Junior School

Junior School Computer Room 30 Computers - IWB

It is an understatement to say that Learning is enhanced through the use of technology. In mathematics we use technology for: games and drills to aid instant recall of facts practice in computation explaining geometrical and measurement principles using the vast resources of the Internet and commercially produced educational software

“The integration of technology across the curriculum has become a major priority for educational authorities and schools over the last decade; this is more recently seen as essential for giving young people the understanding and skills necessary to compete in an ever expanding, knowledge-hungry world.” (John Raiti) It's about Culture: How to Really Integrate ICT Australian Teacher Magazine Article

A new personal computer for all students Yrs “However, this alone will not encourage teachers to use the new technology in the most productive way.” (John Raiti) Now more than ever, are teachers and students challenged to use existing ICT programs for discovery and mathematical insights. Australia’s New Government Computers for Students Australian Secondary Schools Computer Fund

Our aim is : to get young minds excited about making their own discoveries in mathematics and to encourage students to tell us about these discoveries The Spreadsheet is an excellent tool for doing this + An Interactive Whiteboard = A Winning Combination

“Mathematics is a tool with which God created the Universe.” Galileo Galilei

Spreadsheets are now more available to 12 year olds. You might ask “Why 12 year olds?” If you’ve ever had a problem with your TV remote or DVD player, as the saying goes, “Ask a 12 year old.” They’ll fix it for you! Numbers can seem ordinary at first but … What interesting patterns we can find in them! Then they become more fascinating to students. Getting young minds excited about their discoveries in Mathematics is what we are about. How to do this?

Pythagoras concluded that there are only Four Important Areas of Mathematics The Quadrivium of Mathematics DiscreteContinuous The AppliedThe AbsoluteThe StaticThe Moving Arithmetic = 6 MusicGeometryAstronomy This is the focus of our presentation today using spreadsheets

Even though spreadsheets have not been used much resources for them have been available for quite some time. Two excellent books are: Switched on Maths - Spreadsheets in Maths

Dr Ann Williams – Griffith University in Brisbane “The power of spreadsheets lies in their capacity to take the students beyond what they can achieve within the normal classroom with pencil and paper.” Spreadsheets permit the exploration of relationships, thus presenting opportunities for higher order thinking skills.

Bloom’s Taxonomy Developed by Benjamin Bloom in the 1950’s as a means of expressing qualitatively different kinds of thinking:Developed by Benjamin Bloom in the 1950’s as a means of expressing qualitatively different kinds of thinking: Remembering, Understanding, Applying, Analysing, Evaluating and Creating. Remembering, Understanding, Applying, Analysing, Evaluating and Creating. Lorin Anderson (former student of Bloom) revised the taxonomy in the 1990’s and made a number of changes.Lorin Anderson (former student of Bloom) revised the taxonomy in the 1990’s and made a number of changes. Note that in this presentation, I am using the Anderson’s terms, but Bloom’s original order.Note that in this presentation, I am using the Anderson’s terms, but Bloom’s original order.

Justifying a decision or course of action Checking, hypothesising, critiquing, experimenting, judging Generating new ideas, products, or ways of viewing things Designing, constructing, planning, producing, inventing. Breaking information into parts to explore understandings and relationships Comparing, organising, deconstructing, interrogating, finding Using information in another familiar situation Implementing, carrying out, using, executing Explaining ideas or concepts Interpreting, summarising, paraphrasing, classifying, explaining Recalling information Recognising, listing, describing, retrieving, naming, finding Evaluating Justifying a decision or course of action Checking, hypothesising, critiquing, experimenting, judging Creating Generating new ideas, products, or ways of viewing things Designing, constructing, planning, producing, inventing. Analysing Breaking information into parts to explore understandings and relationships Comparing, organising, deconstructing, interrogating, finding Applying Using information in another familiar situation Implementing, carrying out, using, executing Understanding Explaining ideas or concepts Interpreting, summarising, paraphrasing, classifying, explaining Remembering Recalling information Recognising, listing, describing, retrieving, naming, finding BLOOM’S TAXONOMY Higher Order Thinking Skills Lower Order Thinking Skills

Spreadsheets are under-utilised in Mathematics Our 12 year olds have very limited knowledge Writing of formulas is new to them In 2008 we upgraded to Microsoft Office 2007 It has a very different menu system to 2003 version First task: Teach the new screen features of Excel We did this using the Interactive Whiteboard

Title BarQuick Access toolbar Office Button Title BarQuick Access toolbarOffice Button

Brackets of X

L4 M5 K3 M6 M5 M3 M4

= B6 - B5 653 = B6 - B5

Spreadsheets do the computational hard work while students concentrate on exploring and discovering.

1.Click on A1 and drag to cell O1 2.Drag down to row 25 3.Use ‘page’ colour to colour the whole page. 4.Use a text box to make the heading “Number Patterns” 5.In B8 type ‘Number’, C8 type ‘2x table’, C9, 3x table etc 6.In B9 type 1. Click on the corner and drag down to B10 7.Click on the + sign and highlight the ‘Fill series’ 8.Drag down to number In C9 type ‘ = B9*2 10.Drag the corner down Repeat for all the other tables. 12.Highlight C9 to M9 and click on the ∑ symbol 13.Repeat for all the rows 14.At C24 type sum and drag the cell across to O24 15.Do the same for all the columns down Instructions for the Product Chart

Draw lines to show patterns

The best teachers are those who equip students to THINK for themselves.

Powerful learning does not occur by accident, Powerful learning does not occur by accident, it is usually the result of an effective learning situation created by a skilful teacher. it is usually the result of an effective learning situation created by a skilful teacher. (Joyce & Showers, 1991)

Questions Do the work responses of the students demonstrate a deep understanding of the concepts or Ideas? Does classroom talk lead to sustained conversational dialogue between student and teacher and between student and student to enhance understanding of the topic at hand? Is the lesson connected to a focus on identifying and solving real world problems?

Better a thousand days of diligent study, is one day with a great teacher. (Japanese Proverb) (Japanese Proverb)