Maths Association of Victoria Conference December 2019

December 16, 2019

Recently I was fortunate to be selected as a workshop presenter at the Maths Association of Victoria  (MAV) annual conference in Melbourne.

The focus of my workshops is listed below, straight from the conference synopsis.

It was a very busy few days, rushing from workshops that I was attending, and then having a very short time to bolt to the room where I was presenting from and to get set up.

Imagine my panic at the second of my workshops when the screen and my laptop could not communicate, despite assurances that there would be no problems!!

Thankfully, an IT Tech person got it all up and working two minutes before I was due to start.

The workshops were very successful, with over 50 people present at each one. 

C05 Making Maths Engaging for Students AND Teachers!

F - Y6, Context for Learning, Workshop.

Bernard Kerrins, Bendigo Secondary Network Schools - Weeroona College, Bendigo South East College, Crusoe College 

Students often say that what we are teaching them has little relevance or purpose. Much of what is taught has no context or immediate use, leading to boredom with maths.

They are becoming knowledgeable, but not knowledge-able.

Even when we ask them to do relatively somewhat engaging activities, it becomes dress rehearsal learning as there is no real purpose to it.

This workshop will focus on 3 aspects:

* Using rich contexts for learning where students can connect their learning to real life experiences.

* How teachers can become more invigorated and excited about their lessons, and passing this enthusiasm on to their students.

* Project Based Learning, completing projects that leave a legacy for others and creating hooks to engage our students.

This workshop will have you and your students wanting to rush into your maths lessons as they will now have a real purpose for learning.

I have been very lucky to have received quite a bit of positive feedback from a number of workshop participants, and hopefully this will transfer into some more work in schools in the future.

Below is a selection of just some of the slides I used in my workshops, all with the focus of building the capacity of teachers to engage their students more, and at the same time building their own levels of engagement with their teaching.