I have a vision: maths accessible to everyone - and fun. But the truth is that for many people it’s a daunting subject. In this new weekly column, as your ‘Mathagony Aunt’, I will help take the menace out of maths and suggest answers to your classroom problems.
Q Help, Help, help! I find mental arithmetic very difficult. I am OK if I can write it down though. With the new framework for mathematics we have to use a variety of strategies for asking pupils questions to encourage them to work out the answers in their heads. As I am expecting them to do that I feel that I should be able to work it out in my head as well. Probably the worst part is the fast-paced lesson starters as I cannot find these answers in my head when I want them. This leaves me terrified and dreading the numeracy work, in case I expose my inability.
P, Sheffield
A. I had a similar experience when I started teaching. I could not remember beyond my six times tables and when I came to asking pupils questions I was always afraid that I would get the answer wrong. The cold sweat syndrome! I used to have a discrete crib sheet on my desk. Better than the crib sheet was designing a way that helped me to learn the facts so that I was able to help my pupils in the same way.
What many people don’t realise is that working memory is limited and that anxiety uses up working memory, making us less efficient processors, so that even simple tasks seem impossible. There are bound to be pupils in your classroom who feel the same. First be honest with your pupils; let them know that you find this difficult because you were not lucky enough at school to have been encouraged to find quick ways to work things out in your head.
Speak to them about the effects of being anxious and explain that a wrong answer is sometimes more valuable than a correct one. Pupils are great: they will then be eager to help you find ways that make sense to you. When you ask them the question “how did you do that?” They know that their answer might help you.
To assist in the fast-paced questions as lesson starters, I would suggest that you have a list with answers attached. If you are holding up questions on a sheet, have the answers on the back.
Don’t be afraid of writing down items that help you to find the solution. Try to write down less as you become more practised.
Q. I would be interested to hear how other readers overcame similar problems.
As an NQT I am having difficulty coping with a low-ability Year 8 class. Being new to the school and new to dealing with low-ability pupils I am finding it hard to keep them motivated and on task. Please help me.
C, Cardiff
A. Teaching a low-ability set can be a challenge, especially if your previous experience has not included such sets; but it can be very rewarding. However, it is useful to remember that a low-ability class may not only contain pupils of low ability. Often the pupils in such a class are a mix of genuine low ability and others whose abilities are higher, but who for some reason are demotivated, have pieces of knowledge missing or have special educational needs that are not being correctly addressed.
Low-ability pupils can have difficulty with recall, comprehension and concentration. In addition, regardless of these difficulties, the pupils know that they are in a low-ability set and often have poor self-esteem and confidence, particularly the more able among them. As a result,they can be disruptive to hide their present inability, by diverting attention. This can lead to a vicious circle whereby disruption makes recall, comprehension and concentration more and more difficult. The key is to break this circle by building confidence, which can be difficult if pupils have come to expect disruption or have poor expectations.
It is particularly important that these pupils have structure and know where the lesson is leading them and, briefly, what they are going to do. However, such an exposition must be snappy, as low-ability pupils tend to have little patience if not involved in the lesson quickly. One approach I have used is to present a set of five to 10 simple questions at the start of the lesson to involve the pupils. Some of these are based on work from or around the previous lesson. I have produced these as an overhead transparency or as a worksheet. I feed back the answers after about 10 minutes.
Pupils in these groups need instant corrective feedback.They need to know if they are working along the right lines. In small groups it is important to go around to each and mark the work they are doing as it is completed. In larger groups regular feedback of the answers can be achieved by reading them out loud.
A variety of approaches is essential to stimulate interest. Try individual, paired and teamwork. An example of this might be setting a series of tasks around the room in which pupils work in teams and rotate around the tasks.
The teacher (and support staff) needs to give genuine praise and encouragement for real advancement. The aim of boosting morale in these small steps is to increase confidence and decrease fear of failure.
Wendy Fortescue-Hubbard is a teacher and a game inventor. She has been awarded a three-year fellowship by the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts (NESTA) to spread maths to the masses.Email your questions to Mathagony Aunt at teacher @tes.co.uk or write to her at The TES, Admiral House, 66-68 East Smithfield, London E1W 1BX
