Ok so we’ve been working on this for a while now and I’m aware that it all went a little quiet for about 3 or 4 months.  The motivation factor of using the DS’s in class wore a little thin – or rather the class got used to them and started finding ways to ensure they managed just enough work to be allowed them.  The game became more of a toy than a learning tool and I had run out of ways to use the results of our races with the tennis stars so they were locked away in the cupboard for a time.

Very slowly our charts began to fill up as individuals were allowed to play games as a treat or reward.  We also made it through 2 sets of assessments, Christmas mayhem, a whole school evacuation – not a drill – and several snow days.  It was now the middle of winter term and time to ditch the project or resurrect it.  3M7 have a lot to thank my PLN and Twitter for because it was comments from you guys that moved me forward.

As I mentioned our class races had come to a natural end.  Looking forward I wanted to use the information that we had collected in the individual races.  From the beginning we had been writing down the total time for the race and the fastest lap for each game.  This in itself proved to be a learning  experience as some struggled to identify the best lap and most struggled with the format of the time.

First task was to get the information onto something more usable in the classroom than the posters that were being completed on the wall.  So we had a class discussion about the format of the times and then split into pairs.  Each pair was allocated a character and given 4 coloured cards – one for each of the cups.  They wrote their character name on each card and moved around the classroom completing the race times on the cards, working together to ensure the format was indeed correct.

Race Cards

Finding Times

Next we collected all of the character’s cards for each cup together, split into 4 groups and used them as an ordering game – fastest to slowest.  After this was completed and the misconception that the highest number was the fastest had been shot down by the pupils and confirmed in a less confrontational manner by me we did the exercise again using 2 sets of cards.  When we put the Orange and Green cups together we found an overlap in the fastest lap for one and the slowest for another which raised a good discussion about why.  Perhaps one was longer than the other, or harder, or the drivers on the slower race were just rubbish!  Regardless of the reason or ensuing argument it was the project and the pupils’ own work which prompted the discussion and not a contrived exercise for which they had no passion or interest.

Sorting Race Times

Are you sure?

Moving on we met the trickier topic of Speed Distance and Time.  I was determined to use the race cards again.  The class is only expected to complete distance calculations given the speed and time.

We discussed the average speed of a journey from home to Inverness (30m/s) and the fastest average speed recorded for a grand prix win. (67m/s – from F1technical.com)  I had calculated both in metres per second for them to give some context and to simplify calculations but keep them realistic.  From this the class decided that our Karts probably had an average speed of 40m/s.  Their responses had a very wide range due to their perception of “kart”.  Some expected the karts to be much slower than cars and I was pleased that none suggested anything close to the speed of the F1 car.  I had to persuade them up to 40m/s to ensure the next part offered some challenge.

I explained that we would assume the average speed of 40m/s and use this to calculate distance for each driver in each race. “But, miss, the race is the same length for each driver!” Thank goodness. I heartily agreed and said we were going to estimate the actual length by using averages and the information we did have.

Back to the problem of the format of the times – a quick revision on rounding to the nearest whole number and the cards were split up again.  I handed out worksheets to help the pupils organise their work and we split into groups around the 4 different cups.  We moved around the class writing down all of the fastest laps rounded to the nearest second.  Once they were all completed we calculated the distance.  Working together they managed to solve the problem of multiplying by 40 without my input and they flew through close to 32 calculations complete with working in minutes.

Calculating distance.

Still working...

From here we will do calculations to find the mean distance and time.  I hope this will prove some of our earlier discussions about some courses being longer or more difficult than others.

There are still gaps in the scoreboard which leaves more room for discussion and opportunities to reward pupils.

Moving forward I am looking forward to completing a similar exercise with the power car.  I would like to use this to calculate speed using the distance we know from work already done.

In a real life context we are far more likely to know the distance and time or the distance and speed – I am going to try something similar to extend the course, it can’t possibly be considered a waste of time even if it is not defined in the SQA arrangements.

This is a project that the whole class are involved in.  As long as I can continue to move it forward then they will probably remain engaged.  All the better if I can keep it linked to work that is prescribed by the curriculum.

For now, the motivation to play games may well have dwindled but Mario continues to keep them hooked for all the right reasons.

I’m doing a presentation on Tuesday and one of the key phrases that I am going to say out loud is that assessment is not the million dollar solution to Curriculum for Excellence that we are waiting for.  Now, I’m going to wear my waterproofs to protect me from the rotten fruit and veg bound to head my way but nothing’s going to stop the glares and looks of absolute disbelief.

