December 3, 2015
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Comments Off on History and Literacy Outdoors!
Outdoor Education – two words that make any lecture automatically more interesting to me. For Will’s input when he said we were actually going outdoors today I was as excited as any primary school child! As soon as we were allowed outside, off we went skipping away like little primary two’s. We literally […] Continue reading
December 2, 2015
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Comments Off on Christmaths!
It’s that time of year again. Everything seems to be Christmas themed, and not being one to rock the boat, I think it’s time to investigate the maths behind Christmas! Snowflakes are something which from a young age have fascinated me. Although this may have been mostly due to their unparalleled ability to form snowballs […] Continue reading
November 24, 2015
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Comments Off on Maths in Football
Maths and football would not necessarily be two things you would put together but through the Discovering Mathematics module its become apparent that mathematics is everywhere. Liping Ma (1999) suggests that connectedness is one of the four properties of the teaching and learning of Fundamental Mathematics which led me to believe that if the teaching […] Continue reading
November 22, 2015
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Comments Off on Have a Frozen christmas in your classroom
With christmas just around the corner my mind is totally focused on the magic, lights and joy the festive day brings. And so will most of the children in your classroom. I wanted to share with you, some of the ways I would make christmas in my classroom extra special this year for your early […] Continue reading
November 17, 2015
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Comments Off on Opening Our Arms
As the first plane of Syrian refugee’s touches down in The United Kingdom today, I feel it is important to reflect on how positive it is that our country has opened its arms to these people in their time of need. Britain has agreed to take in around 20,000 refugees over the next five […] Continue reading
November 17, 2015
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Comments Off on Stop doing that for your kids!
I recently read a very interesting article/blog that highlighted one Mum’s new revolution on how much we do for children. I’ll add a link here, so that I don’t take the credit. http://www.yourmodernfamily.com/stop/ The basic idea of this post is that we are doing far too much for children which is potentially doing more harm than […] Continue reading
November 17, 2015
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Comments Off on Nothing but anxiety: Maths anxiety explained
Yes, ‘maths anxiety’ is real. Not only is it real, it is more common than you may think. Many people I know go by saying, ‘I hate maths’ or when doing maths work, will say, ‘I don’t get it’ or ‘I’m confused’. I would say, I hear this more during maths than I do in […] Continue reading
November 17, 2015
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Comments Off on Unimaginable Imagination
Imagine an unimaginable imagination. One that no teacher, educator, facilitator, parent, caregiver or learner sets expectations for, standardises for, or… imagines. Sarah Maxine Green, an American educational philosopher, author, social activist and teacher, stated, “We want our classrooms to be just and caring, full of various conceptions of the good. We want them to be articulate, with […] Continue reading
November 17, 2015
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Comments Off on There’s no avoiding it – Maths is everywhere!
Throughout my inputs in Discovering Mathematics, I’ve been thinking a lot about the links between maths are other curricular areas. I’ve been making connections more and more between maths and other subjects and, I have discovered something about maths that perhaps I hadn’t thoroughly thought about before… It is everywhere. The idea to write a blog post […] Continue reading
November 17, 2015
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Comments Off on Profound Understanding of Fundamental Mathematics
Four Properties – to ensure a profound understanding of fundamental mathematics Liping Ma (2010) believes in four properties in teaching and learning which sum up the way in which a teacher’s profound understanding of fundamental mathematics can be represented in the classroom. By this, Ma means a teacher will demonstrate the four properties and if […] Continue reading
November 15, 2015
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Comments Off on ‘The Secret Life of 4 Year Olds’
I recently watched ‘The Secret Life of 4 Year Olds‘ broadcast by Channel 4 on Tuesday 3rd November (Watch here – http://www.channel4.com/programmes/the-secret-life-of-4-5-and-6-year-olds). As the episode progressed, I found myself realising I have definitely been underestimating children as young as four years old. The hour-long duration of the programme was enough to capture the essence of the life of […] Continue reading
November 15, 2015
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Comments Off on Learn Languages Earlier
When I was 3 years old, my parents got me involved in many activities. I went to swimming lessons, dancing and French lessons. I understood why I went swimming, for safety, and then I went to dancing because my older cousins were in it and it interested me but I always wondered why I went […] Continue reading
November 15, 2015
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Comments Off on Let me speak!
Yesterday, in my place of work, I found myself astonished by the sight and sound of a mother silencing her child. Allow me to contextualise the situation for you. I work in a restaurant located in our City Centre. It is always busy with guests coming in for the first time, the second time, or […] Continue reading
November 12, 2015
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Comments Off on The Maths Behind Hurricane Abigail
After all this hype about a potentially menacing storm that has hit the shores of Scotland, I thought to myself that it couldn’t actually be that bad. I was, however, mistaken to this notion. After walking along Dundee City high street a few moments ago, I was soaked within an inch of my life. It […] Continue reading
November 12, 2015
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Comments Off on Active learning and cooperative working
Active learning is about taking hold of your learning. It takes time, effort and motivation, but by the end of it you will have a vast understanding of everything you have learned. Cooperative learning comes with many pros and cons. It is beneficial to work with others as they may have approached a topic differently from […] Continue reading
November 11, 2015
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Comments Off on That was excellent, but this could be worked on…
Peer review is something I never felt very confident in. I often felt like I wasn’t of the authority to suggest ways of improvement on other’s work, or I didn’t want to offend someone. Giving positive feedback was easy, especially when it is in comparison to another piece of work and you can see improvements. […] Continue reading
November 11, 2015
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Comments Off on What is personality?
In today’s input by Patricia, I found the aspect of personality very intriguing. Personality, as quoted in Bee and Boyd (2012, p 218) is “The individual’s enduring patterns of responses to and interaction with others and the environment.” Personality is a very difficult area to study, as everyone is different. There are five different dimensions […] Continue reading
November 11, 2015
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Comments Off on Earn it
College was the first time I had heard of B.F. Skinner and his theory of operant conditioning. Straight away I took an instant interest in it and decided that I would work around his theory of positive reinforcements to complete my graded unit. My graded unit consisted of me investigating an area of my choice […] Continue reading
November 11, 2015
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Comments Off on The Road to Becoming an Enquiring Practitioner
Are you someone who is proactive? Are you responsible for maintaining and enhancing your own professional skills? Do you do this to enhance your own pedagogical development? If so you may just be on your way to becoming a very good enquiring practitioner. An enquiring practitioner goes beyond the norm of personal enquiry and […] Continue reading
November 11, 2015
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Comments Off on Fat Letters
I was shocked to stumble across this article on the TES website. It applies to English Primary Schools but I feel that it is typical of the blame and shame attitude of today’s society. The article describes how some teachers have been sending home ‘fat letters’ to inform the parents that their child is overweight. […] Continue reading
