Create Mini-Games with Gemini

 During our Manaiakalani Create teacher only day, I spent some time learning how to create mini-games with Gemini. It was a lot of fun and we were able to spend some time debugging through the AI prompt to make things run smoother.  To access each game click on the photo below. 

The first game I created was a Tetris-style multiplication game. In order to earn peices to play on tetris board, the play must accurately answer the multiplication facts.

The second game, (actually the first one I had a go with) was a solar system trivia game. It is very basic (game-wise) but the questions are pretty impressive given the parameters I set for the game in the AI. 

Mid Year Inquiry Reflection

After teaching from the Prime Maths program for a few months, I decided it was finally time to gather myself together and record a lesson to upload into Vosaic. Once I did, I was rather happy with the feedback that I received from the AI in the program. 

The summary of my lesson was: 

The teacher effectively uses hands-on learning by incorporating place value blocks for students to visualize subtraction with regrouping. This strategy helps students understand the concept of borrowing in subtraction. The teacher also encourages collaboration by having students work in pairs, which promotes peer learning and engagement. Additionally, the teacher checks for understanding by asking questions and prompting students to explain their thought processes, fostering a deeper comprehension of the material.

The teacher employs classroom management strategies such as setting clear expectations for noise levels, reminding students to work in a "whisper zone," and redirecting off-task behavior. The teacher also uses positive reinforcement by acknowledging students' efforts and correct answers, which helps maintain a positive classroom environment.

As far as next steps goes, I wasn’t all that surprised to find that the suggestions were right where I’ve been thinking about how to improve my maths teaching. 

Suggestions for future lessons:

Incorporate more student-led discussions to increase engagement and allow students to express their understanding in their own words. Utilize formative assessments throughout the lesson to gauge student understanding and adjust instruction accordingly. Provide more opportunities for students to explain their reasoning and thought processes to deepen their comprehension of the material.

However, I think this comes along in this program more as the lesson moves into the “you do” portion of our problem solving and I didn’t record this portion of the lesson as it wasn’t what my focus was. 

Once I put it my inquiry focus question as an AI prompt:
Has the teacher implemented a lesson that allows students to explore mathematical concepts, using manipulatives as tools for discovery, while also facilitating meaningful mathematical discussions and problem-solving? 

I was pleasantly surprised with the analysis of lesson implementation from the Vosaic AI. 

Yes, the teacher has effectively implemented a lesson that allows students to explore mathematical concepts using manipulatives as tools for discovery. Throughout the transcript, several key strategies are evident:

• Use of Manipulatives: The teacher encourages students to use place value blocks to visualize the subtraction process. For example, at timestamp 01:17, the teacher instructs students to "pull out our place value blocks" and work in pairs to build the numbers 252 and 136. This hands-on approach helps students understand the concept of regrouping in subtraction.

• Guided Discovery: The teacher guides students through the process of borrowing in subtraction. At timestamp 03:31, the teacher asks, "What do you need to do?" prompting students to think critically about the need to borrow from the tens place. This encourages students to articulate their thought processes and engage in problem-solving.

• Encouraging Collaboration: The teacher promotes collaboration by having students work in pairs to build numbers and solve problems together. For instance, at timestamp 01:28, the teacher assigns pairs to build the top and bottom numbers, fostering a collaborative learning environment.

• Mathematical Discussions: The teacher facilitates discussions about the subtraction process, asking questions that require students to explain their reasoning. For example, at timestamp 06:13, the teacher asks, "Now what do we have left?" This encourages students to reflect on their calculations and engage in meaningful dialogue about their understanding of the concepts.

• Checking Work: The teacher emphasizes the importance of checking answers by adding the result back to the smaller number, as seen at timestamp 08:16. This reinforces the concept of verification in mathematics and encourages students to think critically about their solutions.

Overall, the lesson is structured to promote exploration, collaboration, and discussion, which are essential components of effective mathematics instruction.

Interestingly enough, the final statement says that the lesson promoted discussion, but I loved that the summary suggestions provided key ways to promote more student-led rich discussion. Looking forward to focusing on this more as the year progresses.

Prime Maths: A Different Classroom Environment

 We are moving along into our Prime Maths journey, and as we move along we have encountered many learning bumps along the way. However, as a class, I strongly feel like we have made the easy turn to understanding. The students now understand what is expected of them and they are working diligently to complete their learning in a timely manner. They had developed a deeper understanding for MathsPro (the online "assess" component) and now know that they must try their best, and seek help as needed, to obtain the highest score possible. They are independently asking to have their mathspro tasks reset so that they may resit a session after reviewing what they have done wrong the first time through. 

Students are taking it upon themselves to actively use the manipulatives we modeled and worked with at the beginning of each session when completing their work as needed. 

Check out this photo of students working independently all using different modes of learning. Such an amazing thing to see!

2025 Inquiry Intro

 This year we are implementing the new NZ Maths Curriculum and using the PRIME maths program in our year 4-8 classrooms. We began the year with a placement assessement that allowed us to determine the best placement for our students into our PRIME maths coursebooks. 

After we had PD with someone from Scholastic to talk through the PRIME maths program, I began  thinking about my teaching inquiry for this year and the question that I came up with is:

How can I implement lessons that allow students to explore mathematical concepts, using manipulatives as tools for discovery, while also facilitating meaningful mathematical discussions and problem-solving?

As term 1 comes to and end, I can say that I am enjoying teaching through a more structured maths program and I am enjoying the time it provides to focus on how I am going to be working with my students. We are on this journey together and so far, I am very pleased with how we are going as we begin to understand the structure of the program. 

BSLA Trial

 This term, I have been working through Taumata 10 of the new Year 4-6 Better Start Literacy Approach (BSLA) program. While it seemed like a lot before I started, I really feel that over the past 5-6 weeks, my students have learnt so much.

It was a bit of a learning curve for them to go from more direct small group literacy teaching to more of a whole class approach. However, they are now able to sit through the whole lesson (most of the time) without needing too much of a disruptive brain break (run/activity). Now, once I notice that we are getting a little squirmy, we just stand up stretch to the sky, touch our toes and then we're back to business for the last few minutes of the lesson. 

I took the BSLA suppled QAR poster and modified it into my own version for the students to interactig with when completing their independent learning tasks. 

I have really taking some time to determine how to turn some of their suggested pen/paper learning into more interactive digital tasks. 

Click to see student's blog. 

Welcome to 2025!

 So hard to believe that the 2025 school year is upon us! I graduated from university in 2000, which makes this my 25th year as a teacher! I have been teaching in New Zealand for 14 years, after teaching in the USA for the first 11. 

I am very much looking forward to this year once again working with Year 4 students as they begin their Chromebook journey. We will also be using PRIME Maths for the frist time this year and I am excited to see what this will actually look like for my Year 4 students. The process to determine which book level they will each use is underway with a placement test and then we will use those results to determine their learning level. 

This term, I will also be spending 4-5 weeks trialing the new Year 4-6 BSLA (Better Start Literacy Approach) with my literacy students. We will be spending a week or so looking into some "previoius knowledge" they would generally have after completing the first 3 years of BSLA and then we will move into 4 weeks of actual lessons. 

The hope is that later this year, I will be part of the group of Year 4-6 teachers being trained to teach the full BSLA program and continue the BSLA learning that our students are receiving in the junior school.