Staff development
A significant feature of the development of mental work in schools has been the staff development activities that have taken place and the amount of new material that has been created to assist this development.
Staff development activities
A number of staff development activities throughout the country have taken place and the following QuickTime video clips show excerpts from staff development sessions run by Peter Patilla. These are taken from videos produced by North Ayrshire.
Using counting sticksWorking with strategies
The following material gives an example of a staff development activity using and allocating specific mental strategies. Attached is a list of possible strategies to use at Level D of the 5-14 Mathematics programme, along with examples of children's work within this area. The build up to this level of expertise is based on solid groundwork and early use of direct and interactive teaching methods.
Mental strategies Level D
The attached file shows a set of strategies that might be suitable for children at Level D to assist with the mental calculation of multiplication and division operations.
Mental StrategiesActivity using pupil responses
The following file shows examples of the responses from one group of children at Level D who were given some multiplications to perform mentally. The second part of the 'strategy used' column is not completed. That will enable you to determine, from the description and from the Level D strategies file, what strategy that particular child has been using.
Mental activities
The QuickTime video clip that follows comes from the film 'Peter Patilla Counts' commissioned by Highland Council, a copy of which was sent to every school in Scotland. Also given are two excerpts from a booklet published by Highland Council to accompany the film.