2024 MPI

 Day 1 : Maths is Core to Learning

The first cohort for Mathematics Practice Intensive launched today!  We had a very full day learning about how maths is core to learning and getting a good understanding of where we are headed in this professional learning adventure.

We began our day with introductions and learning a little bit about each other.  Due to the fact that it is a Manaiakalani initiative and I am in my fifth year of teaching in a Manaiakalani school, some of the names and faces were familiar.  Dorothy shared some of Manaiakalani's Kaupapa and Shared Pedagogy, which is always a good reminder of where this all started and how lucky we are to be on this journey together.  Something that has stuck with me from this is the fact that we need to get these students learning, we need to find out how to do this in the best possible way and we need to do it now.

We started with thinking about what the profile is of a good mathematician.  The attributes were then shared with us which included wonderful vocabulary such as creatively, critically, logically, structure, organise, processing, investigate, understand and the list goes on.  I was thinking about how lots of these are how we could describe what we want from all areas of the curriculum.

Looking at Mathematics across the Curriculum was very interesting.  A wee bonus was finding out that all along on NZ Maths there have been resources, lesson plans etc. that are well thought out series of lessons that do just that - link maths across different curriculum areas.  This will definitely be something I will revisit as I get the big picture of where I am headed sorted.

We had several texts shared with us to choose one to read.  I chose to read Making Connections Strengthens Learning/Mathematics Framework. 

Unless we focus on making connections, “students may view their learning of maths as the accumulation of unrelated and discrete ideas.” (Project Math).

So essentially we need to be helping students make connections between not only maths topics and concepts but also between maths and other curriculum areas, and maths and everyday life. (This reading also included some really simple ways to make connections.)

As I head away to digest the day's material I am very excited about the rich and informative content that we have had shared with us today.