I found myself in shock the other day as I sat down and counted how many days of placement I had completed and how many I had left. The time is going by in a flash. This week has given me experience and understanding of more elements of teaching.
I have been given the responsibility of taking a reading group. This involves reading two books a week with a group of 7 children and creating a worksheet for each day. We are reading Oxford Reading Tree’s The Magic Key series which brings back memories for me as I read the exact same set of books when I was P2. This shows how some resources, if they are good, can last for many years and only the worksheet and discussion needs to be adapted to suit the needs of the children. I found the first day of reading groups hard as I didn’t have much of a clue how to go about it. I had my worksheet at the ready but still was quite worried about it. The children seemed to enjoy the story and engaged well through asking and answering questions.
However, some children acted up and did not listen when someone else was talking even though they knew the rules of reading group. I had to speak to one child on multiple occasions about their behaviour and respect for others. I felt quite disheartened after this but once I had spoken to the class teacher, I felt more at ease after getting some advice. She told me that I need to just put my foot down and take no nonsense from them. If they are acting up after being given a warning, they should be sent to their seat. This really helped me for day 2 as I felt more confident and had better control over the children. Most of them understood the worksheet however one child wrote the page number of where the sentence is in the book instead of sequencing the sentences. This shows that I did not explain it clearly enough. 
By day 3, the child were more settled and focused and we started a new book. They completed the set task quickly and accurately, showing that the level of the work was appropriate. They understood what they needed to do demonstrating that I had learnt from my error on day 2. I took another reading group due to the class teacher being out of the classroom most of Thursday with the art exhibition. This group were of a lower ability and instead of a worksheet, we discussed the book as we read it. On day 4, all children were able to complete the worksheet with one child requiring a lot of support. I think I made the worksheet too hard for them as they were writing an invite for a pirate party. Instead, I should have included a word bank to help them as a few children struggled with spelling. One pupil clearly rushed the worksheet and did the bare minimum amount of work. This pupil was questioning why they had to do this worksheet and the rest of the class did not. I had informed the pupil that their main worksheet for the lesson was this reading group one and the main language lesson worksheet was only if he finished the first sheet. I think sometimes it can be hard as some pupils do not understand that there are different abilities within the classroom and that sometimes the work will be different.
In a class of little ones, I find it hard to know who actually needs the toilet and who just wants to avoid working! I guess this is something that comes with getting to know your class. I think some of the pupils have been trying to push my boundaries with this and after a chat with the class teacher, I am more aware of who should be allowed to the toilet and who might just be pushing my buttons! She advised me to only allow a couple of pupils to go to the toilet during class time and anyone else can just wait until the lesson is finished unless they look absolutely desperate! Perhaps, the use of toilet passes could be effective and children can only use their pass once a day. I think it would be interesting to see if this would work and whether the children reduced the number of times they ask to go to the toilet or not.
A big aim this week was to get stuck right into the measurement topic in mathematics. We had our starter lesson a while ago on the concept of shorter and longer but this week I really wanted the children to begin measuring objects with their own hands. I started off with something small- cubes. I learned of the importance of demonstration particularly for younger children as without it they will end up doing the wrong thing and the lesson could easily turn into chaos if not corrected. Whilst most children managed to complete the task, some were amused by the cubes and decided to use them for other purposes. This was quickly sorted. I had originally planned that the children would measure using cubes and then paperclips in the same lesson but upon consideration I believed it would be best to do two separate lessons to avoid confusion. The worksheet was already photocopied so I didn’t want to be that annoying student teacher who wastes paper and ink on photocopying so I just stuck with the original sheet. This caused some confusion as children wrote under the paperclips heading instead of the cubes heading.
It was important to go around the classroom and check that all pupils had completed it under the correct heading. Easier said than done when you have several pupils tapping on your shoulder at once! Throughout this week, I have been firmer and asked the children to remind me what they do when they need my attention- put their hand up and wait for me to come to their seat! I think the pupils don’t always see me as the class teacher and forget that the same rules apply with me such as not getting out of your seat but that will come with time and I can already see them improving!
One of the highlights of my week would be my lesson on Thursday where we used straws and our hands to measure the length of various objects around the classroom. The kids really engaged with this and were so keen to get round the classroom and start measuring. My explanation on how to measure using hands and straws was good as all children were able to accurately measure all sorts of objects. I felt I had good control over the class especially for such an interactive lesson and they knew to quieten down when the noise was breaching on outdoor level. It was so so great to listen to the kids share their learning and get really excited about it. Proof that maths really can be fun!
