Leaders

Choosing the right intervention strategy for my school

The successfulness of any intervention is largely dependent on matching the strategies selected to the needs of the students and teachers involved. Your answers to some basic questions below will

Numeracy ideas across the curriculum

We often hear that numeracy, like literacy, is everyone’s business. With that in mind, here are a few of my favourite ideas for opportunities to emphasise numeracy within specialist lessons.

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

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,

The Paradox of Intervention

>>> Why does intervention look so very different to what we would consider to be great maths? Intervention is hard.  The Masters Report (2009) shows that there is a gap

Do you have decision fatigue? This might help.

Have you had a long and tough term? Let’s talk about how to survive the stress. Sometimes the holidays just feel like breathing room before starting the next big push.  Life

Engagement vs Entertainment

I’d like to raise a contentious issue… Engagement is not the same as entertainment, or even the same as enjoyment. True engagement involves an insatiable curiosity. A driving need to

Is there really an ideal maths lesson?

I am often asked what makes a perfect mathematics lesson.  This is a difficult question to answer, as I’m not sure that there is one best lesson.  It really depends

The power of confronting questions

When kids have persistent misconceptions it can be really hard to help them change their minds.  Try thinking of teaching like doing a science experiment, where they have to disprove

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