Support for Mathematics Teachers
When a person completes their secondary education they may decide to pursue the occupation of a Mathematics educator. This will most often take the form of tertiary education at a university. Much of the training that takes place during this phase will focus upon learning higher level Mathematical skills that are applicable across a wide variety of disciplines and occupations.
Following the undergradute degree will be training that will support Mathematics teachers and may take the form of periods of practice teaching, understanding of Mathematical pedagogy and review of the curriculum and syllabus documentation.
During the process of gaining an undergraduate degree and any relevant diploma that may be necessary to enable a person to gain employment as a teacher (of Mathematics), there will in general be a tendency to provide the foundation for teaching more in a generic sense and this may not always align with the actual needs of a teacher who has to deliver the mathematical content to a group of students.
There will be a diversity of people who are Mathematics teachers with a wide variety across skill levels, past experiences, gender, socio-economic, ethnicity, and so forth and when this is combined with these teachers needing to deliver the content to a group that may have ranges of diversity then it is highly likely that the process of actually trying to teach a group of Mathematics students will be quite difficult. Regardless of the amount of training undertaken during the process leading up to actually teaching, there will be problems that may arise and these need to be addressed or this may lead to a person having difficulties arising from being able to effectively teach the Mathematics content.
Apart from the stresses associated with teaching Mathematics to a group of students, there will always be all of the other associated and non-associated difficulties such as record keeping, staff development, maintaining discipline, and so forth. All of these will at times make teaching more of an effort than necessary.
Helpful Strategies
Within the area of Mathematics education (in a secondary school environment) there will be a diversity of teachers who will have particular roles and responsibilities towards different groups.
Parents / Guardians ... need to support the learning of their child(ren).
Trainee Teachers ... need to focus on a wide range of student skills including behaviour, subject skills and development of teaching styles and strategies.
Classroom Teachers ... need to be proactive and resourceful to ensure that Mathematics is meaningful and supportive.
Head Teacher (Mathematics) ... should have available resources that will help ensure the continuity of learning by their students.
Community members .... should be able to have skills necessary for more effective participation in everyday life.
Work and trade related personnel ... within society there will be a wide and varied set of occupations that rely heavily upon understanding of certain and often specific Mathematics skills.
Sumuno Mathematics Resources
The resources for Sumuno Mathematics have been carefully developed over a period of time by a Mathematics Head Teacher who saw a need for material that would enhance and simplify the teaching of Mathematics for all people involved in the learning process. Students need to have clear and concise notes with explanations of meanings. Teachers are often busy and can be looking for resources to support their teaching. Head Teachers may often be faced with needing to provide Mathematics instruction for students which may in some situations be delivered by teachers who may have a different area of expertise. People in the community or in particular occupations may need to have skills which may be lost or forgotten over a period of time.
In all situations, the ability to be able to quite quickly and easily obtain the information may prove hugely beneficial in all situations. Below are just some samples taken from the total Sumuno Mathematics.
It must be noted that Sumuno Mathematics Resources comprise of material that will enhance the learning of Mathematics and it is not a replacement for any existing program of learning. It does provide quite a comprehensive set of notes and resources that will promote a good understanding of many topics and concepts.
Remote Learning
There may be times when it is necessary to give instruction remotely. The usual method of delivery of Mathematics to a student is within a classroom situation but this may not always be possible. There may be occasions such as during periods of illness, absence for some reason or any other time when it may not be possible to maintain the usual learning environment.
Sumuno resources are basically developed to cater for the great majority of Senior School students. When a person is unable to receive localised instruction it may be necessary to provide a comprehensive resource that may be accessed. The resources can be easily adapted to provide material that will allow learning to continue.
The important component in the Sumuno resources is the consistency of approach. To answer any Mathematical question, it is important to understand that the content for the topic and each individual concept is known. Sumuno provides this knowledge through clear and concise notes that explain the processes being discussed. One of the most important features of Sumuno resources is the way in which the setting out is done, where a solution starts from the question, proceeds in logical steps through to the final answer, which is then followed by concluding statement (if needed).
The basic structure or framework for setting out is shown in the diagram given below. The amount of working needed will depend upon the knowledge of the student and the complexity of the problem. This framework is rarely used in Primary Mathematics since the problems are usually less complex;
An example showing how Sumuno Mathematics Resources may be used are given by way of example. Given that the mid-point of an interval is (3,-1), if the coordinates of one end of the interval are (-1,-2), find the coordinates of the other end.
The notes from Sumuno are given here (both in the initial stage of understanding then later with greater knowledge) and the detailed but eloquent solution to the problem is given. It is important to have a set of questions (usually taken from a textbook) and the corrsponding solutions in order to confirm that correct working out for the problem is happening, Notice that it is necessary to know the concepts and be able to use the framework.
Another example, taken from Senior Mathematics is given here and is taken from the concept of Arithmetic Series, (which is to determine how many terms of the series 15 + 22 + 29 + ... must be taken to make the sum of 1630). This includes the question(s) and answer(s) as well the worked solution showing the use of the Mathematical framework. Part of the solution lies in an understanding of Junior School Mathematics as well as it's extension into Senior School topics.
It is possible to use other resources as a means of obtaining a solution to a problem. There are many tutorial based websites as well as information available online through medium such as YouTube and Google searches (care should be taken because the working, while it may be accurate, may also be quite difficult for a person to follow because it may not always be well set out). Quite often there will be commercial sites that can be a valuable resource but they may require expensive and ongoing subscriptions. Textbooks usually have descriptions about each topic and concept but they may not always have clearly written explantions about components that are needed.
Helping with Remote Learning
Given that Sumuno Resources are comprehensive with explanations written in 'plain English', it is possible to quickly and easily find the relevant concepts and link with textbooks and other resources that are being used in the learning of Mathematics. Here is given an example of how Sumuno Resources can be quickly used with textbook questions as well as description by a teacher.
The concept being treated is Pythagoras' Theorem (and in particular determination of the length of the hypotenuse either as a whole number or decimal value). Notes and examples are taken from Sumuno Mathematics Resources and by teacher, practice questions are obtained from Excel worksheets in Sumuno resources, also from textbook source. The instructions for completion of the set tasks for Pythagoras' Theorem are given.