I had the wonderful opportunity to work with a smaller group- the P3’s and 2 P2’s. We were learning all about money and what coins we use as well as telling the time to the hour and half hour. This was a lesson using the interactive whiteboard and a demonstration of using ready made resources and websites. We used top marks for various games involving money and time. I made a professional judgement and decided that the children were ready to move on to giving change and determining the best coins to give e.g. if an item cost 16p and you used a 20p coin. I am beginning to grow in my confidence in altering an activity if it is too easy/hard for the children and deciding when they are ready to move on.
The lighthouses are all starting to come together with all but one completed, we only need to make our bases. The children are really enjoying this craft and are constantly begging to take them home to show their families. On Thursday, the class spent the morning in creative play which was encouraged to be lighthouse based. This involved children making picnic baskets out of paper, lighthouses out of lego and Mr Grinling out of play dough. I was amazed at one child’s efforts- he had made a whole scene from the book by linking EMIDO plastic rods together. He had made the picnic basket, Mr Grinling, the lighthouse, the cottage and even the zipline from the cottage to the lighthouse that Mrs Grinling sends his lunch down! If only I had taken a picture. Martlew, Stephen and Ellis (2011) discuss the importance of allowing children to shape their own learning. As teachers, we need to provide the resources and watch from a distance what the children decide to do. If children are struggling to come up with an idea then we can intervene and support their thinking. It is unfair to expect children at the age of 5 to go from a play-based nursery environment straight into a formal schooling system with little play based learning. We need to allow children to explore their ideas through play and learn this way alongside some teaching.
Unfortunately, this week I learned the lesson of knowing when you are pushing yourself too far. I hadn’t been feeling well from Wednesday (possibly due to trying mac and cheese on Tuesday night- probably not the best idea when you might have coeliac disease and are on placement!). I just braved it and dealt with the pain whilst teaching on Wednesday. However, on Thursday I could hardly touch any food by lunch time and was keeling over but again I was determined to keep going and teach the little ones all about Jesus feeding the five thousand. My worksheets were photocopied, powerpoint made and waiting but my teacher insisted I go home and rest up. Little did my mum know that her days of picking up her sick child from school were not quite over!
I went back in on Friday as I had been asked to be another adult for the P5/6 forest schools trip to Downhill. My teacher insisted that I go home if I was not feeling well and did not want me to feel under any pressure to go on the trip. The trip was all for this new project the school are getting involved with to become a forest school. I have worked with this class on a couple of occasions now which is nice as I am starting to get to know them. It was 9.45am, we were all ready with our coats and hi-vis vests on. We set off on our trek from school to Downhill Demesne. To our surprise, we were greeted by some fires although not really what you need when it is sunny and 15 degrees out!
We started our session by using flint to make sparks and learning about how they used flint to light fires years ago. Next was my favourite part- toasting marshmallows on the fires- YUM! The National Trust had made some hot chocolate for the children to sip on while they ate their marshmallows. Oh no! The fires were starting to go out- we needed to find some materials to keep the fire going. Phew- we saved the fires! Next up was a dander around the forest and garden area in groups looking for various things such as mushrooms and animal tracks. My group were super speedy- within minutes it was “Miss Gibson, I see some pinecones!” “Miss Gibson, there’s a hole in a tree!” “I see some colourful flowers!”. Next each group was told to find a tree and measure it. “What!? How do we measure a tree without a ruler or tape measure? We aren’t tall enough to reach the top!” the children exclaimed. “That’s where your hands are needed! You are going to measure the tree in hands not centimetres and to measure the height we will use out thumbs. You will need one person to stand against the tree and the rest of you will step back until they are the size of your thumb. Then, you will count how many thumbs tall the tree is.” the staff member explained. The children worked really well together for this activity, however, a few pupils in my group acted up but I felt I dealt with them well.
As a whole class, we walked down to the play area. The fun was about to begin. We walked over the bridge, balanced on some planks and clambered to the other side into the main play trail area. This was where we built a den per group. Unfortunately, we had been assigned a tree which was on a slope, a muddy slope at that. We were sliding everywhere, there was no way we were going to be able to build a den when we could just about stand up! I decided we should just go elsewhere and use a different tree in a safer location. We found our spot and got to work. It turns out it is a lot harder to make a den when all you have around you is a bunch of branches which won’t prop up against a tree nicely. We managed to eventually have something that like somewhat like a den but I don’t think I’d want to spend much time in there! The trek back up to school seemed to go on forever as 21 tired and hungry children don’t tend to make fun company! We were glad to get back into school and get some lunch after a long but exciting morning!
