friendly number (fn) (is any number that ends in 0)

Bridge through 10

Round and adjust (year 4+)

Landmark numbers – 25, 50, 75, 100 (base 10) 15, 30, 45 (base 60)

If kids come up with their own strategies, the strategy is named after that child ie SS Sally’s Strategy.

Encourage children to play with the numbers, pull them apart, experiment and discover patterns, relationships etc.

Problem Solving Strategy

All problems must have a real purpose or context. The children must be able to see or image the problem. It has to be real to the child. Puppets can be used to assist this.

Let kids work out what is happening. Productive failure – learning from reflecting on mistakes.

Always teach kids to work from what they know.

Give 1 problem (eg M&Ms on Muffins) and get the group to find as many ways of solving the problem. Group then decides which strategy is best and why.

If you can’t do something in 6 ways you can’t do it.

Respond to children who have asked good questions or come up with good strategies (the “right answer” is secondary to the thinking): “Thank you for the learning opportunity …”

Formative Assessment Strategy

Interview a child

Gather 2 pieces of documentary evidence per child per term (on work on students’ work if given permission or on a Post It note stuck to the work and placed in a plastic sleeve):

• child said…,
• child did…
• With suggestion/prompting child said…
• Which strategy did you like?
• Which is more reliable?
• Are any similar?
• How?

Do not rescue. If a child cannot get started, ask them to walk around the room to look at other children’s work and see if there is a strategy that they like.

 

If you do not do a reflection, you did nothing.

Multiplication: Begin with Tally of 5 to learn 5 x tables. 6 x is tally of 5 count on 1 etc.

 

How and where to create and find problems:

1. Use existing problems from Ann’s books
2. Copy: Use Ann’s problems but change numbers and context
3. Devise own, but consider that the numbers used provide the best opportunity to get the desired learning.
4. Share problematised situations with staff.

 

Structure of a typical week

Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
Mental Routines	Mental Routines	Mental Routines	Mental Routines	Mental Routines
Problem · Gaps · Misconceptions · Error patterns · Strengths	Strategy lesson	Problem	Strategy lesson	Problem
Reflection	Reflection	Reflection	Reflection	Reflection

 

Ann recommended the following apps.

Guessem

Clock Master

Natural Maths

Finger Tips

Blog

Natural Maths Strategies

Thoughts on follow up:

• Teachers video their mental routines – capture their questioning, the students’ language and reflections etc to share with others in their PC.
• Share Commitment to Action in PLCs
• Get Ann Baker back to do demonstration lessons in classes and release teachers to observe
• Maths Committee to reflect and develop plan to support implementation of the Maths block across the school.