Teacher visit to Te Ara Pangarau class
Hi Bernie
Thanks again for yesterday; the visit will certainly assist my conversations with other teachers within the NoE contract and a suggested contact/ conference workshop to follow up on regarding student centered programmes; teacher collaboration; flipped learning; the change process.
Here are some notes on what students talked to me about yesterday.
I saw students who knew their programme and knew that they had the responsibility to work through it. They could articulate why this worked for them.
Thanks again for yesterday; the visit will certainly assist my conversations with other teachers within the NoE contract and a suggested contact/ conference workshop to follow up on regarding student centered programmes; teacher collaboration; flipped learning; the change process.
Here are some notes on what students talked to me about yesterday.
I saw students who knew their programme and knew that they had the responsibility to work through it. They could articulate why this worked for them.
What I observed and was told
Students entering the classroom and signing themselves in
No instruction like ‘sit down and get your books out’
Talking to a group of 4 students at the start of the lesson
Two with maths work out and organising themselves to start work.
One was from another class, running at the same time, and was trying to encourage the other three to join them in their class [student #3]. After some friendly debate student #3 came and joined the other 3 [there is a requirement for student #3 to sign into the class that they are assigned to and is then free to work in other classes].
Fourth student said, after this; “we do do work in this class” and got out the material they were planning to work on.
3 students were working on L1 Right Angled Triangles and one on L2 Trigonometry standard.
I came back to this group and asked if anyone had a question / query that I might help with. No takers. Two briefly commented on what they were working on; student #3 commented, implying that they were working their way through an example and trying to get their head around it;
My impression: these students appeared engaged/focused on the work that they had selected to do. They had the time to work at their own pace in their own way.
There was teacher input to this group when it was noticed that how a student was communicating their maths working could be improved
Another student I spoke to said that they had just got a Merit for Linear Algebra and were now working on L1 Number. Completion of that would get them to 10 credits. Not their final goal but recognised this as an important step.
Student was working through the Walker text and explained that this resource suited them. I asked about use of the support videos and they implied that their preference for how they needed to work was this workbook rather than using the videos.
This new school for them this year. Explained that they had anxiety issues and that this programme saw them making progress in Maths where previous programmes with deadlines on learning and assessment were a huge problem previously.
Student commented about how being able to work at their own pace and select the resources that suited how they best learnt material were a great help to them.
Another student at this table commented that they were doing the L1 Right angled Triangle standard and were going to move on to doing the L2 Trigonometry standard next. They commented that it is evidently easier than the L1 Right Angela Triangle assessment.
My thoughts: how many students could I ask that would know what Maths unit they were studying next and talk about it like they ‘owned’ this programme?
Talked to another student who was working on their laptop who explained that they were using Learn Coach video to assist with learning strategies to expand three brackets [L2 Algebra Standard]. They could tell me the standard they had just done, though I have forgotten which one]
My impression: I was observing purposeful work; work a student had selected to do and was employing resources to master the work.
There was an exchange student working on Maths work from her programme from her home school - using and workbook and online examples as resources
I observed one to one discussion between the teacher and a student about their completed L2 Trigonometry assessment. This was an assessment that the student had written using a self selected context.
Student had chosen when to sit this after completing 2 Practice assessments which give the teacher and student feedback on their readiness to sit the test - aspects of the standard they know well and aspects they need to revise.
When I asked the teacher whether a bank of assessments is gathered to have as exemplars, he explained why this was strongly discouraged. Students are more than capable of coming up with a question based on a context that they know and understand. The staff are amazed by what the students know and produce. Do not want to suggest a recipe approach to passing a standard
This approach to assessment of the Maths standards mirrors how many of the Statistics assessments are done. Students give a session to write their question and as much time as they need to complete assessment - usually no more than 2 sessions required. Student selected context means students are using context and vocabulary that they understand.
At the end of the lesson I asked a student that I hadn’t previously spoken to, “Have you made progress today?”
He initially he just said yes and then elaborated; “in fact I’ve made a lot of progress today” They then commented “I’ve got my programme for year and I’m going to work on the goals I have set myself; this [Maths] programme really suits me.
My thoughts: This student appeared excited about what they had set themselves to complete for the year.
I didn’t see students putting up their hands for help and saying ‘I don’t know how to do this’. Teacher commented that students ask specific questions based on the work they are doing.
I didn’t see the teacher walking around the room reminding the students to be on task. Students I spoke to knew what their plan was and that it was up to them to implement it.
