Disrupt or be Disrupted

This Changes Everything

Capitalism vs The Climate by Naomi Klein

“So we are left with a stark choice: allow climate disruption to change everything about our world, or change pretty much everything about our economy to avoid that fate. But we need to be very clear: because of our decades of collective denial, no gradual, incremental options are now available to us.” 

Naomi Klein 

Blog: This Changes Everything

Book Trailer:

I have started reading Naomi Klein's book.

I am reminded of Simon Sinek's thinking that if we understand the why, the what and how will look after itself.

"We crave explanations for most everything, 

but innovation and progress happen when we allow ourselves to embrace uncertainty."

Simon Sinek

Everything Reverberates...

I am participating in a  group with four educators within an AUT paper title Educational Futures. 

Tomorrow, we are assessing the quality of each others individual reflections.

"We'll see how everything reverberates"

 

Carlos Amorales, We'll See How Everything Reverberates, 

2012 Guggenheim Museum in "Under the Same Sun"

The group I am working with is like this exhibition. Every word, gesture reverberates within the group. We share a common wish, the wish to be able to communicate with our colleagues, in such a way, that we can support learning spaces where possibilities are fizzing and conversations are things we expect to be on high rotation.

Where ourselves as professional educators can confidently step into uncertainty, as it is through uncertainty that new possibilities are possible.

Interesting things about my group:

1. NO CHOICE:

I did not choose to work with the members of this group. I am so used to making my own choices, I was unsure about being just put in a group. I felt uneasy as I knew I needed to get on with these people. How was I going to do this? I knew we shared the same wish... so I also knew it must be possible connect in new ways with the members of my group. 

2. ACT, THINK, DO CONFIDENTLY:

Through working in my group I have been able to act, thing and do in different ways that would not have ben possible had i been working on my own. Often on my own I get a little stuck. Talking to myself has never been attractive. Although I do not share a daily physical space with members of my group, their shadow is always very close by. Knowing we are  are doing this together and I'm pretty excited. When we do different it is not the work of one person. The reflection is of us all.

3. ROLE SWAPPING:

We appeared to each have quite different roles. And we some times swapped those roles around a bit. One of the roles that swapped was when we didn't understand a member of our groups thinking. We each stepped in and nudge our groups conversations a little further forward. I think there have been a couple of opportunities where our group could have decreased in numbers. What interrupted this happening was a commitment that we were doing this together. We would think and move together. My contribution to this was standing firm in the knowledge that to work in a future focussed space means it must be possible to work with difference. Inspiring!

4. UNCERTAINTY
At one point a member of our group, tossed a mountain of questions at the project we were working on. The kind of questions where we might throw in a project and start again. My first thought was, I wonder where this is going to take our groups thinking.  Experiencing uncertainty started the process of distilling key ideas. Brilliant!

5. HUMOUR:

My specific role has seen me injecting humour into the group. Laughing so we can all breath through some really tricky thinking. Laughter almost creates a space where we can all relax before we hunker down to refocus and think.

I finished my day at the beach.

Whilst at the beach...

I constantly thought about the educators I am working with. 

The educators who inspire me to act, think and do things differently with them.

The educators who have influenced my own participation and contribution in our group.

The educators I am standing close with to ensure we work together to nudge a difference.

all of this in a space called dusk.. the in-between space.

Future Focused Education...

What is Future Focused Education?

Future Focussed Education

Educational futures

Future Oriented Education

21st Century Education

It doesn't matter what they mean, its more important, I know what I mean when I use them!

Karen Melhuish Spencer @virtuallykaren in her blog

Disrupt and Transform says,

"I must confess that, the references to ’21st century education’, and the memes that surround it, are ones I am increasingly trying to avoid in favour of more precise descriptions of what we are actually trying to achieve with education that suits our learners, their needs if they are to thrive in society, knowledge and understandings about how we learn and what is possible using (and not using) digital technologies…and I know I’m not alone"

At present I am attending a Masters paper at AUT University titled Educational Futures.

The paper is led by Prof Jane Gilbert  @janegilbertnz

July 25th 2014 thoughts

First thoughts: To me, Future Focussed Education (FFE)  is...
Its something about having an agility and optimism to respond ethically and critically to  known and unknown variables. To have the capacity to Interrupt / disrupt and shift what we value and measure.

I think there is a skill required to be able to establish and maintain complex conversations across both, the value of traditional knowledge and our new understanding of knowledge. As this new understanding of knowledge has energy, vitality and movement, FFE must transform the way we think, engage and act. 

