Overarching question: How might we cultivate a ‘Utopic Problem Solving Culture’ @OrmPS in order to contextualise maths for our learners?
-Real world problems-relevant to what is happening in the learners lives
-Open ended low floor high ceiling rich learning tasks
-Learner engagement
-Learners are able to explain their thinking
-The learners not even realising they are learning
-learners working together to solve problems.
Scanning - Finding out what the learners think and feel about their learning.
Our learners were able to work in their groups to complete a daily 3 rotation. They knew what to do and what success ‘looked’ like.
When problem solving, they found it difficult to apply their learnt knowledge to real life situations.
E.g. they might have known number bonds to 10, but could not apply this to a word problem or find the change unknown.
When problem solving alone, some learners displayed anxiety and were not keen to participate, so we got them to work in groups of about 4.
We knew that visual prompts really helped our learners. This especially helped with the daily 3 rotation and with any topic specific vocabulary.
With each week bringing in new learners, math time involved a lot of daily establishment of routines.
Our Utopic Problem Solving Session
We wanted the learners to have the confidence in themselves to have a go and try something. All/most learners putting in the effort, persevering and not just giving up.
Learners able to think of different ways to solve problems. .
Focussing - Using your noticings to concentrate on an area for focussed learning.
What’s going to cause the greatest impact?’
- Age appropriate use of tools and language
- Learners able to choose their resources and share the way they would like to solve a problem.
What are our strengths in this area?
- Learners had access to orange trolley to solve their problems
- Differentiated levels of choice for different learners
What do we need to do more of/more often?’
- Give more open ended problems for the learners to solve
- Problems we can easily extend on. Thinking about how we will differentiate for the learners who solve the problem quickly. Being prepared to extend to a higher set of numbers.
- Using more literal equipment. Frogs are frogs not beans.
Developing a hunch - Our Hunch is:
If we use a range of co-teaching strategies to teach problem solving in mixed ability then we may be cultivating a utopic problem solving culture for our learners in order to contextualise maths.
Learning - Co Teaching Professional Reading
Taking Action -
Co-teaching helped us to learn from each other. One member of our team was leading and the other person was supporting the learners to get settled and engage them in their learning. We split the learners into small groups and encourage them to solve problems. We provided suitable resources for them to explore and understand the concept.
Checking - Have we made enough of a difference? How do we know?
We think the learners are much more aware that maths is bigger than addition and subtraction. It links to real word and real life every day. We feel our expectations may have been a bit high when we began.
The learners are being extended more.
Where a few started needing extensions, more are needing the extensions in shorter amounts of time.
Transitioning to 2018 / what is a must for next year?
Visuals, physical materials, extensions for knowledge facts.
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