April 29 | Singapore (Yuhua Primary School)

W

MENDAKI organised an event in conjunction with the start of the next phase of RoPE. An Open Lesson was conducted with a group of 38 Primary 6 students. 

At Yuhua Primary  School, I gave a 'lecture' on strategies for word problem solving - gradual release of information, changing one of the information given and letting students pose questions based on a paragraph. 

I also showed immediate feedback and checking of students' works journal before the lesson ended. 

The third point of the session was learning computation at a high level. | Mendaki and Yuhua Primary School

April 24 | London

Panel on The role of Textbooks in Teaching to Mastery Chair - Khaled Choudhury Moderator - John Grove Panelists - Jeremy Hannay | Tony Gardiner | Greg Wallace | Sabina Netttey | London

Summary | A high-quality set of panelist of leading mathematician and head teachers and deputy head teacher and curriculum adviser. Jeremy presented ideas on mastery in relation to Skemp. He invited panels to consider textbook quality and structures that create freedom.

He refers to various tools to develop mastery, one of which is the use of variation in designing practice.

Jeremy also used a phrase I coined for formative assessment- runway indicators.

Bloom, B. coined maths mastery four decades ago. Today, we continue to discuss it.

My favourite point of the session was when Tony 'reprimanded' the audience not to assimilate but to accommodate, referencing Piaget. He was worried the audience is using existing mindset in their participation in the panel. He said we should struggle with ideas being brought up because a lot of things discussed requires a different way of looking at things - "a different mindset altogether" as Sabina put it.

Keynote Lecture was presented by Tim Oates.

	-	Key Note Address: The Journey to Maths Mastery in the UK Tim Oates, Group Director of Assessment Research and Development, Cambridge Assessment, United Kingdom

Lecture | Yeap Ban Har Available Here

April 20.21.22.23 | Cardiff

Two cohorts of teachers and educators in Wales participated in two-day institutes on teaching mathematics in a problem-solving approach.

Straight to the Top - Problem Solving in Mathematics | The Singapore Way is designed to help educators rethink about teaching and teaching problem solving.

PISA2012 Wales Report     International Report (Maths)       International Report (Problem Solving)

Cohort 1 | Slides

Day 1 | Case Studies on Addition within 20 (6 + 8), Division of Fractions (3/4 divided by 2), Subtraction within 1000 (300-175) and Long Division (51 divided by 3) to understand how problem-solving lessons can be used to help students acquire basic understanding of the four operations.

We also did a practice-type lesson (two-digit multiplication) using the problem-solving approach. 

We discussed theory-based strategies.

We discussed ways to support and challenge.

We learn to help students learn to make connections, to generalize and to develop number sense.

Closing Problem

Sam received £3 pocket money each day. On weekdays, he spent £2.60 and saved the rest. On Saturday and Sunday, he saved all of the £3. Starting on a Monday, how many day did he take to save £50.

Metacognition, visualization and interpretation of computation are essential in solving problems such as the above.

Cohort 2 | Slides

Just to Tickle Your Mind aka Dinner Problem

At first, Jack, Kim and Larry had a total of £4.50.
Then, Jack gave Kim half of what he had.
Kim then gave Larry 2/5 of what she had.
Finally, Larry gave Jack 4/7 of what Larry had.
As a result, all the three of them had the same amount of money.
Is it possible to find the amount of money each of them had at first?

April 16.17 | Chicago (The Latin School)

Session for Parents

General Session

Session for Grade 2

April 14.15 | London (Three Bridges Primary School)

Year 1 Lesson

Year 2 Lesson

Year 3 Lesson

April 13 | London (Aragon Primary School)

Course | Slides available soon

April 2 | Connecticut (Ridgefield Public Schools)

Slides are available here!

"Who cares about factoring quadratic expressions. Factoring quadratic is merely a vehicle, a vehicle to practice and  to be able to see algebraic terms elegantly move into their positions. To be able to use the eyes in our minds. To be able to do visualization.

This ability opens up opportunities.

This is the ability that allows us to read between the lines and enjoy the subtleties of literature. To see trends in messy economic data. To see the potential in laws of physics and harness them to improve quality of life. To see the relevance of history to modern society. To see the unseeable to create new alloys to make air travels cheaper and safer.

To connect what is seemingly unrelated. To clarify what is seemingly murky. To see possibilities. To see potential.

All that required a good mind that can visualize, that can connect and can do all these based on strong values.

How can we as teachers do that in our everyday instructional practices? What can school leaders do to facilitate this? What must be in place within the systems? 

I hope the lecture gives you some food for thought. Good morning."

March 31 | Connecticut (Ridgefield Public Schools)

I am on a three-day visit to Ridgefield Public Schools in Connecticut.

I spoke to parents on the evening of 31 March 2015 | Slides Here

Keynote Lecture on 2 April | Slides Here

Sessions with Grades 3 and 4 Teams on 1 April

Session on 2 April

March 26