"Maths Doesn't Have to Hurt"
Announcements
Online Workshop Webinars with Rob Vingerhoets and Michael Minas
New Webinars for the Second Half of 2021!
The year is halfway done, but there’s still plenty of opportunities to take part in some valuable professional development and get the most out of your teaching in the maths classroom. Teaming up with Michael Minas, I will be running a number of webinars in July, August, and October that cover some of the most important areas of maths learning and teaching from Foundation to Year 6.
Mental Computation
It’s a curious thing. We tend to spend significantly more time on teaching written computation (the algorithms) than we do on mental computation. In the real world, however, we use the ability to work things out in our heads far more regularly than going for pen and paper. Essentially, mental computation is a far more valuable skill than just writing numbers on a page, and it’s not simply a case of acquiring/procuring automatic knowledge of a set of tables. It’s so much more than that – developing mental computation and true number sense is vital. And the good news is that it’s achievable! Sound, reliable mental computation skills make kids the boss of numbers, not the other way around, and sound, engaging and open-ended games and activities can readily develop that ability. The July and August webinars will cover the best ways to help your students develop the mental computation skills they need for maths in the real world, as well as giving you some proven games and activities to bring to your own classrooms.
Book for the July 21st Foundation – Year 2 webinar here!
Book for the August 2nd Years 3 – 6 webinar here!
Fractions/Decimals/Percentages
Sometimes our assumption is that kids will struggle with this area because it’s too hard, but it doesn’t have to be that way. In the end, fractions, decimals and percentages are just about stuff that’s smaller than one or stuff that’s between the ‘big’ numbers, and life is full of things that are smaller than one or between whole numbers. The October webinars will provide some very useful perspectives on fractions, decimals and percentages, how they are on their own, and how they readily interrelate. Each webinar will also provide you with some very engaging and highly worthwhile task/activities and problems that will develop your students’ concepts and skills and highlight how fractions, decimals and percentages ‘live’ in measurement, geometry, data and probability.
Book for the October 11th Foundation – Year 2 webinar here!
Book for the October 19th Years 3 – 6 webinar here!
Other Announcements
Rob Vingerhoets Educational Consultancy now has a facebook page!
There is now a page where you can find Rob’s recent articles and learn about his maths ‘philosophy’ and approaches to teaching maths in the classroom. The page is available via Resources, or click here!
If you’re looking for ways to keep your students engaged in maths during lockdown, or if you have students unable to attend school in-person and want them to keep up with their maths work, Rob has recently published his Maths at Home Packs, four packs catering to students from Foundation up to Year 6, with some activities suitable for Year 7 & 8 students, too. Find out more here!
Contact Me
You can get more information here or send an email via the link. Bookings for RVPD are available online or by email. General bookings by email or phone only.