According to the Early Years Interboard Panel (undated, pp.11), outdoors and indoors need to be viewed as one combined environment. Outdoor learning is just as key as indoor and so requires the same detail of planning and evaluation. It is important to develop outdoor play especially in the early years as it allows children to relive their experiences through their most natural channel-movement. It is one of the four vehicles through which children learn. The others are play, sensory and talk (Early Years Interboard Panel, undated, pp.15). The Early Years Interboard Panel (undated, pp.35-78) suggest having various areas of learning:
- an imaginative area;
- creative area for drama, music and art;
- snack area;
- horticulture area;
- construction area;
- sand and water area;
- quiet area;
- large movement area for large equipment and for children to move around in a large space;
- small equipment area;
- climbing area;
- wheeled-vehicle area.
By having set areas, the children know the expectations associated with that area. It also means that children can get a chance to try different areas without too many children going to the one area.
These kinds of projects are a great way to get children into the outdoors and show them just how much fun it can be. Forest schools were initiated in Denmark as a way of encouraging regular outdoor learning for children. The key principles focus on ensuring the outdoors are enjoyable, using natural resources for learning and building an awareness of their senses to enhance natural curiosity (Early Years Interboard Panel, undated, pp.169). In today’s society, it seems that children are glued to technology and spend less time outdoors than I did at their age. I think this is really sad as they are in a sense brainwashed by technology and just don’t realise the opportunities the outdoors has to offer. As teachers, I believe we have a responsibility to introduce and encourage these children to the wonders of the world and provide opportunities for children to explore the great outdoors during school hours. For some pupils, this may be the only time they get outside to play. Outdoor play not only benefits children educationally but also physically. Children benefit from being exposed to sunlight, natural elements, and open air, which contributes to bone development and a stronger immune system. It seems that some parents’ fear of their child getting hurt when they are not with them is taking over and they are bubble wrapping their children by keeping them indoors (Bento and Dias, 2017). I think it is important for children to explore independently as this is a way in which they can learn from their mistakes e.g. if they fall over they know not to do that again or be more cautious.
More and more children are getting a lift to school in a car and the number of pupils walking or cycling is dropping. Thankfully, as the children at my school tend to live nearby, many of them do walk or cycle on a weekly basis. Additionally, there is a walking bus line every fortnight on a Friday to encourage children to walk to school. This was introduced in my time at primary school and although I lived too far away to walk, it was suggested that you get dropped off at the start off point for the walking bus.
On Friday morning, I decided I was fine to go on the trip and stay in school as I thought what more could a bit of gluten do to me!? Bad idea, Clare- I’m not sure if it has been the gluten or if I caught a bug on Friday but I have ended up feeling rotten all weekend and don’t know if I will be well enough for school tomorrow. I think as a teacher it can be hard to be sick as you obviously want to go in and just brave it so you see your class and can teach them. However, you also need to remember that you could end up making them sick or not be able to teach them effectively and would be better just resting up. Ultimately, if you cannot focus on the children and their learning, it is unfair on them and yourself to be in that classroom. Children deserve teachers who can be focused and think clearly to provide them with the best educational experience possible. Of course, we as teachers also get sick. How could we avoid it when we work with kids!? Half of which don’t wash their hands after using the toilet! Sometimes, we just need to take some time to recover and reenergise ourselves when we are under the weather. Maybe, just don’t make it too often!
References:
Bento, G. and Dias, G. (2017) ‘The importance of outdoor play for young children’s healthy development’, Porto Biomedical Journal, Volume 2 Issue 5, pp. 157-160.
Early Years Interboard Panel (undated) Learning Outdoors- Introduction: in the early years.
Martlew, J., Stephen, C. and Ellis, J. (2011) ‘Play in the primary school classroom? The experience of teachers supporting children’s learning through a new pedagogy’, Early Years: An International Research Journal, Volume 31 Issue 1, pp. 71-83.
9am- All pupils should be in school. Collection of bus, dinner, snack and cabin club money. The snack helpers then go round the other classes. On a Monday, the class look at the Road Safety Calendar and discuss how they can be safe in the environment shown e.g. supermarket car park. Helpers are also chosen for the week. Each day the calendar and weather chart is updated by the assigned person for the week. Homework books are collected on a Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Dinner numbers are taken by table colour e.g. 4 red pegs for 4 people at the red table.
