Dr Ange's Blog

Have you ever noticed that when a student counts there are critical flash points that indicate if they have a deep understanding of the patterns within of our number system? 

In Foundation you might see a student struggling with 44,45,46,47,48,49....(pause for 4 seconds)... 40 'ten'.

A common chal...

Today I wanted to start by saying that I am a pseudo-vegetarian. Basically, this means if anyone asks, I say I am vegetarian, but I actually eat several meat dishes. In fact my favourite is beef lasagne!🤷‍♀️

You may be wondering, why I say I am vegetarian... basically because it is easier...

I dis...

My graduate class was a tough bunch of Year 1/2 students. There were learning needs, behavioural issues and some challenging parents thrown into the mix. When I look back now I am grateful I was given that class as they made me into the teacher I am today, however at the time it was hard!

I am sure...

On the school holidays I had the pleasure of spending four days in beautiful Newcastle in New South Wales. I was attending the Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia (MERGA) conference presenting a research paper titled “Rethinking the Number Magnitude-based Progression: An Analysis of ...

NAPLAN results are dribbling through at the moment so I wanted to share some thoughts on the new reporting system, from a parent and educator perspective.

As you may know, the 10 bands that were previously used to report student achievement in NAPLAN have been simplified into 4 proficiency 'levels'...

One of my top 5 TV shows of all time is Season 1 and 2 of Ted Lasso (I found Season 3 a little disappointing!). Originally I thought Ted was a sports related TV documentary. I think if I knew it was a drama I might not have watched, so it was fortuitous that I was misinformed!

The basic plot is tha...

I love to read! I have many many books on the go at once. Most are related to the teaching of maths, some to sport, and others to 'self-improvement'. I love books written by experts in particular fields. So basically, as soon as I see something written by someone with a PhD, I am in!

I know first h...

My favourite children’s TV show (and quite possibly favourite show, (apart from Ted Lasso) is ‘Bluey’. It is an Australian animated show that illustrates family life in the most beautiful way. The characters- adults and children- speak to each other with love, respect, humour, and a genuine sense of...

The other day I dropped my son at my mum and dad’s house. They look after him on a Thursday while I work. Thursday is his 'equal favourite' day of the week (equally as exciting as Tuesdays, when he visits his other Grandparents!). He spends the day being doted on and eating much more sugar than he i...

I am not sure about you, but I am a little late to the 'Numberblocks' TV series world! You would think with 4 children and my interest in maths education, I might be all over, this but I wasn’t! My children have spent many hours watching 'Bluey' (which I absolutely love), but I had not discovered 'N...

When a school joins my Numeracy Teachers Academy, I offer to conduct a maths 'audit' with the leaders to gauge the 'current state of affairs' in their teaching and learning of Numeracy.

Over the past 2.5 years I have worked with many schools and one of the most common issues leaders share is someth...

You may be aware that my PhD research looked at designing an assessment for whole number place value. At the end of the four years I had created a valid and reliable paper and pen (and online) assessment called the Place Value Assessment Tool (PVAT). In many schools I am introduced as "This is Ange....