Raising Achievement is Secondary Mathematics - Watson
Mathematics as a Constructive Activity - Watson and Mason
Watson, Pratt, Jones [to be release Jan 13]
Marking Issues
- time constraints
- didn't know the student and know whether the effort / attainment / understanding was 'usual'
- sometimes didn't have classroom context with which to compare
- looking for a specific thing in marking
- giving useful comments and suggestions to students
- thinking about what is actually shown, not assuming understanding that isn't demonstrated
Assessment Methods
A variety of assessment methods were examined during the session, with the following being of particular interest:
- APP: assessing pupil progress
- know it or don't questions are not suitable for hands down questions
- group discussion followed by questioning means all students can be asked as they have had a chance to 'air ideas' with peers
- each student will have their own definition of red, yellow and green in the traffic light system
Gabriel's focus in the afternoon session was on mathematical language, considering where and when it was necessary and / or appropriate to use technical mathematical language.
It was suggested by one of the interns that getting the class to say a new word together may prevent issues with mispronunciation. Additionally a glossary at the back of pupils' exercise books combined with a reward system for using technical terms seemed to work well in a school where there were a large number of EAL students.
We finished on definitions of odd and even numbers, after which I wonder whether we were more confused than to start! It was concluded that the word divisible meant that an integer could be divided by the number in question to give a whole number result, whereas can be divided by did not necessarily imply this.
