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Interactive
Whiteboards in the Key Stage 2 Numeracy Hour |
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School: Skelton Primary
School |
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Fellow: Kate Paige |
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Email: katerpaige@hotmail.com |
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Aim: |
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The initial aim of my Gatsby Project was
to develop the use of the interactive whiteboard
in the Key Stage 2 numeracy hour. I was hoping
to discover whether or not the use of such
technology could improve enthusiasm and attainment
in Mathematics. |
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Developing the use of the interactive
whiteboard |
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Prior to my application to the Gatsby Foundation
for a Gatsby Fellowship, my school had one
interactive board. The equipment had been
purchased and installed by the East Cleveland
EAZ as part of one of their projects. It was
fixed in the classroom of the ICT coordinator
(a year 6 teacher) - limited use was made
of it. There was a move in school for it to
be moved and fixed in the ICT suite, the reasoning
being that it would be accessible to more
teachers. |
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On being awarded the Gatsby Fellowship I
felt in a strong position to oppose such a
move, arguing that the board was not a tool
for teaching only ICT but a teaching tool
for all subjects. It was finally agreed to
leave the board in the classroom. |
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Originally I had planned to borrow a board
and projector to complete my research into
their use. However, the Head received some
funding through SRB and bought a projector,
board and laptop which she sent in my direction.
As I was keen for it to be available to other
teachers, I turned down the suggestion of
having it fixed – using the first of
my Gatsby funding to purchase a mobile stand.
This proved to be a good decision as other
members of staff have been able to gain access
to the board without ejecting me from my teaching
area! They find it less disruptive to take
the equipment to the class rather than the
class to the equipment. |
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A third interactive whiteboard, projector
and laptop have just been bought, fixed into
a classroom in Year 3 – the class teacher
says that she doesn’t know how she managed
without one. Unfortunately, this classroom
is to be reduced in size and changed into
a library! Now that most teachers in school
can see the benefits of using the board, I
have suggested that when it is removed from
the classroom this one also becomes mobile
in order to allow more teachers access. The
development plan for ICT now includes increasing
the availability of the boards, the Headteacher
being impressed with their potential. The
work I have done in completing my Gatsby Fellowship
has made the use of the board more high profile
and has definitely increased the interest
among staff to develop it’s use in other
subjects. |
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Improving enthusiasm and raising
attainment |
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At the beginning of my project year all
pupils in year 4 completed a questionnaire
relating to their attitude to maths and their
perception of their ability in the subject.
This was repeated at the end of the year. |
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The questionnaire tried to ascertain pupils
perceptions of their strengths and weaknesses
in Maths. I found that (I think!) they were
honest and quite thoughtful in their responses.
Discovering their preferred learning styles
was not so straightforward, I learned more
about this from observing their responses
to different types of lessons and through
questioning. |
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The survey showed me that most pupils enjoyed
Maths from the start – this made it
somewhat difficult to effect an improvement!
The only child in my target group who had
a negative attitude to Maths at the beginning,
also had a negative attitude at the end. However,
I was relieved to discover that none of the
pupils changed from a positive to a negative
attitude. They did not find Maths lessons
to be threatening and generally were confident
to ask questions. |
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When questioned about their ability in different
areas in Maths, the area that they were least
confident in was solving word problems. Interestingly,
whenever any analysis of QCA optional tests
and Y6 SATs is completed in school –
problem solving is shown up as a weakness.
In the end of year questionnaire the target
group showed a greater rise in their opinion
of their ability to solve problems than the
other groups. The target group had raised
their views on their ability in all areas
of Maths. While this optimism was not necessarily
borne out by their performance, it is always
great to find children with the self confidence
to try!! |
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The effect on the attainment in Mathematics
was judged by a combination of my teacher
assessments of the pupils in the target group
and the results of the optional QCA tests
in Mathematics for Year 4. |
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My success criteria was for 80% of the group
to raise their attainment by 2 grades. 76%
of the group achieved this. |
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The average rise in level for the target
group was exactly 2 grades, the average rise
in the other group in Y4 was 1.3 grades. |
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4 pupils in the target group
lifted their attainment by 3 grades or the
equivalent of 1 level (National Curriculum),
we normally expect this rate of progress over
2 years.
The pupils in the target group were the low
average and below average pupils, all of whom
had age standardised scores at the beginning
of the year below 100. I suspect that several
will now have cleared the 100 barrier and
will, in Y5, move into the more able maths
group. |
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Differing styles of learner |
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One of the success criteria in my original
plan was to “assess the progress of
different types of learner involved in the
project.” |
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I had hoped that my questionnaire would
help identify ways in which individual pupils
within my group learn. I now acknowledge that
a simple questionnaire is not enough to identify
such information with any certainty. As I
have increased my knowledge of individual
pupils so I have discovered different ways
to help them learn, my interaction with the
pupils has taught me more about their learning
styles than my initial questionnaire. Enabling
the visual learner to see the images the interactive
board can access has been a powerful tool,
likewise the movement of images and numbers
has benefited others. |
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One pupil who was particularly successful
in Maths was Tara. She began the year with
a level 2b and raised her attainment to 3b,
this has been a fantastic achievement for
her and puts her well on course to reach Level
4 in Y6. Tara was a very interesting pupil,
she began the year without a great deal of
confidence – rarely offering answers
and looking somewhat panic stricken if a question
was directed to her. The first unit of work
using the interactive board brought about
a change in her. Both myself and my teaching
assistant commented on her involvement in
the lesson. The images that were created on
the board really did unlock the subject for
her. She did not look back and I am looking
forward to monitoring her development in the
next 2 years. |
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What next? |
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I view the Fellowship Year
as a beginning.
My intention is to continue to develop my
own skills in using the interactive board
whilst encouraging others to try it out, as
an AST I hope to be able to use some of my
outreach work support other teachers to jump
in and have a go.
I began the year as a teacher in a Junior
School and complete it as a teacher in a newly
amalgamated Primary. New challenges and an
extended audience are now available! |
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Trying to identify children’s preferred
learning styles has opened up another avenue
for me to explore. I am keen to develop my
knowledge of learning and thinking which hopefully
will make me a more effective classroom practitioner. |
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The solving of word problems remains an
issue that I will try to resolve! Next year
I will continue to develop the teaching of
Maths using the interactive whiteboard and
I plan to integrate some collaborative learning
techniques to improve performance in this
area. |
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I have very much appreciated the opportunity
to be a Gatsby Fellow. Knowing that such an
organisation is willing to support both my
efforts to improve teaching and learning for
the children and my attempts to reflect and
extend my own practice has made me feel valued. |
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