The start
The idea for change came from an end of year discussion between Frances Horne and Bernie Wills, when we confirmed that neither of us was happy with our teaching.
We were convinced that we were not preparing our students for their futures and that we were not even teaching maths very well.
Bernie had completed the Mind Lab Certificate in Applied Practice and was especially interested in Flipped Learning and Student Agency, while being weary of yet another educational fad.
Taking shape
One of the first decisions was that students should be able to write their own assessments and that they would be supported with video skills lessons.
We also accepted that there would be no extra funding available, or new rooms, or changes in timetabling or staffing.
We shared lesson times for our year 9 and 10 Maths classes and we trialed combining these as mixed year level, large classes with a focus on group work. We emphasised the Growth Mindset aspect of learning Maths and this was made easier as many had used this in their Primary and Intermediate schools.
We asked students to design their ideal learning space and then uncovered unused tables within the school and redirected the furniture replacement money to bright coloured desks, comfortable chairs, bean bags and couches, much to the students surprise.
For our own year 12 classes we trialed two NCEA Achievement Standards and prepared the resources and supported students to write their own assessment tasks, if they were able.
Yes we can
Even though this was still a small project, and we were constantly evaluating and making changes, we were very happy with the overall concept. We decided that we should try to expand the number of assessments offered and also to involve 1 or 2 more Maths staff. We asked for expressions of interest and 11 of the 14 staff asked to be involved!
We then drew up a proposal to put to the Senior Management Team of the school, and got their approval.
How
Many of our ideas were now combined and the full programme took shape.
We designed and built a Light Board to record our videos and individual teachers planned and recorded a short (approx 3 minute) video for each skill for each Achievement Standard.
A concern about timetabling was avoided because with all year 11 and 12 students doing the same Maths course, four adjacent rooms were blocked for the course and resources could be centralised.
Teachers gradually adapted to their new role as facilitators and accepted that they wouldn't, in fact couldn't, be the expert in all things and that it was OK to send a student to an adjacent class for help when necessary. Students also took sometime to adapt to this flexibility.
We knew that most of our students wouldn't watch the videos at home, so we allowed this to be an "in class" activity, however they still worked at their own pace on their own choice of work.
From the start, we booked a lunchtime meeting once a week for staff to share concerns, successes and to generally feel supported. This was to be the best Maths specific Professional Learning for all of us, and the extra meeting time was accepted without issue. Each meeting initiated an adaption to some aspect of the course, and gave teachers the same agency that we were promoting for our students.
The idea for change came from an end of year discussion between Frances Horne and Bernie Wills, when we confirmed that neither of us was happy with our teaching.
We were convinced that we were not preparing our students for their futures and that we were not even teaching maths very well.
Bernie had completed the Mind Lab Certificate in Applied Practice and was especially interested in Flipped Learning and Student Agency, while being weary of yet another educational fad.
Taking shape
One of the first decisions was that students should be able to write their own assessments and that they would be supported with video skills lessons.
We also accepted that there would be no extra funding available, or new rooms, or changes in timetabling or staffing.
We shared lesson times for our year 9 and 10 Maths classes and we trialed combining these as mixed year level, large classes with a focus on group work. We emphasised the Growth Mindset aspect of learning Maths and this was made easier as many had used this in their Primary and Intermediate schools.
We asked students to design their ideal learning space and then uncovered unused tables within the school and redirected the furniture replacement money to bright coloured desks, comfortable chairs, bean bags and couches, much to the students surprise.
For our own year 12 classes we trialed two NCEA Achievement Standards and prepared the resources and supported students to write their own assessment tasks, if they were able.
Yes we can
Even though this was still a small project, and we were constantly evaluating and making changes, we were very happy with the overall concept. We decided that we should try to expand the number of assessments offered and also to involve 1 or 2 more Maths staff. We asked for expressions of interest and 11 of the 14 staff asked to be involved!
We then drew up a proposal to put to the Senior Management Team of the school, and got their approval.
How
Many of our ideas were now combined and the full programme took shape.
We designed and built a Light Board to record our videos and individual teachers planned and recorded a short (approx 3 minute) video for each skill for each Achievement Standard.
A concern about timetabling was avoided because with all year 11 and 12 students doing the same Maths course, four adjacent rooms were blocked for the course and resources could be centralised.
Teachers gradually adapted to their new role as facilitators and accepted that they wouldn't, in fact couldn't, be the expert in all things and that it was OK to send a student to an adjacent class for help when necessary. Students also took sometime to adapt to this flexibility.
We knew that most of our students wouldn't watch the videos at home, so we allowed this to be an "in class" activity, however they still worked at their own pace on their own choice of work.
From the start, we booked a lunchtime meeting once a week for staff to share concerns, successes and to generally feel supported. This was to be the best Maths specific Professional Learning for all of us, and the extra meeting time was accepted without issue. Each meeting initiated an adaption to some aspect of the course, and gave teachers the same agency that we were promoting for our students.