OAKHILL DRIVE PS

  • What is it?
  • Why did we do it?
  • Question for reflection?
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Working mathematically is central to all other strands and needs to be embedded in all aspects of mathematical learning.  It includes the 5 Proficiencies of: 
* communicating     * problem solving   * reasoning   * understanding    * fluency 
As we were about to implement the new Australian Mathematics Curriculum, we saw an opportunity for our staff to focus on the pedagogy, underpinning the curriculum. In our minds Working Mathematically was an exciting chance to delve deeper into how students think about maths, rather than the final answer.  
  1. What impact has your lesson had on developing students skill in WM? How do you know?
  2. How well do my questioning techniques make students' understanding, reasoning and skills in problem solving visible? Did I follow up students' responses in a way that deepened their thinking?
  3. What other support could I plan to ensure that all students are successful?

WEST PENNANT HILLS PS

  • What is it?
  • Why did we do it?
  • Questions for reflection
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At its most basic level, differentiation consists of the efforts of teachers to respond to variance among learners in the classroom. Whenever a teacher reaches out to an individual or small group to vary his or her teaching in order to create the best learning experience possible, that teacher is differentiating instruction.
Teachers can differentiate at least four classroom elements based on student readiness, interest, or learning profile:
  • Content – what the student needs to learn or how the student will get access to the information;
  • Process – activities in which the student engages in order to make sense of or master the content;
  • Products – culminating projects that ask the student to rehearse, apply, and extend what he or she has learned in a unit; and
  • Learning environment – the way the classroom works and feels.
With the removal of Maths Groups, West Pennant Hills undertook a range of professional development activities and courses to ensure all teachers were supported and able to confidently cater to the ever increasing spread of needs within their diverse classrooms. In order to ensure we were on the right track and students were receiving a differentiated, engaging curriculum, we decided to make it out 'IR' focus so that we could use the external expertise of it's participants to monitor and evaluate our progress.