Profiling my target learners

My target learners for this teaching as inquiry are at different achievement levels for maths. My class is split into two mixed ability groups for maths. I had to move some students into the group I will be focussing on to make this target group. I have based my selection of my target learners on my observations in the attitude of students towards maths, strengths and challenges in learning maths. There are some students in this target group who I have noticed are often absent. It would be interesting if this teaching as inquiry would change the attendance of these students. 

The assessment data for the students supports that they are all at different achievement levels for maths. I have collected data from PAT Maths and Gloss as those are the assessments we carry out for maths in our school. I have indicated next to the students' name their year levels as well. Looking at the summative data, I have identified some students did well in the Gloss test such as RL Y8, but this particular student did not pass the PAT Maths test scoring only 12/41. None of the Year 7s in my target group passed the PAT Maths test. 

Student voice is also another form of profiling I have conducted of my target group. I used a google form for this and the data I collated from the google form is really interesting. Below are the responses from the students. 

The question which really stood out for me in this data collection were the responses from the students about their friends being better in maths than themselves. This is emphasising the hunch that I have, that students do not identify themselves as confident in maths and often highlight the strengths of their friends instead. I was also surprised when I collated the responses in the same google form, where students listed who they thought were good mathematicians in the class. Many of the students listed by their peers did not identify themselves as being confident in maths. 

I am questioning if the students are being modest about their abilities or if they truly believe they are not achieving well in maths. This also highlights the question if I am giving the students enough feedback to inform them of their progress in maths. 

TAI focus for this year

 How do mathematical practices in DMIC support learner identities in Maths? 

I have decided to focus my teaching as inquiry into the learner identities of my students in mathematics. This decision was made based on my reflections, observations and data from gathering student voice. 

My hunch is that students who have low self confidence in mathematics, do not identify themselves as mathematicians and therefore, are reluctant to participate in maths lessons or engage in maths learning. 

Mathematical learner identity is not fixed and therefore, teachers can do something about it. Mathematical learner identity is concerning the mathematics learning the learner has been exposed to, rather than the learner themselves (Education Hub). Often as a teacher I have questioned if the students who are reluctant to participate in maths lessons are doing so deliberately or because they are not able to understand what the lesson is about and disengagement is their refuge. Through this inquiry, I will be exploring in depth my own assumptions and actions as a teacher and how I can change my mindset and practice to cater for my target learners. 

Our school have been implementing the DMIC programme since 2019. We have had many professional development experiences where we have discussed the importance of giving students the autonomy to learn and share their leanring without teacher input. The DMIC programme puts student voice and participation at its heart. There are a variety of mathematical practices which I will be focussing on for this inquiry and analysing how effective they are in supporting students in growing their learner identities in maths. 

Gathering literature on maths teaching and learning in New Zealand

The Education Hub is a resource I often refer to when searching for articles or materials for my teaching practice. Through my search for articles on mathematics, I came across this research article written by two lecturers at the University of Auckland, Dr Lisa Darragh and Fiona Ell. 

The article is called Five research-derived themes to consider when teaching maths. The article begins with this statement, 'The task of teachers of primary mathematics is to bring important mathematics concepts and skills together with students’ attitudes, beliefs, prior knowledge and thinking – and to do so in dynamic learning spaces'. I have highlighted the words - attitudes, beliefs, prior knowledge and thinking because as I keep observing, planning, teaching and reflecting on what is happening with my students in maths, I keep coming to the hunch that it might be my students' attitudes, beliefs, prior knowledge and thinking that is hindering their progress in maths. 

The articles by Dr Darragh and Fiona Ell talks about five key themes that teachers need to consider when planning and teaching maths. 

1. Talk 
2. Tasks
3. Tools
4. Thoughts
5. Together 

As I was reading through the five themes, I came across ideas and understandings which I am familiar with and have been implementing in my teaching already. For example, the theme of TALK talks about using mathematical language, encouraging talk, ensuring all students have a chance to talk, changing the balance of teacher/student talk. 

I have gradually been making changes in my maths teaching through the problem solving programme our school started and also now with following the DMIC programme. One strategy I use in my class is ensuring the students are in a group of three to work out problems and the groups are always random. The students do not know who they are working with each time so they are open to working with any other student in their group. 

Another is, unpacking the problem and identifying words we do not understand in the problem. I always emphasise to my students that problems to be solved is a story, not just a mathematical problem. This changes the mindset of the students from quickly jumping into the mathematical work to trying to discuss and unpack the problem to be solved. 

