DEVELOPING TEACHER READINESS

AT2
ANALYSIS OF VIDEO CASE AND RELATED LESSON PLAN

SCOTT BLACKWOOD
20802084

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 SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
LESSON PLAN TEMPLATE

Name: Scott Blackwood Topic: Problem-solving Lesson No: 3

Subject: Mathematics School: Seaforth Primary School Duration: 60min

Date: 11/4/22 Year level: Year 5/6

Learning Purpose/Learning Intention/Rationale: The learning intention for this lesson is for
students to collaboratively discuss, implement and evaluate a range of problem-solving techniques
in order to solve the various tasks.
1. Students key knowledge and skills will be based on their surround using problem-solving
strategies to solver puzzle/problems.

Victorian Curriculum- F-10 or VCE focus (if VCE applicable)

 Use estimation and rounding to check the reasonableness of answers to calculations

(VCMNA182)
 Solve problems involving multiplication of large numbers by one- or two-digit numbers using
efficient mental, written strategies and appropriate digital technologies (VCMNA183)
 Use efficient mental and written strategies and apply appropriate digital technologies to
solve problems (VCMNA185)

Success Criteria / Learning outcomes:

 I can solve all 4 tasks.

 I can use 4 different problem-solving techniques.
 I can successfully complete all the tasks associated with my designated role.

Assessment/Observation of Student Learning:

 Guided questions on what problem-solving strategies students already know as a means to

determined prior knowledge.
 To assess forming knowledge, the teacher will ask questions to the groups to gain an
understanding or their understanding and thought process about the problem-solving
strategy they have chosen on each taks.
 Ask questions at the conclusion of the lesson about what strategies groups used to solve
their tasks.

Procedure:
Timing in minutes

Teacher activities: Learner activities:

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 Engagement:

1. The teacher will introduce a Japanese 1. Students will listen to the teacher’
Tangram puzzle to the whole class to explanation of what a Tangram puzzle is.
engage the students. The teacher will Students are able to ask any relevant
explain facts about the puzzle, for questions about tangram puzzles
5min example, ‘The year they were first
introduced to Japan’. The teacher will
then explain briefly how they work. It is
essential in this phase that the teacher
does not go into too much detail on how
to solve the puzzles, as this is one type
of puzzle the groups will be asked to
solve.
Procedural steps:

2. The teacher will explain what the 2. Students sit at their tables and listen to
students will be doing in this lesson. the teacher’s explanations of the tasks
3min
The teacher will explain that the they will be undertaking.
students will be travelling to 4
different countries and the associated
type of puzzles they will be solving.

3. Students are active participants in the

3. The teacher will hold a whole group discussion about their knowledge of
3min
discussion about the various problem- problem-solving strategies.
solving strategies the students have been
introduced to prior to this lesson.

4. The teacher will explain what 4. Students sit at their tables and listen to
students will need to do with each the teacher’s explanations of the tasks
5min they will be undertaking.
puzzle, including the process of
showing the teacher their solution
before receiving their passport to
move to the following country/puzzle.

5. Students will actively listen to the

5. The teacher will explain the four roles description and tasks of each role, and
3min ask and relevant questions.
and their respective responsibilities that
each student will undertake.

6. Once formed, students will have a

6. The teacher will group students into group discussion and assign roles for
3min each member.
four members and let the students assign
a role to each member.

7. In their assigned groups, students will

7. The teacher will have a whole class report back to the teacher about what
2min role each member is playing.
discussion and reiterate each member's
role and what it involves.

8. Students will start solving each task

8. The teacher will let the students as a group. They will be engaging in
commence solving each task. The discuss with each other about potential
30min

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 teacher will walk around and check on strategies and can ask for teacher help
groups and scaffold and answer any when needed.
questions students may have. Once
solved, the teacher will also hand
groups their next passport and
information for their next task.

Conclusion:

9. The teacher will hold a class reflection 9. Students will be involved in class
about: discussion and think about and answer
 What math did you use? the reflection questions the teacher
 Which problem-solving strategies poses.
5min did you use?
 Which country did you find hard?
 Which country did you find easy?
 What would you do differently
next time?
 What did you like/dislike about
your role within the group?
Teacher’s resources:
 6 x Tangram puzzles (Japan)
 6 x domino puzzle (China)
 6 x sets of dominoes
 6 x flag puzzles (Mauritius)
 6 x soccer puzzles (Brazil)
 Whiteboard
 Whiteboard markers

Catering for inclusion:

 Teacher will make sure each student is performing their assign role and will take
appropriate action if any students are being dominant within the group to ensure inclusion
for all group members.

Students’ resources:
 Laptop (or similar device)
 Scrap paper
 Markers

Extension activities:
 One extra puzzle is available for early finishers. A Babushka doll puzzle (Russia) will be
available for students to visit one more country if groups finish early.

