Teachers Working Together

Last Tuesday  the 27th of August,  Auckland Normal Intermediate School hosted the ACCoS Flexible Group 2 Initiative combined maths professional learning group session. The focus was on bringing teachers together to share their learning around effective strategies for the teaching of Mathematics.

The afternoon’s session was planned and coordinated by Abby Cavanaugh, In School Leader from ANI. She and her PLG team planned and catered for 28 teachers from across the initiative.

We cannot stress enough the importance of school leaders being actively involved as one of the key successes for the initiative. Again it was heartening to see so many members of school’s management teams being present and active during the session.

The afternoon embraced teachers working together across schools.

Abby set up a key question “Do our schools have a shared understanding of what Flexible Grouping means? This was one identified strategy that has a great effect in mathematics. We have spent the year focusing on this strategy and have previously run a special session bringing in guest speakers to help with our understanding and professional growth.

Following this, we spent time working on a mathematics task using a flexible grouping approach. The same image was given to everyone, with different tasks attached to it e.g. calculate the area and what type of mathematical questions could you ask about this. This way of grouping ensured that everyone was engaged in the task and contributed equally.

To end the night, we had a few members of ANI share their thoughts and work, in relation to flexible grouping. This rounded off our conversations while providing food for thought moving forward. 

The afternoon passed quickly with teachers sharing their learning with colleagues across the schools and teachers appreciated the time to get to connect with others outside their own schools.

Our time together was both informative and fun.