Helpers:
This week has allowed me to see the aspects of teaching we don’t always focus on. I have experience parts of being a true teacher including marking homework books and various worksheets from my lessons. Taking down wall displays is another job which teachers don’t tend to find enjoyable but it has to be done. I believe wall displays are a good way to increase self esteem as children take pride in their work and can show it to their families during parent/teacher interviews or school events. According to Education World (2015), “Visibility leads to value”.
The second child was a P2 for their 3rd lesson. Once again, the lesson started by reading familiar books. This child was looking at the letters ‘c’, ‘d’ and ‘u’. She began by grouping the letters and then the teacher said words beginning with the letter or the letter name or sound e.g. umbrella. The pupil had to place the correct letter in the teacher’s hand. I found this activity beneficial as the child becomes familiar with words beginning with that letter whilst practicing the sound. A letter book is used to write the letter and think of a word which starts with it e.g. j-jelly. The child can then draw the word and completes 2 letters per session. This pupil also completed a sentence- “I have a dog.” Once again, the features of a sentence are considered and the child starts a new book. The pictures were used by the child to help them figure out the words.
I experienced something quite random and different on Wednesday afternoon when the class teacher led the children outside and told them to follow her and do as she did. It turns out we were going for a wee run around the playground-what fun! This was a reminder of how sometimes as teachers we need to loosen up and have some fun with the kids. The fresh air can do not only the children good but also stressed teachers!
Sometimes, a quick 10 minute lesson can be the most effective. I took a mental maths lesson which involved using cubes to demonstrate understanding of addition and subtraction. It was important to use a range of vocabulary to show that ‘plus’ and ‘and’ are the same and ‘minus’ and ‘take away’ mean the same. All children responded well to this and show a good level of understanding. The next step would be to work with bigger numbers. This will help develop children’s confidence in their mental mathematics ability.
I started the topic of length with the class this week. As they haven’t met this topic before, I need to introduce the topic using non standard units of measurement. Due to the business of school life and things cropping up, I only managed to teach one lesson on length. It was important to make the lesson as interactive as I could to ensure the children were engaged from the start of the topic and took an interest in it. During this lesson I had a cutting and sticking activity for the class, this involved 5 different coloured strips of paper per child meaning a lot of handing out. Instead, I should have grouped the paper with a strip of each colour in a pile for each child. Additionally, some pupils finished the activity much quicker than I expected. This meant I had to think on the spot for an extension activity but thankfully my brain was working that day and they were able to do more work! I will continue this topic next week by asking pupils to measure using cubes.
I was asked to plan a series of lessons on The Lighthouse Keeper series. I cannot quite believe I’d never came across these books before as they are brilliant and can be linked to many topics. I decided to start with The Lighthouse Keeper’s Picnic as my head began buzzing with ideas when I read the story. Unfortunately, the teacher decided my worksheet idea was too difficult for most pupils which is all a part of the learning curve in the life of a teacher. At least I can use the worksheet another year! A chat with her helped me to understand the level that children are working at better but I still struggle at times. As the class had been working on phonics ‘ee’ sound before Easter I decided it would be a good idea to refresh their memory and do a phonics worksheet based on ‘ee’ and ‘ea’. Some pupils found this worksheet quite tricky in places as they make the same sound but most pupils managed to complete the worksheet with little or no mistakes. This activity was a good way for the pupils to work on their recalling key events in a story and sounding words out skills.
As my one and a half years as a student teacher I’ve been made aware of the importance of collecting resources- it’s a shame I don’t have enough space to keep everything I think might one day be useful even if it is just a random piece of ‘junk’. Thankfully, my teacher head was on during Christmas when my Dad received a hamper in a lovely basket i.e. a lovely PICNIC basket. Yes, that’s right- the PERFECT resource for The Lighthouse Keeper’s Picnic. I was so excited for this lesson as I felt the kids would really engage with it and have some fun. Thankfully I was correct- they loved it, they were squeezing past to get a view of what was in my basket (probably not my best behaviour management during this lesson but hey they were excited and had just finished a lively session of PE)! The pupils loved guessing and then seeing what would be in my perfect picnic basket. They were keen to share their own ideas leading perfectly into the worksheet on where their perfect picnic would be, who they would invite and what they would do and have in their picnic basket.