I enjoy stepping into spaces where FFE can be explored  because of the energy that is generated within networks and the things created within the spaces between people. Multiple ideas and projects can be astounding! 

August 9th 2014 thoughts

So, after two days... sitting in a classroom in Auckland, NZ, I'm having a rethink. Do I still hold to my initial thoughts on FFE? Is there anything that emerged and shifted my thinking from working with others?

Three things I had not thought about...

'Oriented'
I did not expect, a word to emerge and that word was 'oriented'. I was particularly inspired by the other primary school teachers on this course. I was Inspired how each of us orientated our selves quite differently in our primary school professional spaces and here we were holding lightly all we fervently  believe and know to be true about education and schooling, so we can work in a space where disruptive conversations can emerge. And its tricky. Super tricky!
My question now is, how am I going to orient myself towards future focussed education? That actually I am in the picture and my ideas remain ideas until I explicitly orient myself in a position of doing. Or more specifically, understand the position that I am currently oriented within.  An example is I parpticipate in a primary school system. What do I do, what do I say that orientates my day to day actions to support a future focus educational space?

Who am I becoming?
A simple and for me, a transformative question was posed by fellow student Ngaire. Words that have sat on my shoulder and are moving quickly to me heart!  Who am I becoming? Ngaire questioned why are we actually doing all this engagement with future focussed ideas and as part of that process, who are we becoming?
I am wondering that by bringing together our understandings of an educational future and our professional knowledge that through a process of thinking and rethinking, a point  really may occur where we can no longer think, act and engage in ways we used to. That the change has occurred within our personal adult development. So I ask: Am I in the process of becoming someone different? 

Rethinking communication. That in order to orientate towards future focussed education the way we communicate must change. To disrupt language that closes down conversations. The urgent need to see constant possibilities. An example may be, as a classroom teacher in 2014, I am requirement to manage two things, National Standards and work with not only what the students know but what they can do with what they know in the context of 'wicked' problems. It is possible and I need to rethink how I communicate to work in this space.

At a time in our history when there is a demand for resources to be open. 
See @OKFN Open Knowledge @CC_Aotearoa  Creative Commons   So too the way we communicate must engender access to possibilities, building capacities and the maintaining of relationships. 

Katlin Thaney   @kaythaney director of @MozillaScience amplifies this in her presentation at The Royal Society in Wellington. July 2014.
"focus on building capacity, not just more nodes." 

So, future focussed education, involves engaging with complex and complicated conversations. Therefore, I am beginning to believe it is paramount we rethink communication in its multiple forms.

A fast and furious think about  a few of the current considerations for education and schooling:

Design Thinking @extremebydesign  
Wicked Problems  @NZCER  Key Competencies for the Future
Maker Culture see blog post  Stephen Lethbridge

I am beginning to think, if we are to contribute even the smallest nudge as we work with these three ideas, we are going to need an improved rethink on how we communicate the possibilities in our schools and local communities.

What do you think?

So What? 
So, now I've shuffled all those words around...
Whats going to change?
With three students from my course, I'm going to explore what does it actually mean to rethink communication. To explore the possibility of an innovation designed to shift a system within how we communicate.  To do this we will be using the Cynefin Framwork.

Website for Cognitive Edge Network

Twitter: @CognitiveEdge

                              

MEGAPATTERNS SHAPE THE FUTURE - Lene Andersen

Do you ever read something and the ideas constantly tap your shoulder?
In the first week of the school holiday period and in-between 'doing' relaxing' I find myself thinking about the future of education. (I'm told this is not normal.)
I think if we are serious about teaching in a school and determined to interrupt our own assumptions about schooling and education then this is 'the new normal'. 

Scenario Magazine

The article I can't stop thinking about is:
 Lene Andersen's ideas on Megapatterns that shape the future 

As a classroom teacher I know I need to listen up and catch up. 
But it's more than that, I read and re read, I think and re think and I realize that I have had plenty of opportunities recently to listen to messages from numerous thinkers.

The  multiple conversations I have been listening to and thinking  about  have come from Keri Facer, Ian Jukes, Jane Gilbert, Sir Ken Robinson,Kaitlin Thaney  and Michael Young.

I find myself thinking about each of these people and their ideas and I place their conversations amongst Lene Anderson's thoughts on 'Megapaterns that shape the future.'

The thing that stands out for me is each thinker, speaks with a sense of urgency.

Each thinker nudges us all to think and to think hard. 
Why am I doing what I am doing in the classroom? 
Why do I need to look at teaching and learning differently?