Learning space set-up:

 Tables are set up in pairs to allow for students to be seated around and faced towards each
other when engaging in discussion.

Self-evaluation:

Key questions:
 Which problem-solving strategies do you know?

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  Which problem-solving strategies did you use?
 Which problem-solving strategy did you use for the first time?

Supervising teacher’s comments:

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 TRANSCRIPT

For this AT2 task, the video I analysed is a grade 5/6 classroom. The subject was a mathematics
lesson at Seaforth Primary School located in North Sydney.

In this class, students performed mathematical related tasks using problem-solving strategies. They
did this in small groups and were given a type of problem that was related to a specific country, and
once they solved the current task, they were given their ‘passport’ to attempt the following problem.
In total the groups solved 4 tasks. The students solved the tasks collaboratively by discussing
possible problem-solving strategies, implementing those strategies making and necessary chance to
their strategies along the way.

The teacher used countries and passports, which gave the students the sense that they were
travelling around the world which made it a very engaging lesson. The teacher is very explicit with
her instruction. She explains thoroughly what students will be doing during the lesson and what
behaviour is expected of the students. Killen (2016) mentions that giving direct instruction is an
excellent way to prime students with basic skills, leading to them becoming more active in exploring
problem-solving strategies which we see samples of during the video.

During these series of tasks, students learn how to collaborate in a group. By working in these small
groups, the teacher allows them to verbalise their ideas, increase their metacognition, and help
them seek out the understanding rather than just be given information, which Killen (2016) notes as
some of the many benefits of small group work.

The teacher scaffolds the lesson by asking students what problem-solving strategies they currently
know, gaining an insight to their prior knowledge.

Importantly the teacher gives each member of the group a role. She does this as she knows some
students may be more introverted than others, so by doing this it gives them the feeling that they
have a purpose in the group. This links closely to the professional knowledge domain, standard 1:
know students and how they learn section of the AITSL Australian professional standards for
teachers.

There are elements of a constructivist classroom throughout this video. Duchesne (2015) describes
these elements as learner-centred experiences, teamwork focused, and teacher assistance in
developing expertise. Examples of how this is evident in the videos are:

- The students are developing their inquiry and problem-based learning skills.

- The students work collaboratively, discussing strategies and each having a designed role in the
group.

The teacher assists but does not smother the students with solutions. She is scaffolding them
throughout the lesson. One example is when she helps the group of students doing the soccer in
Brazil task simply by confirming how long a soccer match goes. By doing this, you see each student
start to understand where they may have gone wrong and start to develop a new strategy.

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The teacher has clearly made this a rich learning task. Kuvinja (2015) describes some elements of a
rich task:

- Having open-ended outcomes

- Problem orientated

- Provide choice

- Provide experimental learning

Examples of how this is evident in the videos are:

- By lesson having more than one way of getting the correct answer,

- Many choices in the type of strategy or combination of strategies they can use and

- Students can pivot and use different strategies if one is not working.

This task aligns with the higher-order thinking processing tiers of Anderson-Krathwohl’s revised
version of Bloom’s taxonomy.

Students can analyse or compare the different problem-solving strategies they have at their disposal

Evaluate the strategy they have been using to see if a better one could be used

Create new strategies that can be used on the other tasks or used in future lessons.

This teacher's approach to teaching this lesson feels like it aligns with how I would potentially run
this same lesson. The explicit direction and instruction she gives the students on how they will be
undertaking the tasks and their specific roles is something I feel comfortable with. For example, as
part of my job as a personal trainer, I always provide direction and instruction. Although I typically
do it with adults, I am still confident I will be great at performing this with children, just like the
teacher is in this video.

One area where I know I will need to develop is gentle scaffolding. I feel like if I ran this same lesson
in the video, I would be too excited and keen to help the students that I may go too far with helping
them. This is something I look forward to working on during my placement hours.

I have learnt that the relationship between well-structured teaching programs, respectful teaching
practice and safe, positive, and inclusive learning environments are significant. All these aspects
must be focused on, and if one element is missing, then the learning that may be taking place may
be lacking.

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 REFERENCES

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Anderson, L. W. & Krathwohl, D. R. (2001). A taxonomy for learning, teaching, and assessing: A
revision of Bloom’s taxonomy of educational objectives. New York: Longman.

Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership. (2018). Australian Professional Standards
for Teachers. https://www.aitsl.edu.au/docs/default-source/national-policy-framework/
australian-professional-standards-for-teachers.pdf

Duchesne, S. & McMaugh, A. (2015). Educational Psychology for Learning and Teaching. Cengage
Learning Australia.

Killen, R. (2015). Effective Teaching Strategies: Lessons from Research and Practice. Cengage.

Kivunja, C. (2015). Teaching, learning and assessment: Steps towards creative practice. Oxford
University Press

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