I felt I was quite stressed during this lesson as it was to be about an hour but due to PE it got cut to 25 minutes. This meant I was worried about not achieving much during the lesson but the timing worked well in the end. We recapped the story and looked at my picnic basket before lunch (which ended up being a picnic outside-perfect timing or what!?) and then the children discussed their perfect picnic and completed a worksheet on it. This lesson was an example of having to change plans to suit unforeseen events. Overall, I think this lesson really taught me the impact that having two very engaging and lively lessons can have on the class. Next time, I would possibly consider doing a different lesson which isn’t quite as interactive but I felt I managed the situation quite well. There were a few children who acted up and I feel I wasn’t firm enough with them. I need to work on ensuring the whole class’ experience is not affected by a few children and instead move those who are misbehaving or consider making them go to their seat and miss the fun until they can behave. I felt my worksheet was well made to suit all children’s needs as there were words to help those who struggled and those who were confident enough to think of their own words tried very hard with their spelling.
I’ve had very little experience in observing PE lessons and only taught one last year on placement. As I am with P2/3 this year, PE lessons are very different compared to P6. The first lesson was taken by the class teacher and focused on looking around you for other people to ensure you do not crash into them. Something as simple as a bean bag works great for younger ones. The other lesson this week was taken by a football coach from outside of the school. Once again, a focus was watching for those around us. He was looking for children who were keeping control over their football. I like how the children receive PE lessons from both the class teacher and someone from outside of the school as I believe that having a different face can sometimes add a bit more excitement for the class. It can also minimise any anxiety the teacher may have if PE is not a strong point or major interest for them.
I decided it would be a nice idea to link the literacy topic of The Lighthouse Keeper to a craft by allowing the children to make their own lighthouses. This idea proved a little more difficult than expected- how on earth does one student teacher get 28 Pringles tubes to make lighthouses!? That’s where you just have to ask people and show your desperation on social media. I even had my parents ask their friends and I still only have 15 Pringles tubes. I was unsure if in this day and age I would be allowed to ask the children to bring in their own tubes considering Pringles probably aren’t the healthiest snack to be promoting to a class of 27 6/7 year olds. Thankfully a few staff members and a couple of children might be able to help me and bring a few tubes in next week. As I didn’t have enough tubes for the whole class and the task is quite hands on, I took the children out of the classroom in groups of 4. The children required quite a lot of help with sticking the strips of paper on the tubes so that they sat in the correct order and didn’t slip down. To stick the little tea light and cup onto the lid of the Pringles tube I needed to use the glue gun. This meant the children has less to do for the craft but next week they will paint a base and put rocks using tissue paper on it. I am glad I am doing this craft with them even if it takes quite a bit of preparation time as the children are really excited about it and responding well.
This week has been quite a mixture of things but I have enjoyed it overall. There have been ups and downs but I think once I am back into routine and teaching more, I will enjoy it more. Getting to see this huge selection of school events and teaching will help me in the future as I will hopefully be more prepared for the unexpected and elements which aren’t always focused on. Over the next few weeks, I really need to put my foot down when it comes to behaviour management and ensure there are consequences for pupils who consistently misbehave whilst ensuring there isn’t something deeper going on. My confidence is growing but I still have a long way to go- perhaps I won’t have that confidence in myself until I am left with my own class in probation year but I hope I will begin to believe in my ability and judgement soon. I find it hard to believe just how quickly this placement is going. 3 weeks down, 3 to go!
Thankfully, I managed to get some teaching fitted into this busy week! The usual Monday morning routine circle time proved rather successful on the theme of ‘Friends Letting Us Down’ to link to the Easter story when Judas betrays Jesus. I took a risk through introducing a new and quite complicated game which focused on lying. This risk proved worthwhile as the children seemed to really enjoy it and it got the message across. 
Several of my class attend ‘Cabin Club’ after school each day. This is for children who finish school at 2pm and cannot be collected until 3pm, perhaps due to older siblings in the school who only finish at 3pm. This takes place in the mobile classroom which is a play based learning classroom with an outdoor area including a shed, kitchen area and various outdoor equipment. It is not a homework club but instead a space for children to explore through play. I helped out with Cabin Club on Wednesday afternoon. As the weather was nice, the children played outside. I think this is a great idea as it allows children to get some fresh air and exercise after a day at school whilst also providing them with learning opportunities, often, without them even realising they are learning showing that learning can indeed be fun!
