Reflecting on Teaching and Learning Mathematics Seán Delaney Coláiste Mhuire, Marino Day 3 (July 5 th )

Overview of Day 3 Review of Day 2 Comment Cards Fraction Problem- (Given fraction of number find the number (Biscuit Jar)) Learning difficulties and mathematics (continued) Place value activity Activities for teaching place value Video of children inventing algorithms Introducing the laboratory class Planning the lesson for the laboratory class

Review of Day 2 Journal ‘fast-write’: What do you remember? What questions do you have? DIFFICULTIES CHILDREN HAVE WITH MATHEMATICS Problem solving Subtraction Fractions (see Cookie Jar Problem) VIDEO (SHEA NUMBERS) “It would be great if every class had a Shea” “Is this type of discussion best for the better pupils?” Can you promote a culture where such conversations are likely? “Definitions are useful because they help us to talk to each other” ‘Conjectures’ INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES Trend of ‘hyper-individualism’: what seems to interest many people today is how we are different rather than how we are similar.

Comment Cards Not a lot of feedback from Friday. Some positive comments. Web page has been updated Please keep the cards coming!

Biscuit Jar Problem There was a jar of biscuits on the table. Ita was hungry because she hadn't had breakfast, so she ate half the biscuits. Then John came along and noticed the biscuits. He thought they looked good, so he ate a third of what was left in the jar. Síle came by and decided to take a quarter of the remaining biscuits with her to her next class. Then Kate came dashing up and took a biscuit to munch on. When Mairéad looked at the biscuit jar, she saw that there were two biscuits left. "How many biscuits were there in the jar to begin with?" she asked Bernie.

Learning Difficulties and Mathematics (Cont’d) Any pupils’ work for error analysis? Distribute Article Share experiences of teaching mathematics to traveller children and recently-arrived immigrants in (a)resource learning support situations (b)whole class situations. Issues? Strategies? Link Link

Place Value Activity What is 82 x 10? How do you get your answer? What is 8.2 x 10? How do you get your answer? Why is there a different way of multiplying whole numbers by ten and decimal numbers by 10?

Learning Place Value Place determines value of a digit Base ten Multiplicative Principle Additive Principle Zero as a placeholder