Secondary Maths 2

A resource for school CPD leaders

This presentation is for school CPD leaders. It’s a resource for structuring a 45-minute CPD session on maths. It contains six clips from programmes shot in secondary schools, and each clip is 3-4 minutes long. To accompany the clips there are short programme summaries and discussion starters.

Clips do not need to be watched in any particular order, and the presentation can be adapted to suit the priorities of individual schools. The discussion starters are included as suggestions only.

Click on the weblinks to view the full programmes and additional resources. (All programmes covered by the Creative Archive Licence can be viewed on the Teachers TV website and downloaded by registered users of the site.)

Overview

These six clips, with their accompanying discussion starters, focus on three aspects of secondary maths:

Graphs – Assessment for Learning (clip 1), quadratic equations (clip 2) and teaching technique (clip 3)

Algebra - through juggling (clip 4) and using a number line (clip 5)

International comparison – with Finland (clip 6)

1.

KS3/4 Maths –Assessment for Learning in Maths:Exploring Graphs with Year 9

A teacher tests out AfL techniques for the first time with her Year 9 class. Pairs of students work independently on graphs, equations and coordinates.

http://www.teachersmedia.co.uk/video/3346

The teacher restricts herself to questions and correcting students’ misconceptions. To what extent is she successful in her use of Assessment for Learning techniques?

What can be done to manage the errors that students make during independent work?

How could the teacher assess what learning has taken place during the lesson?

2.

Hard to Teach –Secondary Maths

A maths teacher collaborates with the PE and ICT departments to deliver a cross-curricular project on quadratic equations.

Prior to this lesson, students have filmed themselves playing basketball. They plot the trajectories of the balls using movement analysis software.

http://www.teachersmedia.co.uk/video/19119

Is this investigation too ambitious for these Year 10 students?

What further lessons on quadratic equations could be planned to support students who find the topic difficult?

What aspects of this cross-curricular project on projectile trajectories will help students to remember the key points about quadratic equations?

3.

From Good to Outstanding:Simon Brilliant

Maths teacher Simon Brilliant wants to make the leap from delivering lessons that are considered ‘good’ to lessons that are rated ‘outstanding’. Watched by school inspector Clare Gillies, Simon teaches a Year 8 lesson on the ‘y’ intercept.

http://www.teachersmedia.co.uk/video/22483

After the lesson Clare Gillies reviewed Simon’s performance. She pointed out that the task of plotting straight lines on x and y axes can seem abstract to students, unless it is related to examples from their own lives. What examples could Simon use?

Simon’s targets were: 1. To encourage pupil interactivity. 2. To make appropriate use of classroom resources to engage students. To what extent does he seem to achieve these targets?

4.

KS3/4 Maths –Juggling with Algebra

Year 7 students are introduced to number sequences and algebra by analysing juggling techniques.

http://www.teachersmedia.co.uk/video/21451

Are there signs that these students are getting to grips with the maths of the juggling?

5.

KS3/4 Maths –New Maths Technology:In the Classroom

One maths department embarks on a project to make lessons more stimulating by improving the use of ICT in the classroom. A teacher tries out an interactive number line with his mixed ability Year 7 class.

http://www.teachersmedia.co.uk/video/154

“I’m revising my questioning technique so that hopefully I can get the misconceptions out of them and hopefully breed an interest in maths concepts.”

Does the teacher demonstrate good questioning technique?

Would you expect the interactive number line to be a useful means of ironing out students’ common confusions about expressions of ‘n’?

6.

Finland -Secondary Maths: The Human Factor

Sixteen-year-olds from Finland usually come top in maths in the international PISA assessments. Nigel Bispham, a deputy headteacher from Cornwall, travels to Finland to observe teacher Jukka Sinivirta deliver a lesson on equations.

http://www.teachersmedia.co.uk/video/4975

What aspects of this teacher’s work could contribute to his students scoring highly in maths?

What strategies can teachers at big schools use to give maths lessons a personal touch?