DMIC PD 6: Mathematical Tasks 12/08/19

Links for readings from PD 3:
A Detracked Math Approach to Promote Respect, Responsibility and High Achievement
Collaborative Planning as a Process
Counteracting the Language of Math Ability
Selecting and Sequencing Complex Tasks
Why Isn't Miguel Learning Math?
Introducing the Big Ideas

Links for readings for PD 6:
Selecting and Creating Mathematical Tasks
Classroom Interactions Around Problem Contexts and Task Authenticity
Teachers Promoting Student Mathematical Reasoning
(...oops, I now realise that all links simply take me back to gmail 😕

But... this link to Kelly's Slideshow should work!
Ref to reading breakdown of tasks into low and high level cognitive demands.

A high level of cognitive demand involves the requirement to make connections: require ch'n to dig deeper and connect to the big ideas/conceptual ideas.

This all comes down to teacher practice and teacher actions.

Mathematical practices: reasoning, justifying, generalising and making a claim which can be backed up with proof, representation. This is why the connect and generalising part of the session is so important.

Teacher actions: Why do you think that? (plus 2 more questions - add later)

SO important for the teacher to stand back and notice and listen. Sometimes the teacher does need to step in and reposition a group (status issues, etc.).

Asking the children to solve a problem in a particular way is reducing the level of cognitive demand. It is OK 'pause' the whole group and get one group to explain how they started the solving.

And it's OK to sometimes have less of an emphasis on context. 

Remember: 15 minutes small group inquiry time. 15 - 20 minutes share and connect. Too much time and behaviour or other problems might set in.

It's very easy to turn a low level cognitive demand problem into a high level one by adding a simple sentence, e.g., "Show your thinking in 2 different ways", or "Justify and prove".

It's good to add the "Show using cubes" requirement in, once a week or so.

Lesson openers that force children to look for similarities and differences 'beef' up the cognitive level.

Website: which one does not belong (and why)

As a lesson opener: ___ is double ___.

Children can have a minute or two on their own with a piece of paper/pencil before turning and talking.

Remember: "Do we agree? Disagree? Turn and talk. Why?"

Another good warm up: Two fractions are super easy to compare. What might they be?

In warm ups make sure there's lots of turn and talk time, justification time and 'how do you know that' time.

Closed question examples: 

• 3+ 7 = ?
• 13 + 17 = ?

How can you make these open questions?

• Turn the questions around
• Ask for similarities or differences
• Replace a number with a blank
• Ask for a number story
• Change the question.

3 + 7 = 

• write a word problem for this equation
• think of another way to represent or write this equation
• write another equation that has the same answer
• draw this problem using pictures or show using materials to justify your thinking.

Area and perimeter: start these problems in Year 2.

Some problems can extend over several days; however, your connects will be different each day.

Visual Patterns: link

Represent your thinking in a table. You can use this statement during the generalisation, e.g., Here's a table which one group has used. How could you put your information into a table. Turn and talk.

See LTP.

Assessment purpose:
Discussion re purpose, current practices and how the information is used.
 A new way... link?
The NAGs are very broad. We need a range of evidence and we need to triangulate.
Administration so assessment tasks:
Teacher uses assessment task as the problem with half the class, with children completing the task individually, and teacher scribing if necessary.
See Fraction example at Level 1. It includes a 'push' to see whether children might be heading into Level 2, knowing more about fractions than required at L 1.
At L 2:

• Do you agree or disagree?
• Can you explain why?
• Can you write some fractions that are =?
• Can you prove that they are = in different ways?

This avoids Maths anxiety. Children are just proving what they know. It's not a test. It's a snapshot of a point in time.
These snapshots can be kept in a clearfile. Every student will have their own clearfile which is kept throughout their schooling to show progress across their schooling.
Tasks can be relatively open tasks which can show their level of thinking regardless of the task itself.
Schools can email Bobbi who will share assessment tasks in particular strands at any level. Many tasks cross levels - the students' responses will indicate the level they're operating at through their response.
See the Algebra task. Nice and open-ended!

Students should always be consolidating what they are doing in their group anyway, so there should always be that 'on your own' Must Do/Can Do section during the time when their half of the class isn't involved in problem-solving with the teacher. This avoids that anxiety, resulting from 'this is a test situation'.
Moderation:
Very similar to the way that we've moderated writing for ages now. Have the Elaborations out so that we know exactly what we're expecting at each of the levels.
Reflection after the moderating is the most important part. Reflection about the teaching:

• Student strengths
• Areas for improvement and misconceptions (important)
• Possible tasks going forward

More links:

• Big Ideas in Maths
• Curriculum Elaborations
• Number and Algebra Patterns and Relationships (Beckenham)
• Geometry and Measurement Position and Orientation (Beckenham)
• Draft Number and Algebra Planning: Koru and Kahikatea

Digital Technologies 12/08/19

Sherryn from Methven: facilitator
Technology Online
Kia Takatū ā-Matihiko - look at this Ministry resource.
See booklet for the process followed throughout this PD session:

1. Computational Thinking Progress Outcomes (CTPOs 1, 2 and 3): reading and summarising them; looking at some examples; assigning the correct PO to particular example activities
2. Designing and Developing Digital Outcomes (DDDOPOs 1 and 2): reading and summarising them; looking at some examples; assigning the correct PO to particular example activities
3. Beebot Innovation Challenge working with Anna, Tracy and Gayle
4. Authentically integrating into a lesson/activity using some of our own planning.

