Extraordinary Maths Teaching
As part of my Maths Specialism Module we have been looking at Maths Anxiety and how it is caused. We have looked at a video of how as educators we could avoid pupils gaining this anxiety.
Please feel free to have a look at the video for yourself.
After watching this clip i jotted down what it made me think about and how it might affect my own practice.
At the start of this clip the feeling that people have amount maths is discussed and reminded me of maths anxiety, which can be caused by the traditional teaching methods he pointed out. He then went on to point out that maths is important in life, therefore it is educators duty to ensure that they minimise the amount of pupils gaining maths anxiety.
The first principle he discussed, of starting with a question, is a good idea as it allows children to have their own thinking. The idea that children need to struggle is important, as it teaches them that it is ok not to know the answer straight away, as well as being taught perseverance. I think that giving them the time is beneficial to the pupils as it allows them to take their time to understand.
As strange as it sounds not giving the children the answers helps them to find mathematic proof to what they believe is the answer. I also think this is a great opportunity for being a role model to the class and showing them how to check their own work and understand where they went wrong.
From my own experience i think saying "yes" to ideas is very beneficial to the pupils as their hard work and ideas are valued, if they are wrong then they are able to see clearly where they went wrong and how to change it without feeling deflated.
As we discussed in our seminar group, play is very important to help children to engage and explore maths. Overall I have found that this clip has made me look at my own professional practice and how to adapt it to ensure that all pupils are engaged and motivated to take part in maths.
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