'Creating a Mathsmosphere* in your Classroom and School'

Saturday February 20th 2021

A professional learning event presented by Mother Teresa School in partnership with The Canberra Mathematical Association.

Staff at Mother Teresa School are always on the lookout for professional learning opportunities, regularly travelling interstate to attend courses and conferences. This year, in partnership with The Canberra Mathematical Association, Mother Teresa School decided to hold our own numeracy conference. This program, named 'Creating a Mathsmosphere* in your classroom and school' was open to Numeracy Leaders and teachers across the ACT.

Members of the Canberra Mathematical Association worked closely with our Numeracy Team to consider the needs of Primary School Mathematics teachers in the ACT. We collaborated to design and prepare a 3 hour mini-conference that was successfully accredited by the Teacher Quality Institute.

We proudly presented one of Australia's leading Maths educators, Michelle Tregoning, who delivered our keynote address. Michelle is currently employed by NSW Education as the leader for Mathematics professional learning. Following Michelle’s 90 minute workshop, attendees chose two shorter workshops presented by six local ACT Primary Numeracy Leaders.

We were thrilled to have 67 cross-sectoral participants, 26 of whom were keen mathematics teachers from Mother Teresa School. It was wonderful to see so many teachers interested in enlivening mathematics to improve student outcomes. Participants were able to build their knowledge of the Australian Mathematics Curriculum and explore practical ways to connect concepts with processes. Teachers were able to deepen their understanding of the importance of inquiry dialogue, task choice and flexible student grouping.

We have been pleased with the overwhelmingly positive feedback we have received from participants. According to the program evaluations, many participants were inspired by the presenters’ ‘practical and powerful’ ideas and have already made high impact changes to their classroom practice. When asked how the program could be improved, most participants indicated they wanted to stay longer to hear all of the presenters, several saying it was the best professional learning they’ve been to in a long time. Many new collegial connections have been made, with teachers from outside of the Catholic system reaching out to us, wanting to learn more about Mathematics at Mother Teresa School.

*Mathsmosphere is a cheeky term used to define an inspiring mathematics environment where all learners are engaged in Puzzling, Predicting, Playing and Proving their Maths. An essential element of a Mathsmosphere is an enthusiastic teacher.

TQI program evaluation