At the moment, I have to say that I really like #TakeAwayHmk (@TeacherToolkit). A colleague and I are in the process of trialling this at our school and in a few days, we expect to receive some amazing pieces of work. This post is the first of two and for that reason, it’s a relatively short one.
The Why, How and What of homework.
Why do I set homework? So that my students can consolidate learning, prepare for lessons, check understanding…
How do I set homework? Dependent upon the topic it might be a piece of on-line homework, it may be a question to ponder in readiness for a class discussion or it may even be a traditional worksheet! Our homework policy requires that Maths homework is set weekly and like many teachers, I try my best!
What are the outcomes? A selection of homework ranging from a scrap of paper with some answers to some beautifully presented pieces with worked solutions.
Consider #TakeAwayHmk and the possible rise in the quantity and quality of homework that a teacher receives. Some students will produce animations, others 3D models and some may even produce a really neat set of revision cards or a booklet. So how do I fairly assess this work? I need a plan!
Now this is where it gets interesting. I’ve had the lesson with my class and have collected all 32 pieces of homework. I’m poised for the epic session of marking…
Do I give one mark for each key word?
Should I mark down poor spelling?
Is the quantity an issue? (Will a student get a higher mark because they’ve produced more work)
Should I award a particularly able student top marks for a piece of work that is very good but not challenging enough for them?
Conversely, should I award marks to a student who I know has tried really hard but has not quite produced the goods?
What do I do?
I’m interested in finding out how teachers assess the #TakeAwayHmk that they have set. So my question to you is this; How are you marking your #takeawayhmk?
If you or a colleague use #TakeAwayHmk, it would be great if could leave a comment with what you do or send me a direct message via Twitter @sporteredu . Either way, thanks for reading and please look out for #TakeAwayHmk Pt 2; The meat on the bones! By then, I will have presented at a TeachMeet, conducted some more research and will have had many discussions with teachers; definitely more meat!
This post was inspired by “What’s the best way to teach vocabulary?” written by @Mr_Bunker_Edu. I’m procrastinating whilst marking books and this post made me think about how I introduce key words to my students in Mathematics. For the purpose of reflection, I’m just going to think out loud on this one, so please excuse my, not so perfect writing style.
The more words my students can read and understand, the more complex and challenging texts they can access
The above quote is taken directly from the aforementioned post and I feel it applies across the board, albeit Maths, English, Science, PE or any subject. Some folks would question the need for students to understand complex words in Maths because Maths is all about numbers right?! Wrong; we use words too!
In every Maths lesson I get students to read their answers to the class, read questions / statements to each other and expand on what the previous person has said – one of my favourite things to do! This helps to remind me of a students ability to read whilst allowing me to gauge the level of differentiated task/activity that a particular student should be working on. It also provides an opportunity for students to lose their inhibitions in class and gain the support of their peers. Generally speaking, students don’t laugh at their peers if they can not pronounce a new word, they will actually say it for them, help them out. Reading together, part of a question at a time, can really focus learning too.
If we think about this in the context of an exam question, the problem becomes apparent. If a student is able to read and understand the examination question, they will know what the examiner is asking and they have a good chance of actually answering the question; as opposed to laying out a short waffling sentence and a string of numbers in the hope that some combination will be correct. This may seem like common sense as many students can read the examination questions but unfortunately, they hit a hurdle when it comes to understanding and interpreting the questions.
The same is true of any classroom textbook. Some books are more suited to students with a higher reading age and others have much less text, more pictures/diagrams and simple questions. Key words tend to be highlighted, in bold and usually in a box somewhere on the page (not all Maths textbooks have a glossary).
If students struggle to read, then they have very little hope of interpreting the question, knowing what the examiner is asking them to do. So, with my teacher of Mathematics hat on, how can I help my students to understand the question? How can I help them to interpret this problem? They need to understand what words mean. And, they really need to understand that some words sound the same but have a slightly different spelling (e.g Compliment and Complement)
Key Words
Make a high scoring Maths word (thanks @tombrush1982)
In Mathematics lessons at our school, key words are introduced with the learning objectives and returned to throughout the lesson.
