Below are a series of helpful articles.
Assessment
Formative assessment, developmental stages and starting the year well
The goal of formative assessment should always be to find out what each student NEEDS next, rather than focusing on identifying what they already know. When we truly know
Assessment: getting everything done
By Tierney Kennedy How do we get everything done? Good assessment takes time. It is important to make sure that your grading decisions are not made on the basis of
Assessment samples to download
We have included here some assessment samples to download, with the aim of coming to a joint understanding of what the criteria mean and how to assign a grade. Remember
Classroom Tips
Conspiracy theories, misconceptions and why students forget
Misconceptions in maths behave an awful lot like conspiracy theories Conspiracy theories exist to some extent in all societies and are seemingly at odds with what we think we know
Maths in Moments
When we love teaching literacy, we tend to find lots of opportunities for adding in extra literacy in the tiny pockets of time that fill space between the main teaching
Resources for returning to the classroom
It is natural that kids’ experience of maths while learning at home will vary widely. To ensure your class works well over the remaining months of the year, we have
Content Teaching Tips
Nine great ways to use dice to build number understanding and fluency
Dice are fantastic for simple mental maths exercises! Here are a few simple ideas for games that work to build fluency with operations from the Fluency Tasks members section of
Formative assessment, developmental stages and starting the year well
The goal of formative assessment should always be to find out what each student NEEDS next, rather than focusing on identifying what they already know. When we truly know
Building retention and fluency with flexibility
While fluency is not the be all and end all of maths, having a bank of known facts and strategies that you can use efficiently, accurately, appropriate and flexibly is
Differentiation
Resources for returning to the classroom
It is natural that kids’ experience of maths while learning at home will vary widely. To ensure your class works well over the remaining months of the year, we have
Failing fast and failing forward
Tierney Kennedy A few years ago mathematician Terence Tao created a Polymath[1] group to work on the Twin Prime Conjecture – a project where mathematicians collaborate together to solve vexing
When kids get stuck and never catch up
Recently I’ve been pondering findings from a major report into Australian schooling that kids who are struggling in maths by the end of primary school often never catch up (Masters,
Leaders
What works and what doesn’t in intervention – research summary
Some interventions that we try as schools are really effective, some less so. This article will give you a comparative overview of a few of the most common ones, as
The danger of “either/or” teaching
Ending the debate: Which teaching approach is most effective? Tierney Kennedy In 1997 a landmark study in the UK decided to define effective teaching using student improvement data… if you
How to read my data
It’s that time of year again when everyone gets caught up with analysing data. I thought I’d put together a few tools to make life easier. Have fun playing with
Miscellaneous
Interventions series
Looking for the resources that go with this series? Click here It can be incredibly frustrating to us as teachers when we spend time teaching a concept only to find
My favourite maths teaching moment wasn’t in maths!
By Tierney Kennedy What is your favourite maths teaching moment? One where you know that you made a life-changing difference? My all-time favourite maths teaching moment was with a boy
DVDs showing Tierney teaching in real classrooms now available!
In our most exciting news yet, we now have a DVD set showing Tierney Kennedy teaching eight Back to Front Maths lessons in real classrooms! See how to use problem-based
Misconceptions
Conspiracy theories, misconceptions and why students forget
Misconceptions in maths behave an awful lot like conspiracy theories Conspiracy theories exist to some extent in all societies and are seemingly at odds with what we think we know
What works and what doesn’t in intervention – research summary
Some interventions that we try as schools are really effective, some less so. This article will give you a comparative overview of a few of the most common ones, as
Formative assessment, developmental stages and starting the year well
The goal of formative assessment should always be to find out what each student NEEDS next, rather than focusing on identifying what they already know. When we truly know
Parents
27 homework tasks that help make maths part of everyday life
Parents often want to help their kids with maths, but aren’t sure how to help. Here are 27 ideas ranging from breakfast, to car trips, to grocery shopping, to afternoon
How to teach Addition and Subtraction free flipbook
Addition and subtraction of small numbers is a very big part of lower-primary teaching, and one that kids can struggle with still in their teens. Download this FREE flip book
Awesomely cool maths ideas for parents
Would you like to be able to help your kids to understand maths better? Why not try implementing some of these really simple ideas to make maths part of your
Proficiency strands
Building retention and fluency with flexibility
While fluency is not the be all and end all of maths, having a bank of known facts and strategies that you can use efficiently, accurately, appropriate and flexibly is
Improving student reasoning
Kids who have a strong intuitive understanding of maths can sometimes have trouble slowing down their thinking to explain how they got the answer. Here are a few simple tips
Connecting and generalising questions
Great questioning is an art, but can be tricky to develop. Here is a simple video showing some connecting and generalising questions being used with a year 7 class.