Final Spiral Inquiry

21/11/17 - FINAL SPIRAL REFLECTION

Self reflection

 - Visible to all

Edit | Delete

WHO HAVE YOU WORKED WITH:

Benji Motoi, Jayden Hitchens, Jayda Finn-Waihape, Chloe Stewart, Temperence Oliver, Elsie Billington, William Wiffen-Lal, Caitlin Browne

HOW DID YOU GAIN THE INFORMATION:

We interviewed each child based on the questions formulated as a middle school. We also talked to the parents of each child about maths. The final area of information we used was data based testing.

Overall we found that the children selected had negative feelings about maths and were quite confused about what maths was. The parents reiterated this saying their children found maths overwhelming or confusing at times.

WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH THIS INFORMATION:

Based on this information we decided to do several things:

Project-based learning

To help the children see the real-world relevance of maths we implemented project-based learning with a group of children. The children worked collaboratively to solve problems and develop a restaurant. Maths was explicitly taught in group sessions 2 days of the week with 1 day being mandarin lessons and 1 day on project based learning tasks.

Increased focus on basic facts

We implemented a basic facts programme to encourage children to learn their times tables. We hoped this would help children feel more confident in maths as they could then use this knowledge to solve problems and work with others.

Mindset

We aimed to shift the talking and thinking in maths from getting it right to giving it a go. We reduced the number of strategies we taught and celebrated any and all ways of finding answers.

Problem solving

Tied to project-based learning we increased the amount of problem solving we do in class. Problems were selected based on logical thinking and creativity rather than addition and subtraction. This was done to show children maths is not just sums as well as develop logical thought processes.

SO WHAT FOR THE CHILD’S LEARNING:

Benji Motoi - Benji showed great progress in maths in term 2 and the start of term 3. He was feeling much more positive about his ability in maths and was more willing to give things a go. He was highly engaged in the project learning. In term 3 Benji’s parents split up and he has since spent a lot of time with Grandma. Grandma has a focus on getting sums right and practising basic facts repeatedly. This has unfortunately knocked Benji’s confidence again. Emily has had conversations with mum and grandma around mindset and promoting problem solving rather than speed and accuracy. He is now working at 4P.

Jayden Hitchens - Jayden had a reasonably positive outlook towards maths at the start of the year. He had some confusion around what maths might be used for. Our focus with Jayden has been around problem solving and real-world maths. Jayden continues to ask for help when needed. He tries hard to maths to follow strategies he has been taught. Mum has commented about how positive Jayden is about his learning now. He is now working at 5A.

Jayda Finn-Waihape - Jayda has a great, positive attitude towards maths now. She still occasionally says maths is hard or complicated but always seeks help when needed. Jayda enjoyed the project-based learning and could start to see connections between ‘school’ maths and ‘real’ maths. She is now working at 4A.

Chloe Stewart - Chloe stated she enjoyed maths at the start of the year and her mum said she struggled. Chloe is a confident and bubbly child who often says ‘this is easy’. Chloe’s big challenge this year was around changing her mindset to slow down and complete maths learning properly. She has enjoyed working with others and the challenge of learning all her times tables. Chloe is very goal driven which has been a huge incentive for her. She is still working at 5B.

Tempy Oliver - Tempy found maths frustrating when she got something wrong. Her main focus this year has been around developing a positive mindset and giving things a go. She found the collaborative group work challenging as it wasn’t always done to the standard she would have liked. Tempy has developed the confidence to give things a go when working with the teacher one-on-one. She is still working at 4A.

Elsie Billington - Elsie had a very negative view of maths at the start of the year, stating everything was hard. She really enjoyed the project-based learning activities as they didn’t look like ‘real’ maths. Through this Elsie is beginning to feel more positively about maths in general. This attitude has helped her to ask for help when she is not sure and enjoy maths more as well as persevere to fill the gaps in her knowledge. She is now working at 4A.

William Wiffen-Lal

William has gone from strength to strength since the start of the year and now sees maths as fun. He was one of our cliffhanger learners as in Year 2 mathematics was a real passion of his. Unfortunately, in Year 3 that passion dwindled as he had to work in other domains, not just addition and subtraction. The biggest gains for him have been with his attitude. He has been fully involved in all class and group discussions. He now applies himself conscientious to all learning tasks and demonstrates a love of mathematics once again. Tuakana/teina model has been successfull.He is now working at Stage 5A

Caitlin Browne - Caitlin had a rocky start to the year emotionally and took a long time to settle into the middle school. Now she has developed relationships with this years teachers she is more positive about being at school. Caitlin has made huge progress with her attitude in maths. She now asks for tricky words and will choose to challenge herself with her activity choices. She still gets down on herself if she makes a mistake but is much more willing to try. She is still working at 5B. Caitlin enjoys working on maths that she understands and wants to extend herself further in these areas. She needs to use this enthusiasm to fill the gaps in other areas she is not so confident in.

SO WHAT FOR YOUR TEACHING PRACTISE:

Emily

I saw huge benefits from project-based learning with my reluctant mathematicians. This is definitely something I would pursue again. I think the explicit teaching needs to be more integrated through the project though rather than being separate sessions. Next year I would begin maths with a unit around mindset and problem solving to really cement these skills. Once we had this up and running towards the end of term 1 we began to really see the benefits.