Whilst this week has been busy, I have enjoyed it and it has allowed me to see that sometimes things do not run as smoothly as we like and timetables are interrupted. As a teacher, I need to be prepared to change the plan for the day when something else crops up. It is good as a student to get out of the classroom and get involved with sports outings without the pressure of organising it. This prepares me for the future if I ever end up as the coach for a sport. It has been a speedy but hectic week with nose bleeds, sick children and tired teachers but hey I guess that’s the life of a teacher!
Before clocks existed, many people relied on nature to grasp the concept of the passing of time. For example, the movement of the sun across the sky would indicate day and night. It is believed that in the past, ancient people divided the sun’s cycle into different timekeeping periods. For example, the ancient Egyptians built tall obelisks that would cast shadows to help divide the day into sections (Wonderopolis, 2017). We watched an interesting video on an elephant water clock in class (Luppino, 2015). I was fascinated by the mechanics and level of maths behind this to make everything work at the right time.
Whenever I was younger, I used to think that the whole world was at the same time of day as me. Obviously, I later discovered this was incorrect. The idea of time zones is just amazing and very relevant for me. I have several family members in Canada including my brother and friends in places such as New Zealand. It is therefore necessary for us to consider each other’s time differences before we Facetime. This is especially strange with Kiwis as they are 13 hours ahead which means they are often a day ahead in a sense.
Maths is crucial in timetabling as you need to schedule different lectures for different times and ensure that no room or lecturer is double booked. This is a complex process and something I don’t think I could do! The idea of sitting with pages of names, subjects, rooms and lecturers to sort into a timetable just freaks me out! Would it be easier to use computer timetabling to get an automatic timetable for all students and lecturers? Whilst it would probably be a lot easier and quicker, there would be a lack of personal touch in that nobody wants a 4-5pm lecture on a Friday! Furthermore, a lecture could finish at 11am in the Tower Building and the next one start at 11am in Dalhousie. There is no way you could make it to lectures on time if this was the case.
Whilst at school, I studied A level Applied ICT. This involved creating a game, another aspect of computing that requires maths. The idea of direction was crucial in my game as it was a maze game. The number of coins that were collected needed to be calculated up and the character needed to only be able to move within the game path. I also used the programme Scratch where I created Sprites. This involved programming the sprite to move X steps in a particular direction and turn different angles. This is something I would definitely consider using in the classroom to allow children to see basic maths in action within gaming.
We started off the lecture by considering a restaurant which had 2 choices of starter, 3 choices of main and 2 choices for dessert and how many different combinations the restaurant could serve. I worked this out by giving names to each dish e.g. Tomato soup, steak and chips and chocolate fudge cake. I then wrote out each starter and completed the meal by changing the main and dessert each time. I concluded that there could be 12 different combinations. This would be a good starter activity in the classroom to get children thinking about the probability of getting a certain selection of dishes.
In the counter intuitive maths lecture, we considered this idea with socks- 4 black, 4 red and 4 blue and how many socks you would need to make a pair. The answer is 4 as you only need 1 more sock than the number of different colours. Again, this is something which could be explored in the classroom.
A die is one of the most commonly used objects within probability and is used a lot in gambling. It is unlikely I will use gambling as a main tool to teach probability, however, I will use the idea of rolling a die. Some activities could include getting children to record what they roll for a certain number of throws or asking them to calculate the probability of rolling certain numbers e.g. the chance of rolling a 5 on a 6-sided die i.e. 1/6. They could then look at throwing a 5 on both 6-sided dice i.e. 1/36. The probability of this happening is actually calculated by subtracting the probability of it not happening away from 1. I have explained this below:
Before this input, I would not have known that this can be used in gambling and slot machines to work out the chance of winning or losing. Maths is used when designing the likes of slot machines as the probability of an outcome multiplied by the pay-out/prize for that combination will never equal to 100%. This means that slot machines will always win and earn a profit, never the player. Additionally, this can be ‘weighted’ so that bigger prizes or frequent smaller prizes are paid out, resulting in more money for the casino (Holme, 2017).
There is more to gambling than just luck, there is fundamental mathematics behind it. For me, I don’t think that gambling is worth the time or the money unless you are crazy and rich enough to do as Mandel did. However, a lot of countries have now banned this technique so it’s probably not worth your while really! I think I will keep to the likes of rolling dice and flipping coins to explain chance and probability in my classroom!
