TL5:
Keeping
the overall task firmly in mind
The tasks that pupils do
in most maths lessons are extremely short term – completing exercises
that take only minutes. It is foreign, therefore, to spend several
lessons, on several tasks, that are cohered by an overall goal such as
saving a baby kangaroo. During the first two lessons of this case, it is
important for teachers to help pupils see how and what they are doing
relates to an overall goal that is fixed for five lessons, not five
minutes. The following incident occurred half way through the first
lesson in one of the trials. It describes a pupil who has lost track
of how the task at hand connects to the overall goal.
‘This is boring. I’m not
doing it’. Jake’s head goes down on the desk.
I kneel down next to him.
‘Can you and me have a quick chat outside?’.
Jake nods and leaves the
room.
Leaving the class with clear
instructions to sensibly carry on with the task, I follow him out of the
room.
‘It’s taking ages and I don’t
even understand it. Why can’t we do normal maths?’
As calmly as I can and with a
sympathetic face I start to explain to Jake that he has been chosen to
do this because of his enthusiasm towards maths. In the end he’ll
actually be able to save the life of a baby joey. Just think how
exciting that will be. This part of the task is only one tiny part. I
coaxed him into continuing with the task and challenged him to find the
biggest percentage for me. ‘The biggest percentage means that that
animal grows the least between when it is born an adulthood. Try and
predict what you think it might be and work out that percentage. You
might even find it first!’
Jake appeared much happier
and went back into the room with a real focus.
On re-entry to the room the
observations begin; ‘Miss a horse grows the least’ and then Jake
comments ‘Miss kangaroos grow the most. Their percentages are really
small’.
I smile. ‘I’m really glad you
noticed that Jake because that’s why what we are going to do today is so
important. If we give the wrong type of food or too much of it, the joey
will not survive because of its size. If our maths is wrong, the
consequences are very serious’.
The pupils now look excited
and are ready for the next stage of the project. I have learnt a
valuable lesson: pupils can sometimes lose sight of what they are doing
and get bogged down with maths processes. I found that reminding them of
their final aim and that the project is like a big jigsaw puzzle with
lots of separate parts helps them to get back on track. Each step fits
into a bigger and more important picture. Next time I will make this
clearer from the outset.
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