Task Centre News November 2009

1859 tasks placed in schools during October. 319,006 placed since the project began in July 1992. We offer an email news service from each of the three key projects linked to this site. If you would like to receive updates from the Task Centre Project, Maths300 or Calculating Changes send an email to doug@blackdouglas.com.au: In the subject line write Subscribe Maths. In the body of message state which projects you want to subscribe to, or simply write Subscribe All. Add your name and preferred email address. Please feel free to distribute this information.

In this month's News you will find: In Praise of Working Mathematically Swedish Visitors in Schools Professional Learning 2010 Tasks of the Month Task 99, How Many Beans? Task 100, Mirror Patterns 1

• In Praise of Working Mathematically
  Steve Watson, Lincolnshire, UK sent an email early this month with the subject line In Praise of Working Mathematically. His message speaks for itself.

  I have become very interested in the Task Centre, since I came to see you talk at the ATM conference in April. I have used your idea of Working Mathematically, adapting it slightly to a 'Problem-play-results-communicate' cycle. I am becoming increasingly confident that teaching students to learn to think mathematically is intrinsically motivating and helps students make excellent progress. I am teaching less 'mathematical methods'.

  Now, I want to take this further, in my own teaching and also I would like to make 'Working Mathematically' the basis of our approach in the maths department. For me I want to start developing a library of Tasks (I think having a story and a few bits to fiddle with, accompanying a task are enormously engaging) and in terms of my department I am gently trying to lead the other teachers to the value of Working Mathematically. They acknowledge that our department is quite good but the maths is really boring and the bottom sets never really get it.

  I have also applied for a grant to work with other schools and I will be promoting the Task Centre and the benefits of a Working Mathematically approach.

  Things have moved fast since this email. Steve has received National Centre for Excellence in Teaching Mathematics (NCETM) funding and has won a four year PhD studentship in mathematics teacher professional development at Nottingham University. Congratulations Steve; it's a great opportunity.

  Prior to this appointment Steve had begun making links between Working Mathematically and the new England and Wales examination requirements due to come into effect in 2010. He expects that continuing this support within the UK context will be an important part of his work at Nottingham.

  View Steve's early work in the Working Mathematically section of our site. See Link List below.

• Swedish Visitors in Schools
  After a long flight from Sweden, Kristina Wallin and Jan Ekelöf arrived in Melbourne recently to explore Australian schools with a curriculum built around learning to work like a mathematician - Working Mathematically.
  

  Both are teacher educators at Karlstad University, which has a teacher training tradition going back to 1843, making it one of the oldest teacher training institutions in Sweden. Jan and Kristina are proud of their extensive in-service education program as well as the preparation they offer to those wanting to become teachers. For some years, they have used Maths300 investigations as a core resource in all their courses, and, recognising the valuable work of so many Australian teachers, they came wishing to visit teacher training institutions and schools; and to learn more about how the Task Centre and Calculating Changes could further enrich their programs.

  They couldn't speak highly enough of both the Australian hospitality and the quality of the teachers they met and the educational initiatives they are offering. Their visits included:

  • Australian Catholic University
  • St. Francis Xavier College, Berwick
  • Bacchus Marsh Grammar
  • MacKillop College, Swan Hill
  They have threatened to kidnap Damian Howison from MacKillop College and take him back to Karlstad as one of their team. You can experience a little of each of these schools by visiting their contributions to this site.

  St. Francis Xavier, Berwick
  

  This school is at an early stage in the introduction of a Working Mathematically curriculum. Joe Marsiglio and the team decided to begin their curriculum shift by introducing a Task Centre into their curriculum. They couldn't find a pupil-free day to prepare the ground with our Task Centre Package workshop, so we arranged for the initial professional development to be spread over three after school sessions in April/May 2008. Wonderful work has gone into the room itself and two special features are the involvement of the school's hands-on learning teacher and students and the opening of the room to classes from feeder primary schools. See Link List below.

  Bacchus Marsh Grammar
  

  Sandy Fletcher and the team also began in April 2008 and their way to curriculum shift was through the Working Mathematically Curriculum Pack, which includes Maths With Attitude kits and other resources as the core of the workshop day. They have been developing their curriculum by blending the use of tasks in the classroom with whole class investigations, including Poster Problem Clinics. See Link List below for an example of work on Task 31, Cube Nets, and sample student output from a Poster Problem exploration. Task 177, Making Fractions 2

  Task 65, Shape Algebra

  MacKillop College, Swan Hill
  

  Damian Howison and the team at MacKillop began their journey some years back and have gradually introduced the concept of learning to work like a mathematician into every level through to Year 12. The school operates a Task Centre, has built Maths300 investigations into their curriculum and have developed investigations of their own. Several readers have no doubt attended workshops exploring their work at state and national conferences. As leader, Damian, has contributed a number of stories including two recent ones showing developments in Year 12 methods. See Link List below.

• Professional Learning 2010
  Clunes Primary School, Victoria, is the latest to book a Maths on the Move program for 2010. We are looking forward to sharing with them the very popular program Learning to Work Like a Mathematician. Maths on the Move offers a suite of one day courses that can be used individually or linked in a sequence and two six day courses that have a proven record in changing teacher practice. You will need to plan well ahead to make best use of these longer programs. See Link List below.

• Tasks of the Month
  Two new cameos this month.
  • How Many Beans? encourages estimation of number and applies the question Can I check it another way? to explore several methods of estimating.
  • Mirror Patterns 1 is spatial problem solving offering success and challenge at a wide range of levels. Informal investigation of the properties of reflection.
      
  Click a photo to access its cameo, or access all current cameos through the Link List below.

• Link List
  • Steve Watson, In Praise of Working Mathematically
  • Learning to Work Like a Mathematician (PDF file)
  • Introducing a Task Centre, St. Francis Xavier, Berwick
  • Cube Nets, addition to Cameo from Bacchus Marsh Grammar
  • Poster Problem Clinic
  • Starting a Task Centre & Creating a Working Mathematically Curriculum, Mackillop College, Swan Hill
  • Same or Different, addition to the Cameo re Year 12 Methods, Mackillop College, Swan Hill
  • National Maths Day 2008, Mackillop College, Swan Hill
  • National Literacy & Numeracy Week 2009, Mackillop College, Swan Hill
  • Maths on the Move
  • Program Library, Maths on the Move
  • Task Cameo Library (104 tasks listed)

• Did you miss the October News?
  If so you missed information about:
  1. An addition to Poly Plug and tasks related to Task 212, Monkeys & Bananas
  2. Iceberg Information about two Tasks of the Month (Tasks 97, 98)
  3. ...and more...

Keep smiling,
Doug.

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