Its no longer enough to say, because I'm required to teach according to national stds. This is much bigger than national standards and I'm super excited! 

Within Scenario Magazine Lene Anderson is identifying the drivers to how our society will develop now and into the future.
I know I must make time to  critically reflect about Lene Andersen's ideas and my personal and professional relationship to each megapattern.

I know by understanding the WHY in schooling and education... then the WHAT we do in the classroom will look after it self. (See Simon Sinek referred to in this blog Sept 2013)



The 17 Megapatterns 
According to Lene Andersen
(Quoted directly from Scenario Magazine)

1. Chaos Theory:
The sum of total changes can create a tipping point and lead to a new phase.

2. Evolution:
At both the DNA level and culturally; biologically through genetic mutation and culturally through 'memes', where cultural trends are copied and mutated.

3. Complexity
Chaos theory and evolution lead to phase transitions, and the memetic complexity increases exponentially.

4. Expotentiality
Increasing exponentiality leads to more 'tipping points' that lead to new phase transitions.

5. Group Loyalty and Morals
Most people need a place and a group where they belong, which in turn greatly influence our views of ethics and morals.

6. Levels and Interpretations of Reality
Developments in our perception of reality swing like a pendulum, e.g. at scientific paradigm shifts.

7. Distribution of Ability and Intelligence
IQ, ability and intellectual potential are like all other traits normally distributed among the population.

8. Scale-Free Networks
Scale-free networks are seen and utilized in all parts of reality: in social networks, at the cellular level, and at the business level.

9. Globaliseation
The boundaries of nations change their meanings; we move from 'closed' to open economies.

10. Mobility
Globaliseation makes five extra things mobile: money, information, workplaces, people and products.

11. Four classes
The world's population is with some overlap divided into owners, experts, technicians, and unemployed/casual labour.

12. Two Worlds
The world has become one economy with two worlds: the physical and the virtual.

13. Thermodynamics
The two laws of thermodynamics  about molecules and heat can be transformed to describe memes and complexity.

14. Both / And Versus Either / or
Philosophies that permeate our way of thinking: We have long been thinking in terms of either/or when it comes to society, but both/and philosophies gain ground.

15. Maturity
As a consequence of both/and, our species has undergone an evolution from childhood to maturity.

16. Hope and Heroes
Mankind needs both collective and intellectual narratives that create hope and meaning.

17. The Contempt Centrifuge and The Community Magnet
Religion, production and science have in Europe been a centrifuge of contempt between the three. The community magnet is the next collective narrative.

I dont have answers. I have a lot more thinking to do. Steadily aware that the end point is not the focus. Its what happens during the process, the spaces in between us. Its what we can do with what we know and we need to do it with others.
So I'm trying something a little different, I am rolling out a Math Program called:
Maths Like a Pirate.  The twitter account is @MathsPirates. I'm giving this a go because:

a) It strives to work with complexity in thinking and complexity in relationships.
b) It works with the virtual world and the real world
c) It works  with mobility of work place, people and information
d) It works with both, either and or
e) It works from closed to OPEN learning
f)  It works with the hope of a tipping point. The sum total of a tipping point. Due to exploring chaos and complexity.  Maths Like a Pirate is doing something that interrupts the expectations of a 'normal' math program. 

And so, I drop the smallest pebble into a volcanic crater lake...

Daily work is doing just one thing different, always.

Why Maths Like a Pirate? @mathspirates #mlap14

Why Maths Like a Pirate?

Because in a 21st century knowledge building society, 

Who wants to do maths like Jane Austin?

In 2012 I participated in Jane Gilbert's Special topic at Waikato University. Titled: The Future of Schools in Aotearoa / NZ. In this paper we were asked to think and imagine what might knowledge buidling look like in the classroom.

I read a book called Teach Like a Pirate by Dave Burgess  

The similarities between pirates, some teachers and many students did not pass me by!

After two years of thinking, Maths Like a Pirate is the result. My hope is that Maths Like a Pirate is a nudge forward towards  shifting assumptions about knowledge and furthering a culture where students are the producers and builders of knowledge.
Pirates interrupt the mediocre...
Pirates settle for nothing untill they have the treasure...
Its not what a pirate knows, its what a pirate does with what they know...
Pirates interrupt what is normal...
Pirates work hard and play hard...
Pirates will use what ever strategy they have available to obtain and keep treasure!

Questions I ask:
1. What might knowledge building look like in the classroom?
2. If Knowledge is about movement, then what is moving in this Maths lesson?
3. If knowledge is about change, then what is changing in this Maths  lesson?
4. If one of the principles in the NZC is to be future-focused. How is this lesson working with uncertainty?
5. What could future-oriented 21st century teaching really look like when teaching Maths?

