Teaching Mathematics Outside the Classroom
Blog
The blog will discuss relevant areas relating to teaching mathematics outside. Discussions are encouraged underneath to share ideas and communicate with eachother.
Assessing mathematics outside
23 January 2016
Although teaching a mathematics lesson outside may seem less structured, it remains vital to assess the achievement of each child to monitor their progression. The teacher can simply observe the mathematical discussion taking place during the activities to assess the childrens' understanding. The teacher can listen and see if the children are using their mathematical vocabulary when completing the activities. Through listening and observations, it will become clear if a child understands the intended learning objective or does not understand it. Simple assessment strategies can be found on the 'assessment page' on this website.
Do we need to differentiate when teaching mathematics outside?
13 January 2016
Differentiation is extremely important in a regular mathematics lesson however, we must ask how important is it when teaching a lesson outside? Through the creation of this website, I decided not to overly focus on differentiation. Learning outside activates many parts of our brain (audio, visual and kinesthetic). Learning in this way appeals to children with a range of learning preferences. Naturally if a child is struggling or overachieving, I will differentiate the activity to suit their needs. However, I decided to create activites that could take place in mixed-ability settings. This gives every child the opportunity to engage with resources, communicate mathematically and work together regardless of ability.
Why teach mathematics outside?
9 January 2016
Teaching mathematics can be challenging with a range of abilites in one classroom. I often find children are more engaged in lessons when they are active or learning outside. Therefore I decided to create activities that could be taught outside of the classroom. There are many advantages to this such as children get an opportunity to engage with resources and communicate with their peers. Similarly they see the importance of learning mathematics as they will experience it in a real-life context.