DMIC observation 30/07/2019

1:45 - 2:30 Jon (from Waimairi?) came to observe the DMIC lesson today.
Some points he made:

• good planning (he asked if he could photograph it!)
• he felt the children are actually quite advanced (maths concepts-wise) for their age - I've been worrying about the opposite
• good use of 'Turn and talk' and 'Pause'

My thoughts and observations:

• the children were for some reason, unusually slow and almost restrained throughout the launch (not sure really why this was the case?) and it came across almost as if the problem itself was unable to be grasped by them; even the most normally switched on amongst the children seemed unable to answer the question, "What's this story/problem about?" and then, "What do we need to find out?" Perhaps related to having an observer?
• see DMIC anecdotal notes for week by week observations

Next steps and reflections:

• Make the launch really snappy
• No need at this stage, to place such an emphasis on the Group Norms; perhaps refer to them on Monday and Wednesday only; reduce the number of Norms down to the most important 5 now (the original Group Norms, it could be agreed with the group, have been 'achieved' and could be taken off the list)
• Incorporate the use of materials throughout the connection.

Staff PD: National Digital Readiness 18/06/19

The link through to Nick and Hannah's PD meeting this afternoon: Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto Digital Technologies PD - 18 June 2019

Meeting with Liana and Emily 13/06/2019

I've been thinking for quite some time now about the fact that in the past, we have had very clear Long Term Plans in Maths, and these have ensured that our teaching covers all strands and achievement objectives for our wee ones. Now however we are very focused on writing our problems in a way that is both relevant and purposeful for the children, however our planning is from week to week, and I miss the feeling of direction that having the LTP provides.
I have been wanting to talk with Liana, Emily and/or Kelly about how we might break down the Big Ideas, how we might sequence them, and what we might expect to cover from term to term over the children's first year in school.
I was able to catch up with Liana and Emily very briefly after school today.
My questions for them related, as above, to the Big Ideas, how we might fit them into a Maths Long Term Plan (their sequence) and the ways in which we might be breaking them down for our wee ones.
What a productive conversation... Liana knew exactly what I was asking (deciphering the garble perfectly), and immediately shared me in with the following documents which will help support us with the bigger picture that our planning needs to fit within:

• an example of a Maths Long Term Plan or overview 
• an example of Learning Outcomes developed from the Achievement Objectives in the area of Number
• and the way that the Curriculum Elaborations need to fit in with the above.

Hopefully this will provide us with guidance when we meet in the holidays. Our tasks:

• To create a new Long Term Plan for the Koru team
• For each of the areas - Number, Measurement (Length and Area, Volume, Mass and Capacity, Time and Temperature), Fractions, Statistics (Statistical Investigations and Probability), Geometry (Shape and Space, and Transformation, Position and Orientation) and Algebra - create Learning Outcomes which develop out of the Achievement Objectives
• The Curriculum Elaborations and the Key Mathematical Ideas will feed into and provide the information we need for each of these documents.

PBL team meeting 6/06/2019

Meeting: Paulette, Rowe, Megan, Elizabeth, Jules
Discussion re an e-Learning option through Longworth (see email from Paulette). Also see meeting notes
Each team member described the 'play' that's taking place in their teams:

• Koru - Discovery Stations (but not true learning through play - no provocations or invitations as such)
• Kahikatea - Discovery
• Kōwhai - 4 days a week; Discovery sessions; have tried some STEM challenges; looking for a way to combine inquiry and putting out provocations
• Pōhutukawa - 
• Kauri - discussing and thinking about what this might look like at this level; looking at giving the students greater choice (seeking student voice); making greater use of costumes

Next Steps in our teaching teams:

• each team member to 'attend' the e-Learning online course (to take back to our teams, and use as a driver for next steps in teams); 6 modules
• brainstorm with teams: what is PBL? Where are we 'at' on the PBL continuum? Do they know about Piaget's stages of development? Discuss the role of the intentional teacher together
• make a time with Jo to have 20 minutes in a team meeting before the end of term.

PB4L PD 4 June 2019

Link to PD slideshow
Survey data reviewed.
Development of a matrix is our next step. Our school values will underpin everything that we decide will appear on this matrix.
We broke into cross-team groups to write down ideas of what we want children to show in terms of the We Care value across all settings at Beckenham.

Mentimeter survey to find out our 3 most urgent-to-address behaviours at school (to be moderate rather than extreme behaviours).
The 3 behaviours after voting:

• running in and out of the hubs
• answering back
• excluding others

We then brainstormed the: observable, measurable, positively stated, clear and always applicable statements to go with each of these behaviours. See slideshow.

Each group then selected one of the above behaviours and wrote a teaching plan which could be adapted for use (from NE to Year 8) in order to explicitly teach the positive opposite.