Pupils who do not have English as their first language face a number of challenges when learning mathematics and may need support in different ways.
There seem to me to be several issues for pupils with English as an Additional Language (EAL):
I will expand on each of these in turn.
At a recent meeting several teachers expressed interest in hearing more about Desmos. Here is an introduction to using the software.
Desmos is graph drawing software (and more, but that’s what we’ll focus on here) that is available via an app (for tablets and phones) or a website.
A group of secondary Head teachers asked me to consider “What does an effective maths lesson look like?” (a fascinating topic to think about). They then asked: “What does a good maths exercise book look like?” I have found this difficult. I have read around the topic, thought about it and asked a variety of respected colleagues. There is very little consensus.
Context:
This thinking was initiated by the Fenland Headteachers. They asked me to consider: “What does an effective maths lesson look like with the new emphases?” They wanted to know what to look for in an observation and how should this be different from previous observations.