The great thing is though:

I finally believe it’s true.

For a long time I have wanted to believe that the abolishment of external, final exams is the right thing to do.  I have always felt that it is fundamentally wrong to test pupil’s knowledge and 12 years of learning with 1 hour summative assessment.  On the flip side I have been unable to conjure any idea of what assessment should look like.  To be honest I’m still struggling with that but I can now look forward to the challenge because I finally understand my own role.

School curricula for too long has focussed on the goal being to pass as many exams as possible, the elite head to uni, the middle to college or apprenticeships and the bottom plough through and hope for the best from their handful of foundation grades.  Great improvements have been made with the continued implementation of vocational and practical courses.  The emphasis, however, has remained on channelling as many as possible down an academic route and adding extras for other learners.  Curriculum for Excellence goes one step further and asks teachers to provide learning suitable to every learner.

How do we know what to teach if there is no final goal?  A war cry from those, and until recently me, who need assessment to be fixed so that they know “what” to teach.  This is my real revelation to date because I have realised that:

 I know what to teach regardless of the final assessment. 

Nobody has ever suggested that we should be changing the content of our courses.  Indeed it would be difficult to create a brand new maths syllabus, the nuts and bolts of number, algebra and geometry are not changing and are essential to future learning.  Each step leads logically to the next and the extent of learning is now limited only by the ability of the pupils.  I agree that a structure must be imposed to learning to ensure that pupils are gaining a breadth of learning and that records of achievement for each pupil are essential and I’m not sure how that will look either but I am now confident that I have the tools and resources to move forward.

In my toolbox I have textbooks, worksheets and schemes of work, all of which offer comprehensive structure to suit learning maths through relevant age and stage levels in an ordered manner which builds upon previous learning and provides essential numeracy and mathematical skills.  In addition I have a plethora of ICT and interactive tools including games, concrete apparatus and links to real life.  Add to all that co-operative learning and formative assessment strategies and chuck in a bit of investigation, outdoor learning and fun and I reckon I might just make it through.

If I use all the tools that I have and maintain the pace and challenge I now believe that I can ensure that the learners in my classroom will be ready for whatever the National Assessment Resource can throw at them.

The idea has been bubbling away nicely all summer and last week my thoughts finally pulled together into a feasible learning experience.

Based on discussions with the class, the restrictions of hardware and software, advice from my PLN and the curriculum restraints this is what I have chosen to trial this term.

There will be 2 leagues.

The first is a competitive league where 8 pupils at a time will race their tennis stars in a classroom battle.

How?  I have set aside 8 of the DS devices which I am hoping I will be allowed to retain in my classroom solely for the use of the project until at least Easter.  The pupils have chosen to name the consoles after tennis players (yes, Wimbledon was on at the time).  The league has been drawn up on a point basis.  The game will work out winners and points and the pupils will record these.  For now I will keep the info in a Google spreadsheet with a view to possibly getting the pupils to duplicate the worksheet in an ICT lab.

What learning outcomes am I addressing here?

• reading tables, graphs and charts
• draw conclusions and explain them from data
• take an organised approach to solving problems

We will have 2 races each session, hopefully 6 sessions this term.
2 each time to ensure the whole class has the opportunity to play.

This will leave us time in the last week to draw our conclusions.

The second tournament will be a time trial competition.

Within the game there are 8 characters who each have 2 cars and 4 cups which each have 4 tracks.
This leaves a lot of space for trial and improvement of the project.

So we’re going to attack the first track in each cup with each player’s 2 cars – that’s 64 races – that’s more than enough for 1 term.  This is an individual game so I’ll have to be careful about who’s getting to play.  The pupils will be able to choose which character, car and cup to race until all of the blanks in the posters are filled in.

Each time trial gives overall time and best lap data which will both be recorded.  The times are given in minutes, seconds and then decimal up to 1/1000 of a second.  This will set up learning outcomes about time beyond expectations of the course.  Extending easily into time calculations, we can also consider rounding, averages and further organisation skills.

So let the races begin!

Your feedback as always would be greatly appreciated.

This idea has been bubbling around me for a while now.

