Elements Of Best Practice

Best Practice

Teachers must understand how children learn and apply a range of strategies that compliment their individual learning styles. Teachers should adapt elements of best practice into their lessons for students to gain mathematical understanding (Reys, et al., 2017, p. 31). In both ‘Christie’s lesson’ and ‘Kelly’s lesson’, the teachers demonstrated many elements of best practice such as; implementing differentiated tasks, using manipulatives, using appropriate vocabulary, promoting peer collaboration, questioning students, providing links to real world and having a defined lesson structure.

One element of best practice that can be viewed in both ‘Christie’s lesson’ and ‘Kelly’s lesson’ is a clear lesson structure. ‘Christie’s lesson’

‘Kelly’s lesson’ employed the structure of a tune-in, explicit teaching, development activities and reflection. Lessons that are well planned, organised and presented clearly are “recognised as one of the most important dimensions of classroom practice” (Kyriakides, Creemers & Antoniou, as cited in Maulana, Opdennaker, Stroet, & Bosker, 2012). Lesson routines establish a learning pattern where students can monitor and adjust the way in which they learn (O'Donnell, et al., 2016, p. 296). Effective planning was displayed which highlighted the teachers time management skills, resulting in the students remaining engaged, focussed and on task for the period of the mathematics session. The North Central Regional Educational Laboratory (as cited in Lester, 2007, p. 1224) recognises that teachers in high performing schools providing

In mathematics, students can use manipulatives to assist them in making sense, developing mathematical reasoning and improving their problem-solving skills (Back, 2013). ‘Christie’s lesson’ used manipulative tools such as: a turn and learn number board, blocks of chocolate, photographic representations of chocolate and Unifix blocks. ‘Kelly’s lesson’ integrated a range of concrete materials like: individual whiteboards, dice of varying sizes and numbers, counters, spinners and playing cards. Kelly has also offered scaffolding to the students to assist them in learning their nine times tables. Teaching the students how to manipulate their fingers to represent the times table, then counting them by tens and ones, allowed the students to developed an understanding of how they can solve problems using objects. Once the students have developed the strategies of using manipulatives, they will cement their understanding and eventually be able to recite their nine times tables without any assistance (O'Donnell, et al., 2016, p. 117). Mathematics can be an abstract concept for some students to grasp especially when finding links to the real-world (Reys, et al., 2017, p. 36). The use of chocolate blocks in ‘Christie’s lesson’ helps the students to develop a real-world connection with the concept of fractions. Reys, et al. (2017), identifies that students are often not exposed to manipulatives as much as they should be. They