WHY?

1. The importance of play, passion and purpose
Tony Wagner  (a more in depth outline of Wagner's work at the end of this post)
Creating Innovators

2.  Idea Improvement 
Central to the steps towards innovative thinking and outcomes.
 Andy Hargreaves
Professional Capital: Transforming Teaching in Every School

3. Problem identification to sit along side problem solvingTony Ryan @aussietony 

4. Ethical and critical use of technology in the classroom. 
Not as a means to an end but to understand the nature and possibilities of education.
Aim: to be able to use technology in education ethically and critically to nudge and disrupt assumptions about the deterministic effects and impact of technology.
Keri Facer  Neil Selwyn  eds The Politics of Education and TechnologyThe Politics of Education 
Free Chapter

5. Explore and engage with the 2014 Digital Trends  Core Education 
The two emphasis for Maths Like a Pirate and my Mathematical Teaching Inquiry: Building on Student Thinking are:
a)  Learner Agency  
"Where students have the power to act" - @dwenmoth
b) New Approaches to Assessment 
"Processes that cater for a learner centred approach" - @dwenmoth

6. Collaborate to learn 
Exploring Sugata Mitra's ideas around a Self Organised Learning Environment. Where Minimally invasive Education (MIE) is valued.  Sugata's research showed students will Collaborate to learn and learn to collaborate 

7. Knowledge Building 
What could  knowledge building as identified by Scardamalia and Bereiter  possibly look like in the classroom? Leaners shifting from being consumers to producers of knowledge. 

8. Future Focussed

9. NZ on the Edge

10.

This is a work in progress post  - Watch this space!


Outline of Tony Wagner's work:

The importance Play, Passion, Purpose

Tony Wagner discusses that it is no longer important what we know, instead the question is:

What can we do, with what we know?

Based on extensive research Wagner identifies the requirments to be an innovator.

CORE COMPETENCIES TO BE AN INNOVATOR

1. Critical thinking and problem solving and being able to ask the right question.

2. Collaboration across networks and leading by influence

3. Agility and adaptability

4. Initiative and entrepeneurialism

5. Effective written and oral communication

6. Accessing and analyising information

7. Curiosity and imagination

Wagner asks: What do we need to do differently to encourage innovators?

Wagner believes the culture of schools are radically different from the culture that produces Innovators.

WAGNER BELIEVES:

1. Schools focus on individual achievement. 

Yet, innovation is a team sport

2. School are about specialisation. 

Yet, the world of innovation is about interdisciplinary problem based learning. 

3. The culture of schooling is about risk aversion and penalising failure. 

Yet,  Innovation is about risk. 

4. The school culture of learning is about passive consumption. 

Yet, Innovators are about creating a real product for a real audience.

5. Schools are about motivation through good grades. 

Yet, Innovators are intrinsically motivated.

Wagner found the central ideas that all innovators experienced was engaging with their

Play, Passion and Purpose!

Mathematical Teaching Inquiry: Building on Students Thinking 2014

2014: My Mathematical Inquiry is centered around
Chapter 3 - Building on Students Thinking
Effective Pedagogy in Mathematics

This is a years roll out...
Starting January 2014 - December 2014
Please be patient as you scroll to the latest update.
It just seem odd to blog it all backwards!

I mentioned my  2013 Math Inquiry on this blog when I was first wondering about the potential legacy that Sugata Mitra's ideas may have on 21st century teaching and learning practice. This years inquiry has me working towards being more explicit in my understandings. The greatest difference between 2013 and 2014 Teaching Inquiry is my establish maths program called Maths Like a Pirate

The Inquiry process as a pictorial:

Questions I think about are:

What does building on student thinking mean?

Who does the building?
Questions of student agency

What is being built? 

Whos knowledge is being valued?

Theses questions remind me of Michael Young's talk titled
Powerful Knowledge, Knowledge of the Powerful 

When I think about building on student thinking I am wanting to maintain constant focus on the role of the digital trends as explicitly identified by CORE Education

CORE 10 Trends for 2014

Further to the digital trends is a powerful and thought provoking blog post  by 

Karen Melhuish Spencer titled Teaching as inquiry and e-learning: 3-questions 

The three questions are:

1. What kinds of things do we focus on for our inquiry?

2. Do we all have to use the same platform to share our learning?

3. How do we chose what to capture as evidence of our e-learning inquiry?

As my Math Teaching Inquiry is using e-learning in multiple ways, I'm thinking about the three questions as I work towards a dynamic relationship between my program Maths Like a Pirate and e-learning.

