Category: Interesting Info.

Telling the time – an introduction

A slight delay to this blog post but, fortunately, the marking season and the National Tutoring Programme support I’ve been doing in a primary school are coming to an end, so I can now concentrate on a few other things.

This blog post is titled Telling the time – an introduction. During my time at the primary school, I have tried to support student understanding of how to tell the time using an analogue clock:

Because of the covid pandemic, students in the UK missed a lot of face-to-face lessons and one of the casualties, for some primary students, was being taught how to tell the time. So, when I started my support, I made it my mission to try to teach the students how to tell the time using an analogue clock. (The journey I have made has made me realise how telling the time can be taught and all the mathematics that can actually be taught using a clock!)

Now, the thing is, some of you reading this post might question why it is important to teach students how to tell the time using an analogue clock, when they all have a phone! Well, throughout these posts on what I did I will try to explain why I think it is! (If you ask students if they can tell the time, they might, happily, tell you yes and confidently say, “It’s 1:17 pm”; getting the time from their phone! However, if you then showed them 1:17 on an analogue clock, they might not have a clue where to begin! I have a theory about whether this is a problem: being able to read digital time but not analogue. But I will say more about this in another blog post.)

I began my mission by drawing clocks on paper/creating flashcards for o’clock, half-past, quarter past and quarter to; then practising these with the students, getting them to draw their own clocks in their books. (To begin with I resorted to them drawing round something circular!)

Now, putting numbers on a clock (the first challenge for the students) is harder than you might think and that’s what I’ll begin with next time!

Don’t forget, via supportforteachers.com, you can find out all about the online teacher training conference, Educating the 21st Century Student. I have some great live speakers lined up: Alison Borthwick (alisonborthwick.co.uk), Dr Alan Cross, Dr Tony Birch (bircheducation.co.uk), Sioban Parker, Stephen Atyeo and myself. Speakers who will provide pre-recorded workshops: Ann Starks, Joseph Hubbard (creationresearchuk.com) and Sheba Moyo.

Thanks and see you next time,
David
nilsbird training

Engagement and repeating myself!

In a previous post I’d talked briefly about those students who lack motivation and seem to rule the roost! Do you know who I mean?

In the past, I have seen older, secondary-aged students (who lack motivation etc.) being given jobs to do, so that they are occupied and focused on something. I think I also recently experienced this with primary-aged students. That makes you wonder what can we do with those who are disengaged?

I seemed to have posted about the Zambian teacher’s conference (twice) already and mentioned that I would talk about teaching telling the time in a particular post (and never did!) To be clear, my next post will be about telling the time and there will be a lot more information about the conference as soon as it becomes available. A number of conference speakers are already arranged – see via supportforteachers.com.

David
nilsbird training

Life is still very busy but please see about a great online event!

Life is still very busy, with marking and teaching, but one thing I must mention is:

Educating the 21st Century Student, an online teacher training conference for Zambia, and beyond – Thursday 26th to Saturday 28th August 2021.

This event is an amazing opportunity for teachers based in Zambia, and beyond, to have three excellent days of training from some high quality trainers. Find out more about this event via supportforteachers.com.

David
nilsbird training

Life is still busy but great news today!

Life never gives up on what it throws at us and, in my case, that’s the marking season, which is now upon me! So, things like my maths questions have taken a back seat for the moment. Do keep an eye out for number 17. I’ll let you know when it will be available.

This short blog post is really about the great news I have: Educating the 21st Century Student, an online teacher training conference for Zambia, and beyond – Thursday 26th to Saturday 28th August 2021. This is a conference I am putting on in partnership with Chingola Private School Association – based in Chingola, Zambia (in the Copperbelt Region!).

© OpenStreetMap contributors, https://www.openstreetmap.org/copyright

All the details about the conference can be found via supportforteachers.com. You can sign up there to be kept in the loop about all the arrangements for the conference. There are some amazing speakers lined up (including me!) and it’s a great price too – $30 for all three days!

I still need to write about how I’m teaching the time and fractions at the same time, but that will have to wait. Back to the marking!

See you next time.
David
nilsbird training

A lack of commitment!

As I work as a tutor I get to see a lot of different things concerning learning. With online tutoring I work with older students who, for example, are genuinely keen to improve their mathematics knowledge/want to get the right grades. With face-to-face tutoring I work with younger students (as mentioned previously) who vary in their enthusiasm and commitment.

Recent experiences in the face-to-face environment have shown me that some students seem to ‘rule the roost’ when it comes to not cooperating and just doing as they please! No doubt such students might have genuine behaviour problems but certainly they show a complete lack of commitment to their learning needs. (I would say they are definitely old enough to know how important learning is!)

So, what are to be done with students who just ‘can’t be bothered’ and will leave the classroom whenever they please?

