A warm glow

The first seminar series finished up last Friday so this week we have been revisiting schools to see what change has been implemented.  Of course it has been varied but overall I am so pleased to see the rate of uptake and what a difference a few new ideas can make to the teachers’ enthusiasm.

I have seen Roman Number cards and model clocks in many schools.  I have seen fractions being taught with cut up paper circles and rectangles.  I have seen addition and subtraction being physically counted out with bottle caps, twigs and stones.  The Head Teacher of one school caught up with me in the queue at the ATM this afternoon.  He told me how much the children were enjoying playing ‘Roman Numbers’ and how much his teachers were looking forward to the next seminar.

The mock exam has been held in most schools and teachers are planning their revision for the Standard IV exam.  There is still consternation over question 24 – What coins and notes add up to 13,800/=?  Maths questions in Tanzania evidently can only have one correct answer!

On Tuesday we visited schools in Katoma ward.  I watched a teacher showing the Standard 1 children how to add numbers where ‘regrouping’ was necessary.  She explained how to do

58 + 25 = 83

writing it all horizontally and mentioning the ‘carried’ 10 but not recording its presence anywhere.  She did have the children using bottle caps and sticks as counters to do the adding. (One child hadn’t understood what the sticks he had to bring to school were for and arrived with a bundle of firewood under his arm!)

Of course these children are failing to ‘get’ addition!

I suggested the vertical approach would be better, and that writing the ‘carried’ ten might help the children understand the regrouping process.  I wrote this on a little chalkboard:

            58

   +  25

          1

      83

This was greeted with amazement!  They’d never though to actually write the extra ten down – it looks untidy and anyway, they tell the children, so the children can ‘carry’ in their heads!

Mr Josiah has had me explain my method of addition at all the schools visited since – I feel like I’m starting a revolution!  So far only one teacher has said that she writes the ‘carried’ digit on the addition problem.  The others say they will do in future.

Next I will be revolutionising subtraction!

I will also be introducing the subversive idea of ‘trusting the count’.  If there were 8 bottle caps the first time you counted them out then there are still 8 and to add you can just count on the extra five - ‘9, 10, 11, 12, 13.’  I will also be encouraging teachers to apply the mathematics they are teaching with the ‘Tell me a story approach’ where children come up with a reason to do the maths, for example, “I had 58 bottle caps but the teacher said I needed more so I collected another 25.  Now I have 83!”

I know there will be ups and downs as I work with the teachers and the District Council officers but just for now I have a warm glow of optimism that I might actually make a small difference.

PS Remind me of this blog post when I start saying “What am I doing here??”