I talked to a group of students about the termly Maths goal setting meeting and who’s responsibility it was to write up the goals decided on. They could talk about their online portfolio and the goals they had written up. I mentioned that as an academic coach in a school, I had the job of writing up the student goals. Their response implied that that was ‘wrong’ given these were student goals; should be the responsibility of the student and were more likely to be actioned by the student
Angela Cameron
Maths teacher and university tutor
Students entering the classroom and signing themselves in
No instruction like ‘sit down and get your books out’
Talking to a group of 4 students at the start of the lesson
Two with maths work out and organising themselves to start work.
One was from another class, running at the same time, and was trying to encourage the other three to join them in their class [student #3]. After some friendly debate student #3 came and joined the other 3 [there is a requirement for student #3 to sign into the class that they are assigned to and is then free to work in other classes].
Fourth student said, after this; “we do do work in this class” and got out the material they were planning to work on.
3 students were working on L1 Right Angled Triangles and one on L2 Trigonometry standard.
I came back to this group and asked if anyone had a question / query that I might help with. No takers. Two briefly commented on what they were working on; student #3 commented, implying that they were working their way through an example and trying to get their head around it;
My impression: these students appeared engaged/focused on the work that they had selected to do. They had the time to work at their own pace in their own way.
There was teacher input to this group when it was noticed that how a student was communicating their maths working could be improved
Another student I spoke to said that they had just got a Merit for Linear Algebra and were now working on L1 Number. Completion of that would get them to 10 credits. Not their final goal but recognised this as an important step.
Student was working through the Walker text and explained that this resource suited them. I asked about use of the support videos and they implied that their preference for how they needed to work was this workbook rather than using the videos.
This new school for them this year. Explained that they had anxiety issues and that this programme saw them making progress in Maths where previous programmes with deadlines on learning and assessment were a huge problem previously.
Student commented about how being able to work at their own pace and select the resources that suited how they best learnt material were a great help to them.
Another student at this table commented that they were doing the L1 Right angled Triangle standard and were going to move on to doing the L2 Trigonometry standard next. They commented that it is evidently easier than the L1 Right Angela Triangle assessment.
My thoughts: how many students could I ask that would know what Maths unit they were studying next and talk about it like they ‘owned’ this programme?
Talked to another student who was working on their laptop who explained that they were using Learn Coach video to assist with learning strategies to expand three brackets [L2 Algebra Standard]. They could tell me the standard they had just done, though I have forgotten which one]
My impression: I was observing purposeful work; work a student had selected to do and was employing resources to master the work.
There was an exchange student working on Maths work from her programme from her home school - using and workbook and online examples as resources
I observed one to one discussion between the teacher and a student about their completed L2 Trigonometry assessment. This was an assessment that the student had written using a self selected context.
Student had chosen when to sit this after completing 2 Practice assessments which give the teacher and student feedback on their readiness to sit the test - aspects of the standard they know well and aspects they need to revise.
When I asked the teacher whether a bank of assessments is gathered to have as exemplars, he explained why this was strongly discouraged. Students are more than capable of coming up with a question based on a context that they know and understand. The staff are amazed by what the students know and produce. Do not want to suggest a recipe approach to passing a standard
This approach to assessment of the Maths standards mirrors how many of the Statistics assessments are done. Students give a session to write their question and as much time as they need to complete assessment - usually no more than 2 sessions required. Student selected context means students are using context and vocabulary that they understand.
At the end of the lesson I asked a student that I hadn’t previously spoken to, “Have you made progress today?”
He initially he just said yes and then elaborated; “in fact I’ve made a lot of progress today” They then commented “I’ve got my programme for year and I’m going to work on the goals I have set myself; this [Maths] programme really suits me.
My thoughts: This student appeared excited about what they had set themselves to complete for the year.
I didn’t see students putting up their hands for help and saying ‘I don’t know how to do this’. Teacher commented that students ask specific questions based on the work they are doing.
I didn’t see the teacher walking around the room reminding the students to be on task. Students I spoke to knew what their plan was and that it was up to them to implement it.
I talked to a group of students about the termly Maths goal setting meeting and who’s responsibility it was to write up the goals decided on. They could talk about their online portfolio and the goals they had written up. I mentioned that as an academic coach in a school, I had the job of writing up the student goals. Their response implied that that was ‘wrong’ given these were student goals; should be the responsibility of the student and were more likely to be actioned by the student
Angela Cameron
Maths teacher and university tutor