I’ve been reading a lot about ICT in the classroom with a particular interest in games based learning and then Adam Stevens, (@ahstevens) a contact I have made through Twitter mentioned that he had dabbled with Mario Kart and other racing games in the classroom to present some basics of distance/speed/time theory in physics.  Derek Robertson (@derekrobertson) and Ollie Bray (@olliebray) have provided further inspiration by sharing their own experiences of games based learning success.  Both are now working to spread good practice and I am pleased that they have offered me their support, albeit from the back of the car on the way home from the first Edu2020 (@edu2020) meeting in Duffies!

The pedagogy behind games based learning must lie in motivating pupils to learn by engaging them in the work being done through ensuring a common interest is found and utilised.   A great opportunity has presented itself for the new school year. I will be working with a Foundation Level maths class through 3rd and 4th year to formal assessment in May 2011.

The Standard Grade course will offer plenty of challenges to the pupils with the work covered but also many opportunities to relate work to real life scenarios and situations.  In addition it will allow me time to incorporate games based learning and the curriculum for excellence principles into our lessons.  My main learning intentions will focus on time problems, number, organisation, simple statistics and problem solving.  In addition the project will be designed to meet the 4 capacities of Curriculum for Excellence.  Although not strictly necessary for pupils at this age and stage in secondary school it will provide a richer learning experience at this level of work and anyway, it’s good practice for what’s coming!  Having had a quick glance through the arrangements these are the current outcomes I believe I can meet with Mario Kart.

• reading tables, graphs and charts
• line graph trends
• communication of data through tables, graphs and charts
• numeracy – add/subtract/multiply/divide calculations in context
• mean, median, mode
• check solutions
• experiment
• draw conclusions and explain them from data
• take an organised approach to solving problems

At this point I need to put out a prezi alert.  My planning has been done on a Prezi following a comment on Twitter from John Johnston (@johnjohnston) who mentioned that he had never considered using it as a planning tool until he saw a previous post by me – well, I had never considered it either until he said it!  I had been waiting for a flash of motivation and 10 minutes in front of my SMARTboard to plot my ideas into writing – indeed I had even started the Notebook file.

Anyway, the prezi is attached here.

So far, this project is a triumph of Twitter and my new and ever reliable personal learning network.  Since joining Twitter and joining in the chat I have found contacts, received support and criticism and, perhaps most importantly, been provided the ideas and reading which will realise this project in my classroom.

As the title of the post suggests, this is just the beginning – I have a long track to get around to see this project through with many questions about management, ownership, assessment and evaluation still to answer.  But I’m excited about pitching this idea to the class and hearing their ideas about how to proceed – am I already half way to a good outcome?

My first year registration class were quite right to be disappointed this morning when I broke the good news that I was their cover teacher for a PE lesson.  The prospect of sitting in a maths classroom doing a Bobby Charlton wordsearch was not pleasing them so I simultaneously vowed to find something exciting for them to do and made them promise not to get their hopes up.  After all, if the lesson does turn into puzzle central I won’t need them over-excited.

I have a total of 15 minutes free between now and 12pm when the class are due back.  Thankfully our active schools co-ordinator is online while S3 are sitting an exam and I confirmed that as a maths teacher I don’t need any further courses or qualifications to take a class out to the playing field to run around.  Nor do I require any sort of risk assessment, parental consent or, indeed, any off-putting paperwork – ok, we’re one step closer.

Now I need a plan but S4 have just walked through my door with a million questions about their exam next month.

I have half scribbled an idea on the back of the daily announcement sheet by break.  A quick run round to the gym yields a much better one – take them out and play rounders, it’s been too long since this class were out and about.  PE staff all have classes of their own but more than happy to help me get started.  Phew!

The instant there was no pressure to plan an outdoor lesson for 24 twelve year olds the creativity tap was unplugged.

Here’s what I thought would happen:

Scatter random 3D shapes around the sports field.  (well, carefully place them making sure they are evenly spaced to create pythagorean triples between points actually)  Hand over blank sheets of paper and get the pupils, in small groups, to create maps including the locations of all the shapes.

Once complete, use the maps to find the shortest route between them all, describe the journey and complete tasks at the points like describe the shapes and calculations for the corresponding numbers, also at the points.

What went well?

• I remembered to bring plenty of card and pencils along with the 3D shapes.
• A big thank you to a 6th year pupil who was volunteered to help me.
• The pupils were engaged, active and enjoying it.
• I had great fun
• Most groups selected by me, at random worked very well together.

What didn’t?

• One of the task sheets blew away in the wind
• My aim was to practice maths outdoors – not convinced there was much maths done.
• One group did not work well together – 3 boys made one other do all the work – very hard to police in a playing field.
• Having checked what the groups handed in, very little was actually completed.

