Task Centre News

April 2006

• More on Space & Logic
  Last month we mentioned the excitement at Wade High School, Griffith, NSW related to the challenges of the Maths With Attitude, Space & Logic, Years 7/8 kit. This month I had an opportunity to drop into the school and see the outcomes first hand. The photo above shows some of the student projects. As part of the unit students were asked to choose a task, work with it, see what else they could learn, then prepare a poster or report to show what they had learnt. You will find more photos in the Photographs link on the left. Look in the Recording & Publishing Album link.

  The first four weeks of the students' first year of high school was centred around this kit and Garry Bell reckons it was 'magic'. Garry's first two lessons were based on the Maths300 lesson String Shapes. Both he and the kids loved starting the year with outdoor maths. Some other wisdom from a conversation with Garry and Sandra was:

  • Using the kit as a four week block, which is one way the kit could be used, gave the unit a wholeness.
  • Assessment was based around (i) a rubric which the kids knew would get them an A if ..., a B if ... etc, (ii) daily journal writing which briefly recorded items such as what they did, what they learnt, what they would do next, and (iii) demonstrating throughout the unit how they had worked liked a mathematician.
  • They were easily able to relate these assessment components to the required official assessment format.
  • Having done the unit once, they will do it better next time.

• More on Sphinx
  While at Wade I noticed something on the wall which is likely to become a new fashion trend in maths classrooms. Decorated Sphinxes! Maths and art coming together through line design/curve stitching and tessellation. Take a look at the example on Page 5 of the Sphinx Album link on the left. This page is now open for contributions from your students.

• Dice Differences & Professional Development
  There have been many professional development engagements in the last few weeks as schools begin to realise the extensive learning support which has been collected in the Task Centre Project and its sisters Maths300 and Calculating Changes (see Web Sites link on the left). It is fantastic getting out into schools and experiencing teachers' creativity. For example, two Year 3 teachers who were part of an on-going series of workshops introducing Maths With Attitude, reported with delight on their experience with Dice Differences. They read the task card and developed their own whole class investigation based around exploring differences between two dice and collecting, displaying and interpreting the data that resulted.

  Two hours later they had to stop, but the kids - all the kids, across the full range of abilities - would quite happily have continued.

  The learning was broad, deep and differentiated. The teachers commented that it can only be through using tasks like this that the assessment demands of curriculum structured around Essential Learning can be met.

• Poly Plug & Tasks
  Poly Plug is a remarkably flexible resource which can be used, apart from other things, to explore the whole class investigation life of many tasks. Task 62, 4 & 20 Blackbirds, has just been added to the list of tasks which can be extended in this way. Read the details here.

• Tasks of the Month
  Two more tasks which might look a bit like infant material. But no, much more than that. Domino Trails has application right across primary school and Heads & Legs, which could be used from around Year 3, has aspects, such as solution of simultaneous equations, which reach out to Year 10.     

  Read about these Tasks of the Month in Task Cameos in the Iceberg Information link on the left, or click on a photo to go straight to printable information about the task.

• Notes from an Inspector's Notebook
  John Hibbs has contributed again this month, this time with an analysis consistent with Task 46, Duelling Dice. We thought it was time to recognise his support, both for our site and mathematics education, with his own piece of the web. Check out the new Notes from an Inspector's Notebook link in the Working Mathematically link on the left.

• A Special Date
  In early May there will be a special date and time. Can your students work out what it is? We will tell you next month.

• Did you miss the March News?
  If so you missed information about:
  1. Success at Wade High School with MWA Space & Logic
  2. Information about new documents describing both Maths With Attitude and our range of Support Services
  3. Iceberg Information about two Tasks of the Month
  4. ... and more

Keep smiling,
Doug.

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