MIT-22 Term 1 Hui at KPMG

Reflection of today’s session 

The “How Might We” (HMW) statement is the guiding phrase we aim to meet by the end of this project:

“How might we improve student achievement in, and basic understanding of, algebra?”, which lead to the use of My Crazy 8’s. 

“My Crazy 8’s” (MC8’s) is a collection of really big ideas we could use to meet our HMW statement. 

Today we had a choice of either: 

1. Taking one Crazy 8 idea and expanding on it, or

2. Collating three Crazy 8’s into one big interconnected idea, which is what I’ve done.

In either case, we could still pick and choose from any of the other ideas we had listed. 

My Focused Crazy 8’s are (sky blue):

• Create a Google Site, which helps students and teachers to learn, practise and develop the knowledge needed for algebra. 

• Teach, learn, develop an understanding of base, foundation skills and language of algebra.  

• My focus group (students) are inherent in this process. They are the drivers of this project. 

For each of these ideas, I recorded the actions needed (green). The circled actions (yellow) are my perceived big actions which could help me to achieve my HMW. The pink statements are what I believe could be challenging. 

The last part of today’s session was presenting our ideas to the group. After listening to each person share their big idea, we got to critique the idea and work with that person to help them think of possible problems, scenarios and solutions. I think this was an important part of the process, being able to present, because “we only know what we know”. Each of us has an idea of what we want to do but it does take some outside thinking or a different perspective to identify something we may have missed. I’m happy to say that my idea was largely accepted by the crew, who even offered their thinking on my HMW and GSite idea.

Progress Update

28 March 2022: How might we improve student achievement in, and basic understanding of, algebra? At this point, my homework is to create a prototype of my GSite for algebra. I need to keep working with my Y7&8 students to gauge their understanding of algebra. I’d like to connect with a maths teacher at my local high school and see how well what I’m doing will connect with what they do at Tamaki College.

Three W's

"In the month between our first Hui and now - we have met our learners, reconnected with staff and whānau, read around the topic, collected data in one form or another …"

What has emerged to add clarity and confirmation to my thinking?

• The ‘basics’ are still needed, like speed and recall of basic facts in all operations 

• The e-asTTLE Level 2 Algebra results for my Y7&8 students came out mostly as 2A. Even though is this an “At” achieved level for the test, expected Year 7&8 achievement should be at least mid Level 3 to early 4. 

• This proves that my target group has got some gaps in learning for algebra which need to be addressed. 

• I will persevere with this area for development as my target group will be in high school soon. Algebra fast becomes an area for mastery to use and apply formula and equations in a range of maths (and real-life) scenarios. 

• Connecting with the maths department at Tamaki College would be a great way to see how student achievement in Year 9, and if there is anything in my project I could consider. 

What has challenged or confronted my thinking?

• Dorothy shared an article with the MIT-22 crew, which I then shared with our staff. This prompted a great reply from one of my colleagues who fully disagreed with the ideas of the article. I believe informed discourse is important in education because it allows you as an educator to make the best decision based on what you know. You’ve also got to remain vigilant where your information comes from, and how valid it is. 

• THREE isolation periods made it very challenging to do my job as well as I would’ve liked to, especially with gathering data for my MIT-22 project. 

• My school is currently implementing a new maths curriculum. It’s a challenge I’m all for because we NEED to try something new, which will improve our student’s academic achievement in, and attitude towards, maths. 

• I’ve tried to remain aware to not recreate anything that’s already been done before. 

What HMW statement am I currently confirming?

How might we improve student achievement in, and basic understanding of, algebra?

Takeaways

The little things: Today’s hui took place in one of the KPMG conference rooms at the Viaduct in Auckland city. I caught the train from Papakura and took a leisurely stroll from Britomart, along the viaduct to meet with the MIT-22 crew. Auckland city is very beautiful and tranquil on a quiet morning - the water, city lights, dawn sky, Rangitoto - love it. 

Being away from school was also a great way to stay mentally focused on the project. We’re all from different workplace settings but I really feel like the physical space was needed to fully dedicate today’s time and effort towards my project - and it worked!  

It was great to finally meet the MIT-22 crew! Just one person was missing but he was able to link in online. The crew have all got great project ideas and it was an eye-opener for me that all of our audiences are quite different to each other. I’ve decided that what I create MUST be something that students can use and access themselves, as well as parents and teachers, to help improve their achievement in maths. 

Return of the Jedi: This term has been largely interrupted by ‘that’ virus. All up, I’ve had about 4 weeks of time away from school, and the same could be said for many of my students. In that time, I have honed my online teaching skills but NOTHING comes close to being able to teach your class in person. There’s a lot of ground to make up for with my class, as well as what I do in this project. 

GSite Effectiveness: The discussion of Google Sites came about as many of us are considering using this platform for our projects. One thing I’ve been wondering for some time now is “how much do the parents of our students know what their child is learning about?”.  Whether it’s a class site or MIT-22 project, it would be good to have a brief explanation page or video that explains to others how to best use or access what their child is learning about? 

The Power of Language: One possible roadblock stopping student achievement is not having the language and/or confidence to speak on new learning experiences. Sometimes giving a speaking framework can allow learning discussion to take place. I’ve seen how well this works in literacy, where our writing coach modelled this with my class. It gave all learners a chance to feel like they were a part of what they were learning about.