The Perfect Maths Lesson

Ian Loynd, Jackie Beere

• Publisher: Independent Thinking Press
• Year: 2014
• Print ISBN: 9781781351376
• eBook ISBN: 9781781352007
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Professional Development

The Perfect (Ofsted) Maths Lesson recognises that teaching is hard and that, although no teacher is perfect, their lessons can be. Drawing on his experience as a secondary maths teacher and assistant head teacher Ian Loynd provides practical ideas and common-sense methods that can help every teacher to be outstanding, and uncovers the essential strategies that help teachers appear to walk on water.

Chapter 1

Engaging Learners in Maths Lessons

Engaging learners in their learning is an essential element of the perfect maths lesson. Students who are engaged in the learning process are more likely to maintain focus and attention, are more ambitious in their thinking and are more resilient when making mistakes along the way. This is because they are intrinsically motivated to learn, meaning that students derive pleasure from participation in the mathematical task itself, from the challenge it presents or from finding its solution. The best maths lessons are the ones during which pupils acquire new skills and knowledge – and love every moment of it!

[In outstanding lessons] teachers and other adults authoritatively impart knowledge to ensure students are engaged in learning, and generate high levels of commitment to learning across the school.

Ofsted (2014: 39)

One of the key tasks in engaging learners in maths lessons is to set the pace of the learning correctly. A well-paced lesson enables students to tackle difficult concepts without feeling overwhelmed and maintains momentum through easier tasks before boredom sets in. The pace of learning is very different to the speed at which the lesson moves. In the best maths lessons, teachers do not try to cram too much in and nor do they take too long to get to the main activity. Instead, the pace of the lesson reflects the ability of the learners in the class and the level of mathematics being studied.

The correct pace allows learners to learn without becoming frustrated (your lesson is too easy, too slow or too repetitive) or becoming bewildered (your lesson is too difficult, too fast or too busy). An effective pace is fast enough to maintain focus but not so fast that students become disconnected from the learning. It is slow enough to ensure understanding but not so slow that students become disinterested.

When planning maths lessons, it is useful to think about the following questions:

Does the pace of this lesson vary with each learning episode?

Is there a short, snappy activity to set the scene and ‘hook’ learners into the learning?

Is there room for reflection and for asking questions? Will the lesson benefit from a gentler pace as the challenge increases?

Are there long periods of static, stationary learning that need to be broken up with movement or a change in pace?

How will I use time limits to keep learning focused?

Are my resources prepared? How will they be deployed without sabotaging the pace of the lesson?

Does this lesson involve me talking too much?

Another powerful strategy for engaging learners is to link learning to students’ lives. In the perfect maths lesson, students are engaged by solving real-world problems in practical and experimental ways. This might involve planning a holiday, comparing mobile telephone tariffs, plotting routes on a map, breaking a code or monitoring the school’s energy consumption. For example, consider how you might build a lesson (or series of lessons) around the following scenarios:

Imagine two different mobile phone tariffs: the first is a pay-as-you-go tariff and calls cost 35p per minute; the second is a rental contract with a monthly fee of £10 and calls cost 15p per minute. Which tariff gives the best deal?1

Calculate the cost of repainting your classroom walls with two coats of paint.

Conduct a frequency analysis of the following Caesar shift cipher to break the code and reveal the hidden message: AOL WLYMLJA THAOZ SLZZVU.2

You have won a holiday ...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Praise
• Title Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• Acknowledgements
• Foreword
• Introduction
• Chapter 1: Engaging Learners in Maths Lessons
• Chapter 2: Challenging Learners in Maths Lessons
• Chapter 3: Independent Learning in Maths Lessons
• Chapter 4: Assessment of, for and as Learning in Maths Lessons
• Chapter 5: Relationships for Learning in Maths Lessons
• Chapter 6: The Perfect Maths Lesson Self-Assessment
• The Perfect Maths Lesson Ultimate Checklist
• References and Further Reading
• Copyright