As I was analysing PAT results for my class, I noticed some of my confident students in maths got some problems wrong probably because they did not understand what the question was asking them to do. Therefore, it is valuable for students to unpack the problem and analyse, interpret, decide what the problem is and what the mathematical problem to be solved is. 

We also do not use the hands up technique during our lessons. I have a saying which is 'When you raise your hand, you are stopping someone else from thinking'. I feel that students who are trying to think of a response will be put off their thinking or give up when they see another student with a raised hand as they will think that student has solved the problem or have the answer to the question. This also promotes learning conversations between the students and the teacher. 

Another theme which I reflected upon was the Thoughts theme. Theme number 4. 

'This theme has two components: the teacher’s thoughts and the students’ thoughts[vii]. What teachers think about mathematics, and what they think about their students, are key determiners of the progress that students will make. Seeing them as capable, taking an asset-based approach, and regarding mathematics as valuable and fun will set teachers up to design learning opportunities that will help all students progress'. 

What are my thoughts about maths and how do I promote 'maths is fun' to my students?

Another question which struck me from the article was this question: What messages do I give my students about my view of them as capable mathematics learners? I teach Year 7/8 and my students can easily infer meaning from my actions and what I say. This question highlighted to me that in gathering student voice, I need to put a question similar to the question the students answer for Asttle Writing - My teacher thinks I am good at writing but in my context, maths. 

All given themes have golden nuggets which I believe are valuable for teachers to consider in teaching maths but the theme which really relates to my hunch is theme five. TOGETHER. 

The theme Together is about the idea that maths is for everyone and not just for the elite or the SMART students in the class. The idea that smart students can do maths and the dumb students can't do maths. I know some of my students think they are the dumb students who can't do maths. These students can also point out the smart students who they believe are good at maths. This also emphasises why I always pick the small groups of three for group work, so the students are not pick and choosing who they want to work with. I am a firm believer in being inclusive and supporting each other so absolutely no pick and choosing who one wants to work with in my class. 

'When teachers design opportunities to learn, it is important to think about how to include everyone and make the ideas as accessible as possible'. My class are grouped in mixed ability groups. Making learning as accessible as possible is ensuring my task design and how I teach the lessons cater for all students in the groups. 

Students' self efficacy plays a huge role in how a student learns and interacts with others not only in a school setting but outside of school. That is why I am going with my hunch that, when students are not confident in maths, that is a barrier to how they learn and progress in maths. 

So, after reading this article, back I go to the drawing board to frame my inquiry question for my teaching as inquiry. 

Profiling my class in maths

'Promoting a positive mathematic learner identity for all students and communicating the belief that mathematics is for everyone are important components of effective teaching and learning in maths', (Education Hub). 

I have been observing my class with their learning in maths. I have also been making notes on their behaviour during our maths lessons and reflecting on my conversations with students about maths as well as the students' conversations with each other. Other conversations I have been drawing from, happened during our recent Three Way Conferences. 

Assessment data provides information about the level of achievement the students are at but, I also believe that gathering background information about the students and their attitudes towards maths is as important as assessment data. When I was in discussions with my students and their parents, many of my students shared that they find maths challenging because the learning is new or hard for them to understand. 

My reflections on what I have observed about my students' learning in maths? (These reflections are of my whole class. There will be another post profiling my target group in detail).

Making changes and encouraging mathematics in my classroom and whanau community

Many of my students feel mathematics is too hard for them especially when it comes to Decimals and Fractions. I am sure many teachers can agree with this. I have noticed throughout my teaching that many students have huge learnings gaps in decimals, fractions and also percentages. 

At the moment, our focus through our DMIC programme is on decimals, fractions and percentages. I have noticed that I am teaching mathematics with a lot more passion than I ever have. 

Reflective question: Have I been so focussed on my literacy pedagogy that I have neglected Maths? 

 

I am encouraging my students to learn their times tables from 2 - 12 as this will help them with their basic facts knowledge and also with their multiplicative strategies. It is part of an on going home learning focus we have and majority of the class 80% are learning their times tables at home. I also received some feedback from parents during our Three Way Conferences that they were happy to see their children learning their times tables. Some parents also expressed they are quite the experts at recalling their times tables. 

Reflective question: How else can I harness whanau support in my Teaching as Inquiry in Maths?

Our school distributes our school newsletter every month. In our class page I often used to put maths questions which we were solving in class for whanau to solve. Not one whanau responded. 

Reflective question: What do other schools do to encourage whanau participation in student learning?

As I have been on leave for Term 2, I am now having to decide what my focus will be for this teaching as inquiry. I have identified my curriculum area of focus and now reflecting, analysing and reflecting on the changes I will make to my practice to accelerate student learning. The other outcome I hope for my teaching as inquiry is to change the mentality of my target group from 'I am not good at maths' to 'I enjoy learning in maths and I can do this'. Where in literacy we aim to encourage life long readers, I am aiming to encourage life long mathematicians. 