You thoughts, as always, are welcome!

David
nilsbird training
PS How would you teach telling the time to those who have missed the opportunity in the curriculum? My thoughts on this in the next post!

Motivation – how to engage students? Part 4 (and life is rather busy at the moment!)

I am writing this post, after having provided my next bit of support, as a tutor, on a course. Before that I was doing some marking (where I fell asleep!) So, life is proving rather busy at the moment. (Have I taken too much on? – maybe!)

With my reference to Part 4 of motivation, I had a pleasant surprise from one of the 9/10 year old’s today. They said that they were now beginning to enjoy maths, when it comes to telling the time. (They have even been practising at home, it seems!) Another student, however, said they hate maths!

There seems to be such a disparity between different students’ perceptions about maths when they are young. Some like it and some hate it! I wonder if other subjects are the same?

Just so that you are aware, my Mathematics Question – Number 17 might be a little delayed due to how busy I am. Please keep an eye out here and on my website.

Bye for now.
David
nilsbird training

Motivation – how to engage students? Part 3

Today, I’d like to add some more thoughts to this engagement question.

Thinking about some 9/10 year olds I worked with this afternoon, I began to think about what level of our UK GCSE (16 year old examination) they might sit in 6/7 years time. (Assuming this examination still exists!) It is clear to me that the students are already pretty good at mathematics and therefore I would predict they would sit the highest level.

So, assuming my prediction is correct, how do we keep the engagement going/keep them interested for another 6/7 years? (I think this is especially important to think about, when work the students can do/cover now will be revisited during the first few years of high school, and then within the actual GCSE examination.)

What would you do with such ‘bright’ students, as they progress through school?

Let me know your thoughts!

Thanks,
David
nilsbird training

Motivation – how to engage students? Part 2

This week ended, after having spent my first time in a Junior School (7 to 11 yrs of age in the UK) since a few days of supply teaching I did 2/3 years ago. I am in the school for around 10 weeks; again as part of the UK Government’s National Tutoring Programme. I am working with groups of 3. (Students having been selected for extra support because of the education they have missed over the last year.)

One thing that struck me, from my first few days, was a comment that one of the 9 year olds said to me. They confidently declared that they don’t like maths. They like literacy instead. So, it makes you wonder what it is that has given the student this opinion? They are only 9 and they have already made the choice! What does this mean for the student, when they have another 7 years to study this subject? They have already decided they don’t like! (It makes you wonder how long a 14 year old, who is disinterested in maths, has held their opinion?)

Can we blame a teacher for the choice the student has made? Was maths taught in an uninteresting way and this caused the student to make their decision? We will never know. How are we now to bring the student to see the importance of the subject? The annoying thing is, I think the student shows promise of being good at the subject (with support).

I have just googled a phrase I remember. Something along the lines of, give me a child of 7 and I’ll make a man of him. One website says it’s Aristotle who said it: https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/709859-give-me-a-child-until-he-is-7-and-i. Another talks about it being the motto of the Jesuit Order: https://breakingspells.wordpress.com/2008/01/01/give-me-a-child-until-he-is-seven-and-i-will-give-you-the-man/

Does this phrase also mean, what I learn in the first few years of schooling can make or break my interest in a subject? We will ponder.

Your views, as always, are welcome. Connect with me using the contact details shown in the side bar.

Thanks,
David
nilsbird training

Motivation – how to engage students?

My current teaching revolves around tutoring, as part of the UK Government’s National Tutoring Programme. This tutoring is designed to support students who have lost out on education because of the Covid Pandemic.

One thing myself, and others, are finding is a lack of enthusiasm/motivation from students to participate. The tutoring provides an ideal environment for catch-up but many students are just not that bothered. No doubt there are many factors as to why this is so but my thinking is: if the need to sit a public examination is taken away, will students then want to do tutoring?

So, this is an interesting point to ponder. What really engages and motivates students to learn in school? For older students, certainly, I would say that the need to pass an examination will motivate many but not all. But for younger students, what really motivates them?

More soon on this!

David
nilsbird training

PISA – What happened in 2018?

A report in the Guardian newspaper – https://www.theguardian.com/education/2021/apr/22/maths-scores-in-world-education-rankings-inflated-for-england-and-wales-study – says a report (soon to be published in the Review of Education) will claim that PISA maths results, from 2018, might show inflated scores for 15 year olds in England and Wales.

The report says the study, carried out by UCL Institute of Education, suggests scores were inflated because the sample was unrepresentative: low levels of participation in the test and not enough representation of lower achieving students.

This year will be the next round of PISA tests. I wonder where the UK will sit?

What do you think about the PISA tests? Does your country consider international comparisons important?

Let me know your thoughts.

David
nilsbird training