Christmas comes but once a year but when it comes it comes with vigour! I must say that Christmas is one of my favourite times in a primary school – Christmas and Children just go together. But just like you prepare for Christmas at home you need to get organised at school as well. So here is how I used to prepare!
In my ‘Tid Bits‘ for teaching, I said that working with adult support was one of the important pieces of advice. For today’s waffle I thought I would concentrate on working with adults within the classroom and detail some of the ways I promoted working in an effective partnership.
I remember that on my first day in a new school at age eight, there was a spelling test and a times table test. During the former, never really my strongest subject, I was kindly supported by the girl sat next to me who pointed at her answer for question five ‘wur’ after the teacher had asked for ‘were’. The latter, the times table test, consisted of random facts from all the tables, including up to 12×12.
Throughout this I had a tear in my eye as I realised that I knew nothing save 2×4 (I was 8 remember).
From that point on I was determined to learn and remember my times tables. But what options do we have for supporting the children in the learning of these facts. Well this is what this week’s waffle is all about. So mouths shut, number one to ten down the left hand side of your paper and we will begin!
With the main focus of all teaching being on the progression of children’s learning, establishing targets for the children to work towards helps to provide and recognise this progression. But how can this be achieved within the classroom? Well this week’s waffle aims to help.
This week I have just completed sessions within university on planning for mathematics within primary schools. However, the process of producing a weekly or session plan is to me only one part of the process. There exists a more hidden part of planning, what I call ‘invisible planning’!