Remebering, as  Karen States:

" The tech is merely the enabler - the engine-  while the curriculum and pedagogy are in the drivers seat."

For this teaching Inquiry, my understanding of 'Building on Student Thinking' has two pathways....
1. Starting from the knowledge that the a student has and through 'learning progressions' building individual thinking.
2. The second understanding is about the importance of building student thinking with others. The key is to create something new by working with others. 'Utilizing the third space' The spaces in between. Taking into consideration the role of knowledge in the 21st century.

Both understandings are needing to nudge into play the understanding that Students are no longer consumers but producers of knowledge.

I am reminded that Bereiter, C. (2002) 

Believes that if education

 is to participate in the knowledge age then,

our conceptions of "knowledge and mind

need to change."

My Inquiry Question:
How can I use students mathematical knowledge to engage in tasks and conversations that relate to everyday experiences and problems?


Questions (from Te Toi Tupu)
Focus on the Inquiry
What should my students achieve?
Where are they in relation to the school's goals and priorities?
What do they need to learn next?

Teaching Inquiry
Which teaching strategies will support the students to achieve the identified outcomes?

Learning Inquiry
What learning happened for the students?
What will we do next to ensure that they continue to achieve?

BIG QUESTIONS:
How will you address the Inquiry in your class? 

What steps will you take?

Continue explicit improvement of online maths collaboration  Maths Like a Pirate

Term one:2014

T1Wk:1 Preparation week

T1Wk:2

Circumstance: Making buns.  Asked where is the Maths. They replied counting. Probed asking What did that sound like. Used 1:1 match only

Action: Placed an equation on each tray eg 2+2+2+2= Can you make the buns on the tray look like this equation?

Result: Groups raced each other to make 4 groups of 2 on the tray. As well as students counting in 2s. One student decided counting in fours was going to be alot more fun, the result was the others followed!

T1Wk:3 
Circumstance:  Students not able to explicitly talk about where they see maths in the living world.

Action: I showed the class our movie trailor Epuni Gardens, Lower Hutt, Wellington 
I asked where is the Maths?

Result: Students immediately saw patterns in sunflowers and in the numbers of seeds. A highly distractable student ran out of the classroom and brought back a large dried sunflower head and the class made many maths knowledge connections. 

Kupu Hou = He Kai ‘aahuhanga’ Geometry!

T1Wk:4 
Circumstance: Students doing Number problems in small groups. I asked How did you find your solution? Their constant response was in my head. I guessed. And yet.. their solution was correct.

Action: I tried one of the questions offered to me by our facilitator Phoebe from Cognition Education to help nudge this inquiry.  Q. What other way can you solve this problem?

Result: A roll out of speaking of different strategies by all the students. Inspired by student voice!

T1Wk:5 
Circumstance: During Pirate Challenges students language was limited when reflecting on the questions afterwards.

Action: Showed the Pirate Movie Trailer Seussical Pirate Challenge Movie created by @ugafrank & @21stStacy. We then looked at the images from when they did the challenge. Asking what is the same what is different in how we all did the challenge. And.. Why do you think the two classes  have done things differently?

Result: Stunning result with students completely engaged with language around same and different. As well as applying inference when thinking about why.

T1Wk:6

Circumstance: a little unsure what best to focus on during Pirate Challenges:

Action: Explicit about what is being assessed when doing Pirate Challenges. Focussing on CORE Education conversation about Student Centered Approach To Assessment

Result: I was able to distil responses to the challenge. Focussing on problem identification and improving ideas. Students starting to say..” I can see a problem with…”

T1Wk:7 
Circumstance: Regardless of stage/ ability Students are forgetting to start from the largest number when using addition.

Action: Students created a Mathematical art work 9I was remembering the importance of STEAM) The art work was of Sharks. Each Shark had a different set of silver teeth. Each set of silver teeth are set as even numbers.  The art was to amplify  the importance of counting on from the largest number. I told the students a story about pirates going fishing to catch two sharks to make fish and chips for the crew.  Pirates Remember, Always catch & count on from the shark/mako with the largest number of silver teeth!

Result: Students focussed and discussing the silver teeth. There were conversations around doubles of numbers which was led by the students when creating their Shark. As the art was worked on independently through out the day, I heard students taking maths! I was surprised and very excited. I have learnt and somehow forgotten the importance of using art to communicate number knowledge.

