Nrich department meetings A teachers perspective Asnat Doza

Nrich department meetings A teacher’s perspective Asnat Doza

What it should be An opportunity to discuss maths with colleagues An opportunity to share teaching ideas with fellow teachers Another lesson plan done!

3 things it should not be

A session in which the focus is on solving a set of mathematical problems

An opportunity to show off your maths skills

Competition time

Key to a successful meeting Everyone should feel comfortable and welcome to contribute

Suggested meeting format Working in small groups Looking at a new Nrich problem Brain storm/sharing ideas on how go teach this problem Sharing ideas with all the department Implementing in class

Today’s problem: Consecutive sums Many numbers can be expressed as the sum of two or more consecutive integers: 15=7+8 10=1+2+3+4 What can you say about numbers which can be expressed in this way? Try to prove your statements

Which class or classes would you teach this problem to? Nrich asks: ‘What can you say about numbers which can be expressed in this way? ‘ Can you think of other questions you might ask your learners in relation to this problem? How will you differentiate? Which department resources can you use to teach this problem to lower and higher ability groups?

The hints: Start by trying some simple cases. Which numbers can be written as the sum of two consecutive numbers? Which numbers can be written as the sum of three consecutive numbers? Which numbers can be written as the sum of four, five, six. . . consecutive numbers? Can all numbers be written as the sum of consecutive numbers? 1+2+3=6 so 2+3+4 must add up to 3 more.

Will you introduce the hints to your classes? If so, how and when will you do this?