DMiC Professional Development

Friday 12th April 2019

Teacher only day at Point England School, We had Professional Development. We had DMiC with Don and then we had the great Dr Jannie Van Hees.  Here are some notes that i took during our Professional Development with Don.

Complex Instruction -

1. Promotes a different understanding of how people learn.
2. A different image of what it means to understand a mathematical idea.
3. It builds on the idea that learning is complex, and that learners because they bring different ideas and understandings to a problem, will make sense of the learning challenge it presents in multiple ways.

Looking at student engagement in the classroom

• Understand the mathematical ideas.
• Student has to engage into the maths - Setting Group Norms - Do you understand what i am trying to explain to you - Can you tell me again - Can you show me a different way -
• Recognise the students contributions - work hard to build their relationships - Relationships are Key
• Students are going to learn because of the relationship you and the student makes.
• Indicate the different talents each individual student has.
• Pushing for engagement.
• Having appropriate levels for the students,
• Lifting CONFIDENCE in students - EMPOWERING the student with their learning.

Social and Academic Status.

• People often make decisions about other people’s intellectual abilities on the basis of certain characteristic that the community values.
• What might some of these characteristic be that are historically assigned more values.
• RULE in class - During LEARNING time nobody can say NO!! To anyone that asks for help.
• Giving the student time but ensuring the student knows i am still going to ask them for an answer.
• Let them share back if their answers are the SAME as someone else has already said.
• 
  

What is “assigned value”

English has more assigned value than to other languages. It is often assumed that non - fluent English speakers do not have the same competence as those of the native English speaker.

This link to another belief that people with white skin are more intellectual.

How do people act on the assumption?

How many ways can you see this played out in the classroom and why?

Non - English (Second Language) speaking

One student might ignore a samoan students idea and dominate because she assumes his lack of English fluency makes him dumb at maths.

A Tongan student might disengage because he believes that the white kids in the group will be better at maths.

Can you think of more?

WHAT IS THE EFFECT ON EVERYONE’S LEARNING?

• Students that are disruptive are usually BORED

What is Participating in Learning?

What we believe about our own intellectual abilities and those of others.

Status Generalisation.

• This term helps us to understand how the characteristics between people differ and how these are pooled so that status is alloted.
• Status is local and changes within settings.
• Status differences in classrooms reflect those of the wider society.
• Many local status characteristics derive from the school and class culture.

Children watch and interpert teachers actions to see what is visual. What happens when a teacher gives frequent negative feedback to a child.

• Launch the problem, Make sure you unpack problem properly and see if the students can come up with the correct answer.
• Make sure the connect is right. Compare and build.

The effect of status.

• When students work in small groups the differences in status (not strengths or motivation) shapes who talks, who others listen to, and who’s ideas direct what decisions are made.

How can you build these into the classroom culture.

• Including others that don’t understand.
• Having a chance to have a say.
• Maths Norms = Class wide Norms