I have had conversations with staff at different schools, who think that this form of mild immersion leads to students knowing and understanding new key words but this is superficial. Having the words displayed on the board and around the classroom is excellent, but can tend to become a form of wallpaper; the students see the words but they do not think about the meaning of the words. Displaying key words is useful in the short term, but can be useless in the long term unless they are reinforced and regularly revisited
I have found that the following works well for me and my current classes;
Having a Q&A session or plenary to check understanding
Encouraging students to use these key words when making their own questions, as part of assessments.
The above, can lead to a greater depth of understanding, both in terms of the key word and in terms of subject knowledge. These methods may not necessarily work for all teachers nor for all classes. However, these methods can work for students who have weak literacy skills.
This is the part of Mathematics that you either love or hate, can do or are simply scared of. If (you or) your students’ numeracy skills, ability to manipulate numbers / equations, level of reading and understanding is excellent, then you are in a position to tackle some of the most challenging problems (www.Brilliant.org). Take a look at this problem from the UK Intermediate Maths Challenge 2013 which is aimed at students in years 9 to 11:
Irrespective of the Mathematics involved, you will notice that if you do not understand or know the words congruent, trapezium, parallel, diagonal or ratio, you are already experiencing problems. Even if you are able to ‘do the Maths’ (simplify a ratio or express the shaded section as a fraction), with a limited vocabulary, you will struggle. Can you see what I mean?
Soooo, problem solving, the higher level work in Mathematics, the Gold or Platinum level of worksheets, is only really accessible to students whose reading and comprehension is very good. Is that really right? I can’t say with 100% certainty that this is true but I have noticed that the students I have taught who struggle with problem solving nearly always need the problem broken down. This is where those long weekends come in handy…ah yes, the time we have to devise a set of worksheets with more clues for some and less clues for others; differentiation! (This is another discussion that will simply run and run…)
In conclusion
All teachers need to find ways to support each other when helping students to be the best that they can be. In English or History for example, a student could be asked to “…draw a graph showing the mood or intensity of the story as it proceeds” (pg 97 Dr L Walker) to incorporate numeracy.
In PE a student may be asked to complete written work using connectives and sentence openers to guide them;
Improving literacy in PE
With all of this in mind, I’m thinking about the ways in which I can support my colleagues in the English department in broadening the vocabulary of our students. For starters, I need to increase my vocabulary and understanding of words, as well as give the students the opportunity to do more writing in Mathematics. Next week I’ll get students to be creative and write a short story using key words in an attempt to help them remember and understand. I think I’ll even get them to write numbers as words instead of digits, because they need to (and it often comes up in exams!)
It’s one thing to have a little song to help students remember a formula but we, as teachers need to consider looking at the etymology of words every now and then. We should also try to find a few more interesting stories to keep them hooked, help them understand and ultimately expand their vocabulary.
If you have any quirky (or not so quirky) ways of introducing and helping students understand key words in your lessons, please share. I’m always keen to try something new.
As Lead Practitioner, part of my remit is to share resources/ideas and generally help raise standards of Teaching and Learning in the Mathematics department (ultimately, I’d like to do this school wide but hey ho…one step at a time).
I’ve been toying with the idea of having a check list for students in lower ability classes and when it was mentioned at our last Maths meeting, the team seemed to like the idea. Not just for lower ability but for all classes; laminate, stick on tables in Maths classrooms, the usual stuff. This is something that we are looking to do to help our students be responsible for their attitude to learning (ATL) and ensure they remain focused in lessons.
Below is a draft, version 1, the bones of the idea (I promise I will make it pretty!)…
To have an outstanding lesson, I need to;
Get my Maths equipment ready (including my planner)
Complete the starter (if I’m stuck I need to ask someone near me)
Listen carefully to instructions
Write the TWWL and the date (underline them)
Copy important notes and highlight key words
Attempt all parts of the question (get involved in the activity/task)
Check that my answers make sense
Keep listening for any new instructions
Ask questions (this will show that you are listening and thinking!)
Review my work (or review my friends work)
It would be great to know if anyone is already doing this (or something similar) and what impact this is having. I think it is something that can be used across subjects and not simply limited to Mathematics. I will update this post once the check list has been trialled and I will share what has happened in our classrooms in the New Year.
Sharon Porter Consulting 