- MOTM Reports
Maths on the Move is our principal professional development vehicle. A suite of tried and true workshops with a range of content for primary and secondary teachers. Their common thread is that all students can learn to work like a mathematician in healthy, happy, cheerful, productive, inspiring classrooms. We will take these sessions anywhere you need them.
Knox Network, Victoria, has used some of its AGQTP grant to run two Maths on the Move sessions in the past month. Their first day was Learning to Work Like a Mathematician and their second was Fractions in a Fraction of the Time. There were over 40 teachers present on each occasion.
Judy Gray organised the events and after the first commented:
All the feedback I have had has been glowing, for example:
- Totally inspiring
- Relevant, clear and very, very usable
- Most awesome presenter I have ever seen
- This is so good
- That was cool
Independently another participant wrote us saying: Your PD session was fantastic. Not just the activity but also your presentation. Read more evaluations in the Link List below.
A special mention must be given to the primary staff at Lake Cargelligo Central School who have displayed what many would consider to be dedication beyond the call by booking the workshop Engineering 'aha' Moments in Number for the very last day of the school year - Friday December 18th.
Professional development is our business so it's good to know we seem to do it well. But there are limited places in the diary, so consider now your needs for 2010.
- Additions to Task Cameos
- Task 18, Same or Different
Damian Howison, MacKillop College Swan Hill, has been using this task with his VCE Year 12 Maths Methods class in its whole class investigation life. His students have been learning to work like mathematicians now for some years and he was delighted when they made a connection with Task 129, Farmyard Friends, which they investigated in Year 11. It led to a new tweak to the task which has been recorded in its Task Cameo. See Link List below. Damian comments:
So as you can imagine, it was a wonderful little lesson of discovery - the best type where I the teacher learn just as much as the students.
This is a must read addition for all Senior Secondary teachers. It touches on combinations, using a spreadsheet and limits (to name just a few) apart from the probability work that is the background of the task.
- Task 86, Game of 31
Simon Blake, Regency Park Primary School, was one of the teachers in the Knox Cluster MOTM sessions mentioned above. He writes:
I look at Maths in a whole different light and as a result my students are enthused and can't wait for the next session!
One of the experiences that brought about this change was trialing Task 86, Thirty-One, guided by its extensive Maths300 lesson plan. Simon has written an addition to the cameo (see Link List below) and included a photo of some wonderful journal work from Jess, one of his Year 5 students.
- Football Final Series
It's September and all over Australia attention is turning to Finals Fever. Both the AFL (Australian Football League) and the NRL (National Rugby League) are counting down to their respective Grand Final at the end of the month. May the best team win.
Or are your chances of winning governed by your position in the final eight on the end of season ladder?
Sure, the first round of finals is over, but there is still time to investigate. See the Task Cameo for Task 1, Sporting Finals, in the Link List below. It includes links to playing boards for both AFL and NRL.
- National Literacy & Numeracy Week
August 31 to September 6 were celebrated across Australia as National Literacy & Numeracy Week. Wherever you are in the world you can view the Core Activity for the week at:
http://reachforthestars.nlnw.edu.au/Core-activity
It's a fabulous activity about counting the letters in the first names of people in the class. And if you think that sounds like a 'baby' activity, THINK AGAIN:
 |
We ran the activity with some classes this week and it turned out to be quite interesting. The activity is based on the lengths of the kids' names and the usage of letters of the alphabet. Comparing boys and girls' names in particular.
I used the activity at Year 7 to introduce the idea of mean and median (along with Estimating Averages, of course) and that went well. |
 |
But just today, I had a lesson about discrete random distributions with Year 12 Methods (same class as Same or Different) and I was on my way to class trying to figure what could I do to make this lesson keep me awake. I suddenly realised (smacking myself in the forehead) that we'd been doing discrete random distributions in Year 7 all week with their name lengths. So I threw my other lesson in the bin and pulled up slides of my Year 7's distributions and away we went in Year 12 - calculating expected values, standard deviations, comparing boys and girls - and it was quite amazing really. |
 |
I started wondering how cool it would be to compare distributions of names of kids from different countries (even different suburbs of Melbourne!). Just comparing boys and girls in one class there was a big difference in standard deviation even though the mean was close. |
 |
Here is a lesson that can have relevance and meaning for groups from Year 7 to Year 12.
Damian Howison
MacKillop College, Swan Hill
(Estimating Averages Lesson 145, Maths300) |
- Tasks of the Month
Two new cameos this month.
- Reflections is one of a number of tasks that help students experience the properties of reflection. The rubber bands allow the experience to be flexible and encourage What happens if..? questions.
- Networks is attractive in the first instance because it is a game. It helps to develop spatial perception and logic reasoning. Beyond that it opens up explorations with tiling patterns and tessellations and introduces students to elements of design.
 
Click a photo to access its cameo, or access all current cameos through the Link List below.
- Did you miss the August News?
If so you missed information about:
- Reports from Maths on the Move professional development sessions
- Additions to Task Cameos for Tasks 30, 31 & 32
- Addition of the Buddy System to the Models & Structures listed in the Integrating Tasks link
- Iceberg Information about two Tasks of the Month (Tasks 93, 94)
- ...and more...
Keep smiling,
Doug.
Previous News
July 2009
June 2009 ... May 2009 ... April 2009 ... March 2009 ... February 2009 ... Dec.2008/Jan.2009
November 2008 ... October 2008 ... September 2008 ... August 2008 ... July 2008
May/June 2008 ... April 2008 ... March 2008 ... February 2008 ... Dec.2007/ Jan.2008
November 2007 ... October 2007 ... August/September 2007 ... July 2007
June 2007 ... May 2007 ... April 2007 ... March 2007 ... February 2007 ... Dec. 2006/ Jan. 2007
November 2006 ... October 2006 ... September 2006 ... August 2006 ... July 2006
June 2006 ... May 2006 ... April 2006 ... March 2006 ... February 2006 ... Dec. 2005/ Jan. 2006
November 2005 ... October 2005 ... September 2005 ... August 2005 ... July 2005
June 2005 ... May 2005 ... April 2005 ... March 2005 ... February 2005 ... Dec. 2004/ Jan. 2005
November 2004 ... October 2004 ... September 2004 ... August 2004 ... July 2004
June 2004 ... April/May 2004 ... March 2004 ... February 2004
December 2003 ... October 2003 ... August/September 2003 ... July 2003
June 2003 ... April/May 2003 ... March 2003 ... February 2003 ... January 2003
December 2002 ... November 2002 ... October 2002 ... September 2002 ... March 2002
December 2001 ... October 2001
Follow this link to Task Centre Home page.
|
