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Significant episodes
A Significant Episode is an event, or a small series of linked events, that has impacted on educators professionally and has helped develop or change the way they teach and think about teaching. These Significant Episodes provided rich data for the Make It Count Cluster Findings.
Below is a list of all of the Significant Episodes from the eight Clusters. Each story is also provided in PDF format for download and has focus questions to prompt discussions amongst educators.
To find out how to use Significant Episodes to inform your teaching, click here. To view the Signficant Episodes aligned to the Cluster Findings, click here.
8ways learning map
“In bestowing this name, it gave authenticity to our Make It Count project and enhanced community engagement.”
Accelerating learning
"Each boy has had individual conversations with their teacher and both admitted that whilst they could have and should have worked harder first semester, they have both given a commitment to achieve a higher standard this semester."
A change in how I taught
“It was scary to start doing that. It was completely different to any pedagogy or methodology I’d done before. On the other hand, I wanted to do something different because I found what I was doing with my 5-6-7 class last year wasn’t successful.”
A shift from comfort
“What I found over time was that the development of this strong sense of number and an understanding of how to manipulate its parts, may have been the stumbling block for many of the middle primary students I used to teach."
Big day out: Culture and maths come together I
"...think about making connections between maths and culture."
Big day out: Culture and maths come together II
"I believe that with Indigenous ways learning, everything is tied together rather than the compartmentalised Western concept which puts maths here, and English over there..."
Teacher-student connection
“It was not just the quality of the questions that impacted on learning but the spread of questions to children in the class and the types of questions being asked.”
Chocolate cake
"The key outcome for me was the power of a meaningful and conceptually relevant context for investigating mathematical ideas."
Commitment
"Students and parents gave positive feedback about the impact the project has had..."
Education assistants appreciate maths training
“It was an aha moment when we realised how important it is that children can subitise and where partitioning belongs in the concept of place value.”
Estimation Walks (a maths300 lesson)
“I never used to estimate. Now I estimate how big my brother’s room is, then I measure it.”
Explicit learning intentions
“Making learning intentions and success criteria explicit helps Aboriginal students to better understand the expectations of the task and when they are successful with the task.”
Aboriginal educators take First Steps
“One of the outcomes is the critical building of connections between the school and community...and the development of Aboriginal educators as leaders within the school and the community.”
Getting ready in numeracy
“I let the class into the room and this boy who normally chooses to sit at the back with talkers/non-workers decided to sit front and centre, by himself.”
Hands on activities I
“I believe that the hands-on approach has seen Indigenous students (and other students) engage with mathematics in a more positive way.”
Hands on activities II
"We played for a bit longer, modelling the story then writing the equation and she got it."
His confidence continues to grow
“Almost immediately Student A began to answer questions and/or give an explanation on how or why he had arrived at his particular solution.”
How I look at maths
"Following the learning sequence has made a big difference on how I look at maths."
I barely had to say a word!
"I will never forget the light bulb I saw appear above her head! And I barely had to say a word."
Leading change
“Devoting specific time in department meetings to focus on teaching and to share lesson ideas.”
Leading from the middle I
“A simple yet powerful shift in the style of teaching now includes a questioning technique... as a way to properly and effectively engage students.”...
Leading from the middle II
“During the implementation, staff followed an ‘I do’, ‘We do’, ‘You do’ philosophy to demonstrate the process in a variety of contexts to encourage students to at least attempt the questions.”
Mad maths Monday
“I could not believe how a bit of responsibility given to the boys transformed how they acted within the group. It was a great thing to witness.”
