Teaching Mathematics

1. Teaching Mathematics Different Kids Same Classroom Presented by Dot Shea 2012

2. How are students different • Learning style • Approach to learning • Life Experiences • Academic ability • Language Ability

3. Learning Style • When we learn we use different ways of gaining an understanding of what we want to learn. • People learn: • Kinesthetically- by doing things • Auditorily- by hearing things • Visually- by seeing things • Students learn through their preferred learning style. • Teachers tend to teach the way that they learn best. • To teach effectively we need to cater for all learning styles

4. Learning Styles in Mathematics • When teaching maths we tend to use the style that suits the subject area. • Kinesthetically- numbers to 10, simple addition & subtraction, small measurements etc • Visually- algorithms, spacial concepts graphs, interactive whiteboard activities. • Auditorily- number facts, tables

5. Approaches to Learning • A students ability to learn can be affected by their : • Health status • Attitude to learning • Interest in the subject • Confidence in their ability • Persistence • Ability to think creatively

6. Life Experiences • As with Literacy, students gain numerical knowledge through life experiences before they come to school, as well as consolidating what they learn at school through what they do at home or in the community. • If they don’t get these experiences outside the school environment they take longer to understand the concept at school. • Money- lack of use of real money in today’s society • Timetables- lack of public transport in rural areas

7. Academic Ability • All classroom teachers will have a range of academic abilities within their classroom. • This area becomes more complex with a multi-aged classroom. • All curriculum syllabuses are written based on students with an average intelligence. This caters for approximately 70% of students in each year level. • Students with specific Learning disabilities, with average intelligence may have difficulty accessing the curriculum even though they have the intelligence to understand it.

8. Academic Ability • To cater for different abilities while teaching maths it is important to: • Only teach one concept of the curriculum at a time • Teach the same concept at different levels with different activities or • Teach the same concept with the same activity with different expectations from different students. • This can be done by either teaching the concept from simple to complex or complex to simple.

9. Language Ability • A student’s ability to understand what you say can have a major impact on their ability to learn • There are three main ways in which children’s failure to understand mathematical vocabulary may  become evident and show itself: • students do not respond to questions in lessons • they cannot do a task they are set or • they do not achieve well in testing.

10. Language Ability • Their lack of response may be because: • They do not understand the spoken or written instructions-such as ‘draw a line between’..’ring’....or  ‘find two different ways to’ • They are not familiar with mathematical vocabulary-that is, words such as difference, equation....... • They may be confused about mathematical terms-such as ‘odd’ or ‘table’ which have a different meaning in everyday language. • They may be confused about other words-like ‘area’ or ‘divide’ which are used everyday and have similar though more precise contextual meanings in mathematics • Mathematical language is crucial to children’s development of thinking. If students don’t have vocabulary to talk about mathematical concepts, processes and strategies they cannot make progress in understanding mathematical knowledge and its application

11. Language Ability • We need to teach mathematical language terms specifically in context. • We also need to refer to common difficulties with specific mathematical language usage, eg teen numbers • We often use informal everyday language in mathematics lessons before or alongside precise mathematical vocabulary. • While this is done to assist students in grasping the meaning of different words and phrases, a structured approach to teaching and learning of mathematical vocabulary is essential to build on their understanding of mathematical concepts.

12. Language Ability • We need to plan the introduction of new words in a suitable context with real relevant objects, mathematical equipment, pictures and diagrams. • Students cannot learn the meaning of words in isolation. • Words need to be explained carefully and reinforced several times because referring to new words only once will do little to promote deep learning. • We need to encourage their use in context in oral session, particularly through questioning. • Questioning assist in sorting out ambiguities or misconceptions students may have through a range of open and closed questions.