Becoming a Mathematician

Great Mathematicians at FPS

This term our teachers have been focusing on getting to know their students as maths learners and setting up expectations and routines in their Numeracy lessons. Students have been learning about the proficiencies in maths (fluency, problem solving, reasoning and understanding) and there have been many discussions about what it means to be a great mathematician. 

Our students know that great mathematicians: 

• Show a growth mindset
• Try their best
• Collaborate
• Take risks
• Show their working out
• Ask questions and so much more.

Students at FPS have been practising developing these skills and dispositions by playing games, solving problems, and working collaboratively as well as independently this term. 

Teachers have also been spending time planning for explicit teaching in Numeracy. 

Explicit teaching is an evidence-based approach to teaching that is designed to manage the cognitive load of students as they learn new content. It involves fully explaining and effectively demonstrating what students need to learn. 

You can read more about explicit teaching here.

What explicit teaching looks like in Numeracy:

• Providing clear learning intentions and success criteria at the beginning of the lesson and referring to these throughout.
• Building on the learning from previous lessons by referring to work samples and classroom displays.
• Breaking up learning into manageable chunks.
• Modelling how the students can be successful in their learning.
• Providing feedback that is relevant and timely. 

If you are looking for a game to play at home this week, try watching the video below to learn how to play Mastermind, then challenge someone in your family to a game.

~ Sophie Ratcliffe, Numeracy Learning Specialist