Ero review report on Mathematics

It is important when inquiring into a curriculum area to look at what the literature and what has been happening in this curriculum area in other schools. I came across a review conducted by ERO titled: Teaching approaches and strategies that work KEEPING CHILDREN ENGAGED AND ACHIEVING IN MATHEMATICS published in 2018. 

The review was one of a series of reports on teaching strategies that work. It featured strategies and approaches which were observed in 40 primary school from across New Zealand. The schools came from a database of 129 schools with rolls of 200 or more where the proportion of students in the upper primary years had increased in their achievement. 

Raising achievement in primary schools: Accelerating Learning in Mathematics (ALiM) and Accelerating Literacy Learning (ALL) June 2014 This report shared how some primary schools were using the Ministry-funded support projects Accelerated Learning in Mathematics (ALiM) and Accelerated Learning in Literacy (ALL) to enhance learning and raise achievement. 

The report found that, in schools where teachers’ involvement in the ALiM and ALL projects had accelerated children’s progress, 

• students were active partners in designing their own learning plans; they were supported to monitor their own progress; they knew what they needed to learn next; and they were able to provide feedback about the teaching actions that worked for them. 
• parents and whänau were formally invited to be part of the process; they were involved in workshops to develop home activities and in frequent, regular, three-way conferencing in which teachers emphasised progress and success.
•  teachers knew they were expected to critique the effectiveness of their practice and to make changes; they had a willingness to seek both positive and negative evidence of progress; and they were open to new practices that make a difference.

The report discussed that, for schools to be effective in accelerating student progress, they needed:

• leadership capability 
• teacher capability 
• leaders and teachers with assessment and evaluative capability 
• leaders with the capability to develop relationships with students, parents, whänau, trustees, and other teaching professionals
• leaders and teachers with the capability to design and implement a curriculum that engaged students.

The report states that 'in schools where mathematics achievement was improving, and leaders knew the reasons for this improvement, teachers had usually participated in well-planned and targeted professional learning and development (PLD). Leaders had identified each teacher’s strengths and needs and then organised internally or externally facilitated PLD to respond specifically to those needs. They carefully selected teachers from within the school who could lead development work successfully with their colleagues to spread the agreed practices. They made time available for these selected leaders to increase their own knowledge and to work with others'. 

The above statement highlights the value in identifying staff members which strengths in the curriculum areas of focus. For example, the schools in the report identified teachers who had strengths in mathematics and gave them lead roles to implement good practice across their schools. 

Other valuable insights I took away from this report were the use of teaching practices which my own school have been implementing  throughout the years. These practices include: mixed ability grouping, using Talk Moves, teacher collaborative planning, problem solving approach and using Teaching as Inquiry. 

I reflected on how these teaching practices have been introduced, implemented and then the focus on continuing these practices slowly diminished as time passed. I also have noticed it is not highlighted to our new teaching staff as they begin their teaching in our school. Thus highlighting a break down in how we as teachers have a uniform understanding about practices in teaching mathematics. 

From this report, I will move on to discussing with our teachers what their mathematics programmes are and how they implement DMIC which is our current school wide mathematics focus. 

Choosing a focus for my inquiry this year

After assessing my students this term, I have found that there is a great need to focus on Reading and Maths for their learning. I have analysed my data and found that most of my students are below their expected achievement level for their year level at the start of this year in Reading and Maths. 

After sitting through many 3 Way Conference conversations with my students and their parents, I have also realised that a lot of my students have identified Maths as a subject which is hard for them to achieve in. Through the Gloss test, I identified that many of my students struggled with answering the ratio and proportions questions. 

As I have been focussing on Reading in my past inquiries, I feel I have confidence in continuing with what I had learnt from my previous Teaching as Inquiries and implementing these into my classroom programme. Therefore, I plan to tackle the challenges with Maths this year. It is an area I have not focussed on in my Teaching as Inquiry for some years but an area of great concern in my teaching at the moment and it is reflective in my class data and also student voice. 

We are a DMIC school and have been doing the problem solving approach at our school before DMIC was introduced to our school in 2020. It will be a great opportunity for me to inquire into how DMIC is helping our students with their learning in Maths and also how our teachers feel about teaching using the DMIC approach. 

I have yet to identify what aspect my teaching as inquiry will follow with DMIC and maths this year but this will be finalised soon. I am quite keen to focus on Maths this year as I can see the great need for this inquiry focus with my current cohort of students.