Tweet tex

1. 1. Diana-Grace Morris ‏@dianagracenz  Feb 22

      STEAM Science Technology Engineering Arts Math @DrTonyWagner: The case for STEAM http://theatln.tc/1cdHOWk  #edchatnz @FestivalofEdNZ

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T1Wk:8

Circumstance: Students starting to use Math language 'count on from the biggest number' as well as using the strategy. However, still requiring practice.

Action: Chose to continue practicing using the context of sharks teeth and made contact with @SharkyJillian A Shark expert on twitter. To ask how many teeth did sharks really have. To see what numbers were we really dealing.

Result: @SharkyJillian has offered to take a Math lesson on Sharks! Exciting Term 2 Maths Planning Number Knowledge and Strategy 

Context: Sharks!

Let me know if anyone else is keen to join us. As we will use @SkypeClassroom

Jillian Morris ‏@SharkyJillian  15h

@MathsPirates you can email me sharks4kids@gmail.com and we can connect for a sharky math lesson!

Expand

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T1Wk:9
Circumstance: Students had difficulty in identifying small and large numbers. 
Action:  Used lego blocks to show a number. eg. a tower of five blocks, a tower of 10 blocks. Which number is biggest? Which tower is biggest? Increased the numbers. Replaced the word biggest with the word largest. Made this into a game.
Result: Students showed increased confidence when  identifying small and large numbers. Students had alot of fun!

T1Wk:10
Circumstance: I realized students did not know that the words biggest and smallest were part of mathematical knowledge
Action: Created a daily Mathematical vocabulary brainstorm as part of morning 'hotspot'. 
Result: Students contributed the following words: square, circle, plus, minus, less, difference, measurement. Students were very unsure about mathematical vocabulary and almost shy to contribute.

T1Wk:11

Circumstance: Students continue to be unsure of their mathematical vocabulary.

Action: Continue with Daily Mathematical Vocabulary brain storm in the context of their Pirate Challenges!

Result:

Daily increase of identification and use of mathematical vocabulary! Huge Success!

Will do this activity for a whole week, every third week of term 2.

Base line vocabulary at start of the week - 16 words

and then there was...

Term Two 2014

T2:Wk1
Circumstance: Students who I expected to be settled were unsettled.
Action: Decided to do a JAM assessment on students who were the most disengaged. Needed to check was the base line data still correct.
Result: Base line data indicated a need for extension

T2:Wk2

Circumstance: Attended a Key Note Address to the Wellington Mathematic Symposia by Suzzane Chapin. Focussing on the importance of mathematical language.

Action: Based on new base line data I started fractions with my students. I asked my students to use the word fraction in a sentence. Or to use the word "quarter' in a sentence.

Result: Ihaia said. "If I had four squares and I chopped them all into quarters how many squares would I have?" I had no idea Ihaia knew how to apply fractions.

T2:Wk3

Circumstance: Students were showing signs of becoming disengaged with the weekly 'bun making'. Placing the buns into rays eg 2 + 2 +2  / 4+ 4 + 4 / 5 + 5 + 5. This has been a very effective way of students applying theri number knolwedge. However, I am wanting to maintain application of Math knowledge as motivating and energizing.

Action: Shifted bun making with focus on number to making pizzas with the focus on fractions.

Result: Students talking about cutting their pizza into 1/2, 1/4, 1/6. Students cut cooked pizzas into their desired fraction! Stunning response. 

T2:Wk4

Circumstance:  Using @googlehangouts_ the class connected with @MsLombardoClass in CANADA. 

(We use  @googlehangouts_as it is more stable than Skype and is cost free for CANADA.) 

We played two games. Guess my Math number, focussing on the language Greater than / Less Than and Guess my Math Word.

Action: @MsLombardoClass chose a word we did not know. The word was 'odd number'.

Result: Students wanted to know what an odd number was and after the 'Google hangout' conversations continued about what was odd about a number. Our next learning steps were introduced to us by our new friends in CANADA. We were all a little bit excited and started talking about just how far away is CANADA? So we did a little bit of standard measuring!

Circumstance: Following up from term one. Time to collecte base line data on knowledge of Mathematical vocabulary.
Action: Base line data of Mathematical Vocabulary colected through out the week.
Results: Daily increase of identification and use of mathematical vocabulary! Huge Success! Largest number compiled was 57 words in ten minutes! 
Will collect again in week nine of this term.

T2:Wk5

Circumstance: School closed for most of the week due to teaching staff attending EDUTECH in Australia.

Action: NA

Result: NA

T2:Wk6

Circumstance: During the Math Pirate Challenge,'Build a Bridge' students were asked to use their language and knowledge about fractions.

