"Maths Doesn't Have to Hurt"
What’s Happening in Maths Professional Development in 2025
Over halfway through the year and I sincerely hope you’re doing well. I’ve been everywhere from Hobart to Darwin and the more I work with kids all over the country the more you realise there are two main components to being a successful teacher:
- show the kids you’re happy to be there working with them
- engage them
Term 3 sees….
THE LAST DANCE:
It’s now time for the penultimate webinar – number 3 of 4 on the 4 proficiencies!
Monday August 4 is the date.
We have based our 4 webinars not only around a content area of maths but also around one of the proficiencies and, as the title of our 2025 series suggests, there will be a clear focus of how the content areas and the proficiencies are inextricably linked.
To the 4 webinars:
| WHEN? | WHAT CONTENT? | WHAT PROFICIENCY? | WHAT LINKS? |
|
Term 1: Wednesday Feb 19 |
PLACE VALUE | Reasoning | Measurement, the 4 ops, other proficiencies |
|
Term 2: Tuesday May 13 |
ADDITION and SUBTRACTION |
Fluency |
Place value, statistics, measurement, other proficiencies |
|
Term 3: Monday August 4 |
MULTIPLICATIVE THINKING | Problem Solving |
The 4 ops, pattern, algebra, geometry, other proficiencies |
|
Term 4: Tuesday Oct 14 |
FRACTIONAL THINKING | Understanding | Measurement – time, geometry, stats and chance, space, other proficiencies |
July is nearly at an end and that means two things:
- The last month of winter (in the southern states of Aus) is nigh
- The 3rd of our 4 webinars on the Proficiencies is coming up quick – August 4 quick!
This webinar will give Mike and I the opportunity to use the context of multiplication and division to explore the Problem Solving proficiency (previously having presented webinars on Reasoning and Fluency).
George Polya (a legend re problem solving!) identified problem solving with developing ‘a deeper curiosity, a desire to understand the ways and means, the motives and procedures, of solutions’ and identified the mathematics teacher’s role as primarily an asker of questions. And it is a crucial one.
He suggested that ‘it’s better to solve one problem 5 different ways than to solve 5 different problems’.
This webinar will highlight problems (open and closed) that:
- promote the problem solving strategies
- are engaging and relatable
- that encompass Foundation to Year 6
- that are based on multiplication and division situations
As always, our goal is to make the webinar practical and enjoyable.
Here is the link to next Monday’s webinar for the purchasing of tickets through Eventbrite or email me at rvec@bigpond.com and let me know the school, how many people will be attending, and their email addresses and I can invoice the school directly.
The 4 webinars will provide the usual array of engaging activities to try with your students but they will also increase your knowledge and understanding of each of the 4 proficiencies and help you develop a deeper appreciation of how vital they are for our students.
You can email me with names and email addresses of staff who want to attend and I can invoice the school directly. This way we may be able to offer group discounts if we have a number of teachers signing up from the same school. Email – rvec@bigpond.com
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Other Announcements
Rob Vingerhoets Educational Consultancy now has a facebook page!
There is 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!