As someone who does not consider themselves musical, I hadn’t really put much thought into how maths is needed in music. I love listening to music and find it a great way to relieve stress whilst belting out a song! However, I studied music in school and absolutely hated it. I would dread walking into that classroom to be asked to play the Eastenders theme tune yet again on the recorder or be asked yet another music related question that I had no clue how to answer and to be frank didn’t care about! I knew of the basic elements of music e.g. tempo, rhythm, dynamics but I didn’t fully understand how maths held such a great purpose in music. After our input with Paola, my eyes have been opened!
In pairs, we had to think of as many links between maths and music as possible. Megan and I came up with quite a few including the note values, beats in a bar, the actual making of an instrument and counting songs. Other ways in which maths and music link include tuning instruments, figured bass, scales and even the Fibonacci sequence! This is because there are 13 notes in an octave e.g. from C to C. A scale is composed of 8 notes. The 5
Many people scrunch up their face or roll their eyes when they think of maths, many believe that it is boring. I reckon it does not have to be that way- maths can be fun! I believe that we as teachers need to liven up the idea of maths and bring in cross curricular learning as well as looking at learning mathematics through play.
Research has shown that previous traditional teaching methods have not been successful as when adults were asked to explain how to solve particular problems and why we need certain mathematical concepts, they were unable to recount their learning. These rote and drill teaching methods such as handing pupils a page of calculations to complete has been referred to as shallow learning as it did not make complete sense to pupils. Parents and teachers are now worried that the maths that parents pass onto their children is not solid and accurate yet it is crucial that parents play an active part in the mathematical learning of their children particularly during the early years (Valentine, 2017). It is important for maths to be a continuous part of the home environment through aspects such as time (for cooking), money (bills) and telling the time to help encourage the learning.
Play is important because it is a major part of children’s everyday world- for them it is a familiar environment, resulting in more successful learning as it is a meaningful context. Furthermore, play helps them to develop social skills such as sharing e.g. they can use maths in a role play situation e.g. play shop. Play also allows children to learn in their own time and be independent learners. They are able to control what happens during their learning and the outcomes of it. By using play to learn maths, children are able to visualise their learning instead of using a textbook e.g. use of 3D shapes. Play allows children to experiment in a relaxed environment where making mistakes is not an issue and written outcomes are not a focus.
There are many forms of play which can be used for learning. These include symbolic, creative, discovery, physical, technology, games, environmental and books and language. Activities may include rhymes, outdoor play, songs and role play. We looked at a video on maths in literature where mathematical concepts were used in traditional fairytales and stories such as Goldilocks and the Three Bears which changed to Goldilocks and the Three Squares. Something as simple as this is a great way to introduce children to basic concepts in maths.
Tessellations of congruent shapes, such as above, are called monohedral tessellations. The word monohedral literally means ‘one’ – mono and ‘shape’ – hedral. Regular tessellations are made up of only one regular shape repeated, whilst semi-regular tessellations are made up of two or more regular shapes tiled to create a repeating pattern. A lot of Islamic art uses tessellations of equilateral triangles, squares and hexagons. Furthermore, in Spain there are many examples of art in tiling such Park Güell in Barcelona.
Snowflakes are another example of maths in nature. They exhibit six-fold radial symmetry, with elaborate, identical patterns on each arm. Snowflakes are made entirely of water molecules which have solidified and crystallised to form weak hydrogen bonds with other water molecules. The bonds maximise attractive forces and reduce repulsive forces, allowing the snowflake to form its hexagonal shape 
Maths is even required in photography. Many photographers use the ‘Rule of Thirds’ to set up their photos. This is where the image in broken down into 9 sections using 4 lines. The idea is that if you capture an image where the main object/focus is placed along the lines or the intersections, the photo will be more natural and pleasing to the viewer instead at the centre of the shot (Rowse, no date). Another method photographers use is balancing elements. This is similar to the rule of thirds and is simply placing a focal point off centre to create a more interesting image, however, this means there is empty space at the opposite side. This is where balancing elements comes in- you place another similar object at the other side to balance the photo out- known as formal balance. Informal balance is when you place two varying objects at opposite sides of the image (Google, no date). Leading lines are another method used in photography in which straight objects such as roads are used to draw the viewer’s eye to the image and connect the foreground to the background (McKinnell, no date). The final method photographers use is symmetry and patterns within photos to create a balanced and aesthetically pleasing image (DMM, no date).
