Task Centre News

October 2001

• Answers To Tasks
  Where are the answers? Have you heard that question when doing workshops? Do you know that Maths300 is now a great support in this regard? At least half of the lessons are extensions into the iceberg of tasks, which not only provide answers to the card, but explore greater challenges and encourage the choice of better teaching craft.

• Joining Maths300
  Do you know that there are three ways for schools to join Maths300?
  - Subscription only
  - Subscription plus Starting Maths300 CD
    (First 50 lessons)
  - Starting Maths300 & Tasks
    (Membership, CD and 31 tasks matching 31 lessons on the CD)
  Starting Maths300 & Tasks is a great way to shift towards a Working Mathematically curriculum. Each Maths300 lesson models the process of working like a mathematician. Each task offers an invitation to a pair of students to apply what they are learning about the model.
  Find out more at the Maths300 About link.

• Personal Membership
  The concept of Maths300 is that a school/institution will join on behalf of its staff. However, some of you may not be in a position where that is possible and may still want to access Maths300 to support your Task Centre work. If this is the case, please contact Doug.

• Sweden
  Ulla Öberg, Lärarhögskolan Malmö, Sweden, has begun a mathematics teacher training program which focuses on problem solving using her task centre, Maths300 membership and a library of Starting Maths300 CD-ROMs. The students borrow the CDs like books, but they remain the property of the institution. Ulla and her team set assignments based on the pedagogy of the web material and encourage students to try lessons and tasks on teaching practice.

• England
  Andy Martin, Doncaster, UK has been asked to lead a nationally funded district experiment in Working Mathematically, and has started by purchasing Starting Maths300 & Tasks for 6 schools as the basis of a professional development project.

• New Tasks
  Our collection of tasks continues to grow. The latest are:
  216, Square Pairs, Levels BC, Number
  217, Kids On Grids, Levels BC, Pattern & Algebra, Measurement, Space
  Two more are in the melting pot, so remember to check for the latest catalogue in your Documents link on the left whenever you need to consult with someone about the current task stock.

• New Materials
  Whereas a task like Number Tiles (#43) can be easily converted to a class lesson by tearing up pieces of paper, some tasks need just the right equipment to activate this life. Check the Products link on the left for new materials which open the investigation door to Pyramid Puzzle (#101) and Sphinx (#166).

• Sphinx Video
  At Cressy High School in Tasmania, Pam McGifford's students became so involved with the Sphinx task that they published their results as a video. It is a magnificent 10 minute sequence both mathematically and artistically. The images carry so many messages about what students can do and the value of the Working Mathematically curriculum to the development of their mathematics and their 'self'. I now use this video within many of my Task Centre and Maths300 presentations. It is not generally available, however it is such a great tool for a professional development consultant that we can arrange a copy of you are interested. PAL versions are around $20 (plus P&H). NTSC versions (for USA) are around $AUD70 (plus P&H). Contact Doug.

• Data Base
  Distribution Manager, Ina Koetsier, has worked hard over several months to gather thousands of pieces of information related to task centre sales since Day 1 into the one Access data base. She is now ready to answer queries. For the most part this is used internally and to answer postcode queries that generate from the Problem Solving Task Centre Site. However, if you have a special request Ina would love to exercise her new found skills. See the Contacts link on the left for her details.

• PSTC Site
  It was Andy Wain who established this site and then managed it for the Mathematical Association of Victoria from around December 1995 to the end of 2000. He did so while still a full-time teacher. It was ground-breaking work and the team wishes to record here our appreciate of Andy's efforts.

  Since the beginning of 2001, Peter Batchelor has been the Web Master of the site. In fact, Peter manages the entire MAV site. We are delighted with the on-going co-operation that has developed 'under new management'.

• Ten Year Anniversary
  The first task centre workshop was held on July 1st 1992. There were a few hiccups with that session - as there will often be with innovation in education. However, the particular school must have been influenced in some way because on August 16th 1994 they purchased another 100 tasks.

  As you check the 10th Anniversary link on the left, consider the implications of this quote from an email recently received from one of our consultants who was visiting a school prior to taking up a short term teaching contract.

  The maths teacher I am replacing showed me the maths store room which contained a task centre on a trolley. I said, "A task centre, do you use it?"
  "Naaah, just a silly fad someone had a few years ago."

  • Are task centres a silly fad?
    
  • If so, why have they been a successful part of school curriculums somewhere ever since the first Australian teachers put the idea into action in the late 1970s?
    
  • If faced with a similar comment, could you identify the educational features that make them an important part of a curriculum?
    
  • What does it say about communication in schools across time if the features seen by the teachers who established tasks in this school haven't been passed on?
    
  • How can we help schools to integrate task use and document that integration so that using tasks in the best way is as expected as using text books?

Keep smiling,
Doug.

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