You decide to wander in a city by walking 3 blocks North, then 4 blocks West, then 5 blocks South. You keep walking like this: 3 blocks, then 4 blocks, then 5 blocks, turning 90 degrees left after every stretch. What does your path look like? How many times do you turn before you return to where you started?
Teaching Mathematics is one of the more complex aspects of being a Primary Classroom Teacher. A wide range of concepts lie within the subject, and students bring a wide range of abilities, experiences, ideas, misconceptions, and attitudes to the classroom. At Tintern a powerful platform assists teachers in Years 5 and 6 to hit the sweet spot and ensure students are learning.
Maths Pathway, to which all Year 5 and 6 students are subscribed, is a collection of online resources. Initially, adaptive tests referred to as ‘Diagnostics’ establish a student’s prior knowledge. Based on this, the system recommends which students should partake in small group teaching sessions focusing on specific concepts from the Australian Mathematics Curriculum.
When not in the small group sessions, students work independently using the targeted online modules. A specific skill is covered in each module which contains explanations, videos, diagrams and a series of questions. Modules are only made available if students master the prerequisite skills, ensuring that independent work is achievable.
Fortnightly tests are automatically generated based on recently completed independent tasks. Success on these tests confirms mastery of the concepts. To complement this, there are problem solving contexts referred to as ‘Rich Tasks’ such as the above city walking problem, and quick warm-up games or prompts known as ‘Energisers’.
Behind it all is a database of staggering usefulness. The regular inputs from diagnostics, completed modules and tests generate data which teachers can act on immediately, in all 12 strands of Mathematics and up to Year 10. The data is displayed and broken down in various ways and allows teachers to track progress and set goals individually, accurately and efficiently.
Support is provided to teachers by the Mathematics experts and educators who run the platform. Teachers who are asked to teach students working at a very high level are supported by the platform through resources and lesson plans. They often observe that students working at a very high level have high enthusiasm for Mathematics and are able to take control of their own learning.
The Year 6 Girls were asked what their favourite parts of Mathematics are:
‘Learning to do algebra because it’s a new concept and personally I find it very interesting and fun’. Milla
‘My favourite part of maths is decimals because I finally learnt it, and its fun to do’. Sierra
‘I like algebra and Pythagoras because they stretch my brain’. Shriya
I encourage you to try to solve the above problem, (use some grid paper). You can then start playing with the parameters, altering the numbers and see for yourself what happens!
Nick Adeney | Year 6 Girls Teacher
