Friday 26 January 2018

DMIC PD - Introduction with Bobby Hunter

Developing Mathematical Inquiry in a Learning Community

Today for our teacher only day we are very blessed to be working with Bobby Hunter. She is kicking off our learning journey with DMIC. Here are my notes and wonderings from this sessions.

We need to be developing children who are doing the thinking...not just listening.

There is a common misconception in NZ that Pasifika children come to school ‘not knowing anything’ when it comes to maths. However, the truth is that they know a lot of applied maths (setting the tables, laying out the mats, cutting sandwiches into fractions, etc).

It is important to provide current cultural context for our students. They may be Samoan but they are living here! It is important to remember that Culture and Mathematics are one and the same. Every culture uses maths in context. 


When writing problems always ask, “Will my students be able to relate to this question?”



In order to bring the cultural aspect into a classroom you MUST look at the values held by you and your children/whanau. Instead of saying “work as a team” rephrase to “work as a family”.

DMIC-Developing Mathematical Inquiry Communities
Connected, rich mathematical thinking and reasoning
Proficient use of mathematical practices
Inquiry learning within mathematics
Social grouping and group worthy problematic activity
High expectations and inclusion
Culturally responsive teaching and learning
Co-constructing teaching and learning


Struggling in Maths is a good thing:-It is important to let the kids know that the problem is hard...it is ok to struggle and work on it over a few days.



Important Mathematical Practices

As a teacher, it is important to add on the “because” when reacting to student involvement (eg. “That was a really good question/explanation because…”)

Talk Moves are important for promoting student interactions when discussing student explanations. (eg. why? how?). If every teacher made their math problems a level or two higher than where the students are achieving, our maths scores will increase dramatically.

Making a claim/conjecture:
Taking time to hear and acknowledge the conjecture (jot it down) and come back to it at the important time
Developing a mathematical explanation
Justifying thinking
Constructing arguments
Generalising a mathematical idea
Representing mathematical thinking using pictures, material, and numbers
Using mathematical language

Teachers need to always use the problem context to make the explanation experientially real.
Active listening and questioning for sentence making
Discuss and role-play active listening
Use inclusive language “show us’, “we want to know”, “tell us”
Structure the students explaining and sense making section by section
Emphasise need for individual responsibility for each other.
Encourage students to listen to (and look at) the student who is presenting.

Only work with about 12-16 students (in groups of 4) at a time and then rotate. This will allow for students who don’t quite get it to join in with the other group the next day.