NZL One - Two - Three

Term 4 is the time when we pull everything together and students prepare for end of year exams. Exams can cause anxiety. Maths anxiety simply compounds this. Its time to stop the clock on maths anxiety - read the latest research on Youcubed https://www.youcubed.org/resources/time-stop-clock-math-anxiety-heres-latest-research/ Is Maths Anxiety Real?   adapted from http://study.com/academy/lesson/causes-effects-of-math-anxiety.html  Does just hearing the word 'maths' make your heart race and your palms sweaty?  Does  maths anxiety  exists.  Many scientists believe maths anxiety is a very real condition. It can be defined as emotion including stress and tension that interfere with a student's ability to solve maths problem http://mathematicsanxiety.blogspot.co.nz/2011/04/where-does-math-anxiety-in-preservice.html Causes of Maths Anxiety Test anxiety is the impending feeling that you will or are failing an exam, and often leads to poor res...

If  algebra is about seeing patterns and making connections, how can we connect number, geometry & algebra? One approach... think about the number 180; 180 degrees on a straight line 180 degrees is the sum of the interior angles in a triangle 180 degrees in a semicircle 180 is an even number and a multiple of 10 180 in standard form looks like this 1.8 x 10 ^2 Is 180 a happy or an unhappy number? What pairs of numbers add up to 180? How many different pairs can you find? What patterns can you see? How do you know if you have found all the pairs? A spreadsheet is one way for students to experiment : Use the View> Show Formula option to introduce students to the algebraic logic behind spreadsheet formulae How could we draw this? How else could we draw this? How could this be written using symbols? 120 + 60 or 120 + 60 = 180 Target 180 Two numbers add to 180. If I know one number what could the other number be? Use a tabl...

As we embed the changes to 91027 and prepare for a changed format in  91028 I wondered how things used to be... From the 1996 School Certificate chief markers report. In the first paragraph it was noted  that there was a " continued requirement for candidates to interpret information,  to explain, describe and justify their mathematics clearly and concisely" I discovered investigation tasks in exams are not new - In 1996 candidates had to  carry out an investigation to discover what length and width of a box would give the greatest base area. To find a solution they could chose their method and were offered a table or grid as a guide. School Certificate 1996 These investigative type questions first appeared in 1995 and these was one in each paper up to the introduction of NCEA. I have scanned the questions and put them in the shared 91028 folder   You will see there is a folder called GIVE ONE GET ONE that all teachers can add a questio...

Each winter the stars of Matariki and Puanga signal the end of one year in Aotearoa, and the beginning of the next. Traditionally Mäori have recognised the rise of Matariki as a time to celebrate and prepare for the new year. Matariki  takes place on the  25th June however  the Matariki celebrations have begun. To see what's on check out the  Matariki Festival  website. Matariki gives us an opportunity to enrich students’ mathematical experiences in a meaningful context Click here for a an integrated unit from NZMaths  The unit begins with an investigation into some of the mathematics of astronomy associated with the rising of Matariki and learn where to look for the stars at the beginning of Matariki. As students work through the unit they learn about the significance of whakapapa, our family tree, and the mathematics of our descendants as they go back generations.  They discover the algebra behind a famous tukutuku...

What do you do for students who arrive with significant academic gaps? How you will identify them? How you will you know you have made a difference? This post highlights a recent discovery that will help  address question 1, that is a book written by Suzy Pepper Rollins,   Learning in the Fast lane, 8 ways to put ALL students on the road to achieve academic success. Suzy argues that we spend too much time focussing on  filling the gaps rather than  moving forward. In otherwords we spend far too much time remediating rather than accelerating students.  " instruction that aims to catch up lagging students or fix all their past problems ends up providing classroom experiences that are not compelling, rigorous, or engaging. Such instruction may inadvertently widen rather than close achievement gaps. " How do students feel? sourced from http://cpl.org.nz/Our-services/Accelerated-Literacy-Learning-ALL/Northern-region A colleague ...

A new year is synonymous with New Years resolutions that are never followed through. This year I came across the #onewordtrend2017. Rather than a a new years resolution i would find a New Years word. One of my words for 2017 will be resilience.  Resilience because I believe it is one of the most important things we need to teach our students  Resilience as the new PLD environment means navigating uncharted waters. Jo Boaler's setting up positive norms in the maths classroom offers a kete of ideas for building belief and developing resilience in students.  In the document these 7 key ideas are shared with supporting strategies to help set students up for a year of successful learning 1. Everyone Can Learn Math to the Highest Levels. Encourage students to believe in themselves. There is no such thing as a “math” person. Everyone can reach the highest levels they want to, with hard work.  2. Mistakes are Valuable Mistakes grow your bra...