News Update

In session 2005/2006 Tom Renwick will visit every primary school in East Dunbartonshire – he is visiting each school for a day to work in the classroom with P7 teachers, sharing mental agility techniques, and the children also benefit from the support. This support is getting great feedback from teachers, and is based on the 'number mapping' techniques he has developed. He is available and taking bookings for further supports from January 2006, such as talks on numeracy, problem solving, programmes of study and pace of learning, attainment, and, probationers.

In Renfrew Council he is also supporting teachers in schools within three clusters, from P4 - S2, sharing mental agility progressions and flashcard techniques from the actual wee red box. He also supported the launch of the Councils numeracy strategy.

Index

Early Intervention support
Probationers, numeracy and McCrone
Evaluations for in-service support for Problem Solving at levels D, E, F
Interactive techniques in the context of 5-14 mental agility and USING THE 100+ BOARD
Aberdeen City Council – Learning and Leisure
A 5-14 attainment analysis for reading, writing and maths

Links

Some of the forthcoming in-services that Tom Renwick will be giving include:

• Progressions in problem solving (levels A-C and levels C-E).
  
• Interactive teaching in the context of mental agility and a progression from levels A to F, and how mental agility can lead the learning.
  
• In-services for probationers (both primary and secondary), helping to meet one of the requirements of the McCrone agreement, highlighting their responsibilities as teachers for numeracy, irrespective of their curricular areas.
  
• Formative assessmnet specifically for maths.

Early Intervention support   

Some feedback from HT's and pupils include:

"thank you for a very enjoyable visit — both the staff and pupils got such a lot from it"

"we would like to thank you for helping us a lot with our maths — we are now concentrating more every day and this is just a note to say thank you"

"my class really enjoyed how you made the maths interesting"

"thank you very much for showing us the big blue board — it was really fun and we will enjoy using it in our classroom"

For feedback / information please contact Hilary McGillvray, Early Intervention Officer, East Ayr, 01563 555650.

Probationers, numeracy and McCrone   

These in-services are designed for both primary and secondary probationers (of any subjects). They clarify the numeracy content of 5-14, the recent attainment trends from P2 to S2, and cross-curricular uses of numeracy.

Some key techniques are shared for the effective learning of number, and their responsibilities towards children's numeracy skills are confirmed.

Evaluations are positive and comments include:

"It's been great to have a practical, hands-on step by step experience — a nice change"

"The mental agility strategies were fantastic — I will use these with my class in most mental situations which will help them   immensely "

"I feel that this session was very productive and helpful — I will use the mental agility plan in my class"

"An excellent session — really useful interactive ideas"

"I will definitely try to include some of the mental agility activities in my maths lessons — this was very inspirational"

"I'll try all the mental agility activities for my class to keep them mentally challenged and motivated — this was a terrific course   and I feel inspired"

"A very useful and motivating session — much more relevant to my subject than I expected"

"I'll look towards better mental agility tracking from now on and not underestimate or set expectations too low. This was an   excellent and well structured session which was very inspiring"

"I'll start to use an interactive board from now on!"

"I now know better how to extend mental maths with kids"

Contacts for references include:

Sheila Smith (QAO West Lothian) on 01506 776145
Gillian Reilly (Staff Development) on 01620 828763

 

Evaluations for in-service support for Problem Solving at levels D, E, F
Dumfries and Galloway, by Tom Renwick, Maths on Track (www.mathsontrack.com)  

Attendees = 11 (all secondary teachers)

Value of the course	Very good 8	Good 3	Other 0
Structure of programme	Very good 8	Good 3	Other 0
Pace & style of delivery	Very good 8	Good 3	Other 0

Which aspects of the course did you find most interesting?

• the dissection of the 5-14 levels and seeing such a range of problem solving questions and how they and the strategies evolve through the levels
• all of it!
• all very interesting and increased my imagination as to how to express things differently
• using a number board to help with addition and subtraction
• engaging and challenging
  

How will this affect your classroom practice?

• lots of ideas for uses with a number grid to 100, and working with fraction boards
• lots of good ideas, especially how useful grids can be in helping numeracy skills in lower attainers
• introduce more numeracy with the lower sets in S1/2, and highlight the importance of how everything is linked
• more emphasis on numeracy skills with S1/2
  

Which strategies from the presentation will you develop in the classroom?

• how practical approaches in problem solving can be used to introduce algebra
• improving mental agility by using small white boards
• use of the 100+ board for spotting patterns and lego for use with algebra
• I already make use of flashcards for 'quicker' types of questions but will now make more use of the stepping stones to help with tables

Any other comments?

• I found this course a valuable source of teaching ideas — it was an excellent morning
• the presenter (Tom Renwick) should be brought back to the Region for other in-services — this pulled 5-14 together for me, especially how he linked the levels to standard grade
• it would be unbelievably useful if every maths department in the authority could have a 100+ board — would a block purchase allow each school to have one at a more reasonable price?
• very enjoyable and informative — it's important for me to get other views and ideas to help make up lessons — variety is essential to keep maths interesting
• this course underlined how important it is to improve numeracy skills in pupils
• Tom's ideas and strategies have to be revisited again and again — an excellent speaker who is completely enthused with maths

Interactive techniques in the context of 5-14 mental agility and USING THE 100+ BOARD   

Evaluations from an in-service given by Tom Renwick (Maths on Track) in September 2004 for Aberdeen City, to a mixed audience of 46 primary and secondary maths teachers.

Some comments:

• Excellent!
• Promotes interactive learning
• Useful, practical content
• Fast snappy varied
• Interesting and challenging
• Inspiring
• Wonderful, stimulating, motivating!
• Each level builds on itself
• Very beneficial that the presentation is separated into levels

Implications for professional practice:

• I have gained a lot of confidence in using the board
• Can't wait to use it
• A bigger emphasis on mental maths
• I'm going to make mental maths more fun
• More oral work in my class
• Lots!
• I'll persuade others to use the board too
• Can't wait to teach fractions!
• Emphasised the importance of reinforcement

Suggestions:

• In class support
• Detailed booklet with sketches of activities to jog memory

Future In-Service:

On the Wee Red Box

Please note; www.the-wee-red-box.com is now available as an on-line mental agility support specifically designed for the 5-14 maths curriculum for use in schools and at home. It reflects the successful use of flashcards to help enhance accuracy and fluency with number used by the actual wee red box.

Links  

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