Action: Students started talking about their bridge in relation to fractions! They also started talking about how they were building parts of cubes!

As evidenced in captured student conversations.

"I started creating my bridge by folding a piece of paper in half." - Ihaia

"There are 18 eggs in total on our bridge. Half of 18 is 9. We know this because there are the same amount on each side." - Leah

"Ideas for designing this bridge came from @MsEsClass in CANADA. Our Bridge works with fractions. Can you see a half? " - Devin

" You've got a bit of a cube going on here." Ihaia

Result: This Math Pirate Challenge was one of the best pirate challenges to date. Students were successfully applying their knowledge of fractions and attributing the start of their ideas to influences out side of the classroom. The students are starting to realize that using their Math Knowledge they can start to improve on other students ideas.

T2:Wk7

Circumstance: Extending Fractions work into number knowledge. Context making model pizzas.

Action: After students made pizzas from dough, students then  made card board models of pizza that were sectioned into fifths. Each student given 10 paper olives and 10 paper tomatoes to share evenly on each fifth of pizza.

Result: Students who understood the activity talked it through with the rest of the group. Answering questions. Students who understood  were able to use language that referenced back to when they had pizzas with their families and the importance of sharing the toppings. When asked how many tomatoes on one fifth of their pizza most students knew there needed to be two.

T2:Wk8

Circumstance: Based on the importance of idea improvement and returning to a similar task. Students continued with new pizza models. This week the Pizza model was in thirds.

Action: Each student was given a pizza divided into thirds, with 6 paper olives, 6 paper tomatoes and 6 paper pieces of salami to divided evenly amongst the whole pizza. Each student completed the activity confidently. As an extension, each child was then given a different number of pieces of cheese to divide evenly over the pizza. Eg. 24 pieces of cheese. (depending on the students number knowledge abilities)

Result: Students speaking confidently about pizzas and fractions. Specific conversation arose from the kinds of fractions commercial pizza shops cut their pizzas and how the topings are shared. There was alot of debate about wether the local pizza shop cut pizza into eighths or sixths! Math vocab from this activity was written down and placed around the interactive white board.

T2:Wk9

Circumstance: During the Math Pirate Challenge Building a Bridge WK 6 I asked a group how did they come up with the idea of using a structure of a cube to help create the bridge. The answer was, "We mixed our ideas together and we started to make a cube." - Leah. Based on the idea of change I wondered what else the students could work with where change would occur. Aim: To be explicit in our math about change / shift.

Action: Introduced a "Matariki- Maori New Year" paper folding activity that involved working with fractions. A piece of paper started as a rectangle and changed into a diamond. Four diamonds, placed together create a star!

Result: Whilst doing the activity students were able to identify mathematical language used during the activity. eg centre line, half, quarters, corners, line. Students used the math vocabulary to explain the instructions to their peers if they were unsure of the next step.

Completed Star images are on their way.
Watch this space!


Term Three 2014
My Mathematical Inquiry is centered around
Chapter 3 - Building on Students Thinking
Effective Pedagogy in Mathematics

My central objective for term three is for each of my students to improve in their additive strategies.
All the students are wanting to get faster at their basic facts.
Base line data = JAM test and anecdotal evidence. 

T3:Wk1
Circumstance:
Students first day back from holidays and I wanted to find an activity that would allow them to use their fractions vocabulary and introduce them in a playful way to their term of  'amplified additive strategies.'
Action:
Made oragami, guess my lucky number games with simple single digit addition and subtractions inside.
Result:
Students spent 20 minutes testing each other.It was Maori Language week so they played the game using maori language vocabulary.
The second result was,  when folding the paper they used their math vocab from term 2. Vocab used: line, half, centre, corner, quarter, triangle, square.

T3:Wk2  
No launch pads. A happy math humm.

Circumstance: 
Action:

Result:

T3:Wk3

Circumstance: The students find subtraction difficult. 

Action:  Created number problems using their marshmallow challenge images.

Result: Students were fully engaged in working out the difference in the number of marshmallows used to build a tower. I will continue this strategy - it was an energetic lesson with a lot of laughter form the students and a lot of effective problem solving.

T3:Wk4

Circumstance: Whole class playing online mathematical games. Sometimes children say the games are too easy.  I heard two children talking together about how they can do these number problems in class but not on the computer and why is that?

Action: I was very excited to hear them recognize their learning needs. The game I had set for them were subtractions of less the 10. I talked with them about their discovery of their learning.

