Mrs Saunders, you are teaching us, not telling us

Mrs Saunders, you are teaching us, not telling us

Pedagogies to improve learningStudents need to trust their teacher to know them as people, know how to teach, and know what to teachAs the teacher, I am the authority in the room, and from Day 1 I behave consistently, and differently

Teacher as authority

• I am in charge, so I arrange the seating• In alphabetical order• Seldom changed, and only by me• Cycle rows forward from time to

time

Pause

• I wait at least 10 seconds after posing a question before accepting an answer• Why do you think I do this?• Discuss briefly with the person next

to you

Re-frame the language

• I ban “Miss, is it . . .?”• And give students alternative

language to use (and reiterate it):I think it could be . . .It might be . . .I wonder if it could be . . .

• We’re all allowed to make mistakes

Random numbers

• Each student has a number on the roll and they write it down inside exercise book cover• Alphabetical order means . . .• Use this when I want to choose a

student to answer – after pausing

Random number expert

• I teach one (volunteer) student how to use their calculator to generate a random number from the class• That student always generates

random numbers when I want them

My favourite questions

• What do you notice?

• What is the same and what is different?

Geometry is visual• What can you see?

Work out what you can and see where it takes you• I use this for geometry and

trigonometry in particular

Feedback from asking "What can I see?" to get started

It helped me because it broke down the question step by step. It allowed me to think of the answer myself and find different strategies. Finding everything I could 'see' in the question made it easier when writing down my working to find the final answer.

Kathleen Hart

• We need to build a bridge from the concrete to the abstract• Bridge must be 2-way, must work

both for doing and undoing

• Children's Understanding of Mathematics 11-16 (1981)

Wiesje Geldof’s Bridge (Sigma Publications)

Find the area of my garden:

42 m2

4 m

6 m

5 m 7 mVegies

Flowers Lawn

Shrubs

30 m2

28 m220 m2

Total area of my garden

• Total area = 10 x 12 = 120 m2 = 20 + 28 + 30 + 42 m2 = 120 m2

I articulate my mental strategies every time I use them

Total area = (x + 3)(x + 5) = x2 + 5x + 3x + 15 = x2 + 8x + 15

8x

X

3

X 5

3x

5x

15

x2

Find possible lengths and widths for my garden

30 m2

15 m212 m2

24 m2

Wiesje Geldof’s Bridge (Sigma Publications)

Find the area of my garden:

42 m2

4 m

6 m

5 m 7 mVegies

Flowers Lawn

Shrubs

30 m2

28 m220 m2

Factorising

X2 + 4x - 12

X

?

X ?

-12

x2

4x

Talk to the person next to you

• Plus of using garden squares?

Do now!

• Every lesson starts with 3 – 5 questions hand-written on board• Usually revision – previous lesson,

previous year (simple), algebra skills• Can take up to 15 minutes to do

and process

Homework

• These students need to learn that doing homework matters• I set a little almost every day,

students open book at start of lesson to show me HW while they complete the Do Now• I record in my mark book whether

reasonable attempt or not

Feedback

• Not just ticks and crosses or N, A, M, E• Always a sentence about what

understanding student has shown, and what they need to do to progress.• Talk about A and M: What level

have we been working on?