Students
should not just learn about mathematics, they should do
mathematics.
This can
be defined as engaging in the mathematical practices: making sense of problems,
reasoning abstractly and quantitatively, making arguments and critiquing the
reasoning of others, modelling with mathematics, making appropriate use of
tools, attending to precision in their use of language, looking for and making
use of structure, and expressing regularity in repeated reasoning.
The purpose
of the Lessons available to Teachers after Registering for a Free Trial
(www.MathsRepublic.com.au) is to impact student learning and achievement.
First,
we define the attitudes and beliefs about mathematics and mathematics
learning we want to cultivate in students, and what mathematics students should
know and be able to do.
Attitudes and Beliefs We Want to Cultivate
Many people
think that mathematical knowledge and skills exclusively belong to “maths
people.”
Research
shows however, that students who believe that hard work is more important than
innate talent learn more mathematics.
We want
students to believe anyone can do mathematics and that persevering will result
in understanding and success. We want students to develop a “productive disposition—[the] habitual
inclination to see mathematics as sensible, useful, and worthwhile, coupled
with a belief in diligence and one’s own efficacy.”
Conceptual
understanding: Students need to understand the why behind the how in mathematics. Concepts build on experience with concrete
contexts. Students should access these concepts from a number of perspectives
in order to see maths as more than a set of disconnected procedures.
Procedural
fluency: We view
procedural fluency as solving problems expected by the standards with speed,
accuracy, and flexibility.
Application: Application means applying
mathematical or statistical concepts and skills to a novel mathematical or
real-world context.
These
three aspects of mathematical proficiency are interconnected: procedural
fluency is supported by understanding, and deep understanding often requires
procedural fluency. In order to be successful in applying mathematics, students
must both understand and be able to do the mathematics.
What T&L should look like
How
teachers should teach depends on what we want students to learn?
To
understand what teachers need to know and be able to do, we need to understand
how students develop the different (but intertwined) strands of mathematical
proficiency, and what kind of instructional moves support that development.
Principles for Mathematics Teaching and Learning
Active
learning is best:
Students learn best and retain what they learn better by solving problems.
Often, mathematics instruction is shaped by the belief that if teachers tell
students how to solve problems and then students practice, students will learn
how to do mathematics.
Our signature mathematical language routines (MLRs)
offer detailed guidance for developing students into mathematical thinkers.
Facilitate and assess students’ ability to communicate mathematical thinking
verbally, visually, and in writing.
Every
lesson plan contains topic-specific professional learning resources. Our
materials speak intelligently and professionally to educators, meeting teachers
where they are in their practice and advancing them.
Whether
it’s for below-benchmark students or accelerated learners, MathsRepublic’s Lessons provide content-specific resources within
lessons, from warm-up to cool down.
Discussion-filled
classrooms beget deeper learning. Our materials encourage student communication
and the development of problem-solving and reasoning skills.
Teachers Love the ‘Anticipated Misconceptions’
Educators
can easily prepare to recognize, analyse, and respond to common student
struggles thanks to the scaffolding provided with each lesson.
Each course
contains nine units. Each of the first eight are anchored by a few big ideas in
grade-level mathematics. Units contain between 11 and 23 lesson
plans.
Each unit
has a diagnostic assessment for the beginning of the unit (Check Your
Readiness) and an end-of-unit assessment. Longer units also have a mid-unit
assessment. The last unit in each course is structured differently, and
contains optional lessons that help students apply and tie together big ideas
from the year.
The time
estimates in these materials refer to instructional time. Each lesson plan is
designed to fit within a class period that is around an hour long. Some lessons
contain optional activities that provide additional scaffolding or practice for
teachers to use at their discretion.
Students
can work solely with printed tasks distributed by their teacher. Later when all
students have access to an appropriate device, students will be able to view
look at the Task Statements on that device and write their responses in their
workbook.
Teachers
can access the teacher materials either in print or in a browser.
A
classroom with a digital projector is recommended for Teachers to project the Student
Task Statements.
Many
activities are written in a card sort, matching, or info gap format that
requires teachers to provide students with a set of cards or slips of paper
that have been photocopied and cut up ahead of time.
Teachers
might stock up on two sizes of resealable plastic bags: sandwich size and a
larger size. For a given activity, one set of cards can go in each small bag,
and then the small bags for one class can be placed in a large bag.
If these
are labelled and stored in an organized manner, it can facilitate preparing
ahead of time and re-using card sets between classes. Additionally, if
possible, it is often helpful to print the slips for different parts of an
activity on different color paper.
This
helps facilitate quickly sorting the cards between classes.