Building a safe mathematical environment in Room 6

As a subject Maths can cause some students to worry, but we're working hard to make maths fun, engaging, creative and hands on for everyone.

To launch our maths programme in Room 6 we've had some really rich and honest discussions about past experiences with maths (good, bad and a mix), what sort of maths environment the students want and what that will look and sound like.

We also made a continuum (as seen in the picture above) showing how students felt about maths (from happy to sad) and a reason for their thinking. Almost all in the class sit in the middle or have a positive view towards maths.

Some of the key messages I'll be reinforcing for the tamariki are:

+ Everyone can learn maths to a high level

+ No one is born with a maths brain

+ Having a growth mindset is a key element of success in any learning area

+ The brain is a muscle that grows as we use it and push ourselves

+ Speed is not important with maths - slow and deep thinking is

In Room 6, I aim for maths to be a fun, creative, colourful, hands-on and practical subject.