Result:  The two students understood they needed to practice and apply their number knowledge in lots of different contexts. The students communicated Increased optimism as they could see they were working towards improvement.

T3:Wk5

Circumstance: Students are working on place value partitioning. They are learning to expand two and three digit numbers and are getting a bit confused.

Action: Introduced Bubble Gum Maths. I mimed chewing and stretching bubble gum and talked about how bubble gum and maths had a lot in common. I said we were stretching numbers today, making them look long! That the other word for stretching was expanding!

Result:  Tremendous discusion about bubble gum, 100% instant accuracy when expanding three digit numbers, that they asked for four digit numbers! So I tossed a few in. It was one of those beautiful moments in maths when everything just made sense. 

T3:Wk6

Circumstance:  Every Wednesday students  engage with  an online math programme called SUMDOG There is an going conversation about the learning choices we all make.

Action: Before logging in, I asked the students: 
Why do we play SUMDOG? 
What do you think would be the most useful activities for you to play and why do you think that?

Result: Students talked about prioritising hard games over easy ones. Furthermore, students said they were going to work on the games that used plus and minus as they knew they wanted to get better. One student asked, Why is it I can do all my basic facts in class but can't do them so well on SUMDOG? I was excited to hear my students thinking about their learning and realising that there was value in practising the same skill in different contexts.

T3:Wk7

Circumstance:  I am unsure if a couple of my students are really seeing the patterns of numbers. I often ask how did you get to a particular answer and they  reply it was just in my head. With further probing it is often difficult for students to find the mathematical vocabulary to discuss their work. I also wonder how much they can image. Although achieved within a JAM assessment I feel a need to keep checking in on this skill. I am reminded of a slide in a Fractions presentation by Phoebe at Te Toi Tupu Cognition Education. The movement from materials - to imaging - using numbers.

The Strategy Teaching Tool

Action: This week we worked with double digits using blocks of ten and single blocks. As well as sticks of old fashioned chalk and a lot of carpet space.

Result:
The two students I was concerned about were able to identify and build two digit numbers and see patterns using their addition skills. All the students were engaged and enjoyed doing their number work on the floor. When using their mathematical vocabulary there appears to be a mix up in understanding what a set is and what a group is. The interchanging of these words may be acting as a speed hump to moving forward. How many groups of ten are in the number 22?
The other result: Cleaners were not so happy. Next time use white chalk and do it outside!
Will certainly be doing this activity many times in different ways. 
A great warm down may be to show a number using cubes and students to find it on the hundreds board.

T3:Wk8

Circumstance: Participated in a Place Value (PV)  Workshop by Phoebe at Cognition Education

Action: Played a, fast paced, stunning PV game with Playing Cards. Called Pyramids.

Result: Played PV Pyramids as the warm up and students were completely engaged with the fast paced nature of the game and quickly started using their mathematical language to describe, ones, tens, hundreds.  My students would say I have the biggest number. My number is 623. My number has 6 one hundreds,  2 tens and 3 ones. 
(I will find the game instructions and post here - this game is an absolute must. Great game when all you have is a pack of cards and so easy to extend into larger numbers and decimal work.)

This photo is off seniors playing the same game. 
The game is extended by adding a decimal. NOTE: little plastic pig = decimal! 

I need to add here in WK 8  
The class participated in THE DOT CLUB International dot Day.
finding fractions and number patterns  using dots for

"My number is 12. 
1/6 of my dots are blue". Leah












T3:Wk9

Circumstance: A class in Canada, who we connect with in @MathsPirates wanted to  Mystery Skype the class. (Its a new school year in Canada, so new children) My first thought: Ok, so where is the maths? How can I make this work as a valuable activity to be doing in our Math time?  Answer: Students to focus questions around, Measurement:  time, distance, seasons, temperature and money m

Action: Students wrote mathematical focussed questions.

Result: Students took turns asking Questions using their mathematical vocabulary. One student at the end of the Mystery Skype said we could have added a Geometry question. We could have asked what shape is your country. Is your country look like a square or an oblong? I was very happy that students were again seeing that Math is every where and time and its relationship to world time clocks is a significant part of our lives. Students talked at length that when it was a 9:00am on a Spring day in NZ it was the end of a summer afternoon in Canada. Mystery Skype with Math focus was stunning!

T3:Wk10

Circumstance: The whole term has been to focus on increasing basic facts. I'm also interested to learn what  Term 2 Mathematical Vocabulary has been retained.

Action: This week - Basic Fact testing and daily Math Vocabulary warm ups. (JAM and 5 minute word blats)

Result:

And.....
Here is where I dropped the ball.