Moving forward:

This was all a bit off the cuff.  As a completely unstructured task the pupils actually coped quite well at getting started.  No doubt there was lots of time wasted at the beginning as pupils tried to make sense of the expectations and they were far too excited about being outside to make groundbreaking progress mathematically but I think I saw a glimmer of something valuable.

The groups made good maps which they understood.  They could follow their own instructions back to a particular point.  They described the 3D shapes with illustrations and with words.    The groups all attacked the tasks in their own way. 

They were actually disappointed when I asked them to put the maths away!

The potential of this task is growing in my mind the more I think of it.  There are cross curricular links to geography, PE, outdoor ed, literacy, and health and wellbeing. 

Within numeracy there are ample topics to explore – scale drawing, estimation and accurate measure, shape properies, pythagoras, bearings, direction, mental maths and operations and I reckon I could even squeeze speed, distance, time in there with a bit of careful planning. 

Herein lies my own big, personal Curriculum for Excellence barrier.  The pupils cannot describe a journey using bearings unless they are already aware of the concept of bearings and compass directions.  They cannot be expected to explain the properties of shapes in a meaningful way without the knowledge required.  At the most basic level, they cannot be expected to list calculations without prior knowledge of numbers.  They must understand and appreciate the value and use of a ‘map’ before they can begin to construct their own.

So again I can see this activity as consolidation of work already completed, a group challenge, a chance to collaborate, take responsibity for the overall quality of work completed.

But I am perhaps, starting to understand the way forward – how to use this approach to learning and teaching in line with the ethos of Curriculum for Excellence…

A huge thank you must go to Robert Jones for bringing Fearghal Kelly’s blog to my attention via Twitter.  What Fearghal showed me was the process of  pupil’s choosing the curriculum come to life.  At last, how it works in practice.

My new plan for the work I presented today may look something like this:

Your task will be:

• to create an accurate map of several locations marked on the playing field
• to complete challenges at each of the locations involving number and shape
• to find the shortest route around all of the points and describe it to another team.

Now pose 2 questions:

•  what skills will you need to complete this task?
• how will you know if you are successful?

I know the pupils will come up with more questions than answers to the first but with careful questioning and perhaps a nudge (or a large shove at times no doubt) in the right direction the class will create a list of learning outcomes appropriate to the overall aim.

As a classroom maths teacher I am now free to teach the required  knowledge using my toolbox of traditional learning and teaching methods – I include AiFL, active learning, ICT and co-operative strategies under the ever changing definintion of “traditional” here.

Over the last 3 years I have been over and underwhelmed by Curriculum for Excellence, the theory has always been just outwith my practical grasp.

Tonight I feel like I’ve finally got it – kind of like the first day I ever understood where trig ratios came from – fantastic!

It’s a distinct possibilty that I have to go back to work tomorrow.

All in one from www.shapecollage.com

The best thing about that is it means my rather hectic holiday schedule is complete.  I’m ashamed to say that I have been rather dreading the Easter break since the beginning of February when I confirmed a ski trip and a week in Aviemore all at the same time.

Hallo??

Skiing and a week in the Cairngorms – surely it doesn’t get much better?

Well the problem was the timing;
Friday – school breaks up, leave immediately to start journey to the Aosta Valley – arrive lunchtime on Sunday. Ski, ski, ski (my legs aren’t up for this…..) ski, ski, back on bus to arrive home on Sunday.  Made it back to Thurso just after 10pm – super – 18 hours to repack for trip to Aviemore.

Not strictly true – I slept most of the time, had a lovely breakfast courtesy of very understanding and generous mum and a leisurely lunch with a friend before setting off with a bagfull of wet (but clean) washing.  Anyway, picked up the minibus and worried all week about the kids getting broken before driving home by teatime on Saturday. 

That left 2 nights and 2 days before I had to be back at work – obviously the answer was to call on a good friend to pop round and help me through a good bottle of red while getting ready to go out – otherwise known as keeping me safely away from my bed/sofa for the evening thereby postponing the inevitable sleep marathon.

In the end I’ve survived.  More than that – I feel quite alive for the first time since this teaching thing became permanent.  Feeling far more refreshed and ready to face the real world again tomorrow than I expected and better than ever before.

This is a collage of funny posters from all over the internet that have made me laugh – or giggle at least!

Again, I must apologise for the lack of references – if you spot your work please feel free to contact me about it!

maths-funnies 

Eg: