Dr Ange's Blog

We have recently moved house, and I am just getting to ‘know’ my new oven.

I am pretty confident with technology and appliances so when we arrived and the oven didn’t work, I didn’t panic, I simply googled and discovered that it was most likely because the digital clock was flashing. Apparently, mo...

We have just gone through the process of selling our house. Part of this process involves 'preparing' your house for sale. I have discovered this basically means doing all the jobs you have avoided doing while you were living in the house, so the people who buy your house can enjoy it more than you ...

Thinking Mistake: Independent Column Thinkers

When I work with students, I love to celebrate mistakes and promote a growth mindset (Dweck, 2016). I encourage all students to see that through mistakes comes learning. I like to label misconceptions as ‘thinking mistakes’. ‘Thinking mistakes’ are in d...

When I work with students, I love to celebrate mistakes and promote a growth mindset (Dweck, 2016). I encourage all students to see that through mistakes comes learning. I like to label misconceptions as ‘thinking mistakes’. ‘Thinking mistakes’ are in direct contrast to ‘silly mistakes’- ones which ...

Place Value Thinking Mistake: Name/Record

When I work with students, I love to celebrate mistakes and promote a growth mindset (Dweck, 2016). I encourage all students to see that through mistakes comes learning. I like to label misconceptions as ‘thinking mistakes’. ‘Thinking mistakes’ are in direc...

This week I have been thinking about growth mindset because I have been re-reading the “Limitless Mind” by Jo Boaler. If you haven’t read it put it on your list! It is life changing!

I really admire Jo Boaler’s work and I think that we can learn so much from her, both as teachers but also as leader...

Book Review: Math- Positive Mindsets: Growing a Child’s Mind Without Losing Yours.

Author: Dr Carrie Cutler

If I had a dollar for every parent who shared with me “I wasn’t good at maths” I would be much further along in our mortgage payments! I am sure you all feel the same. As teachers, we collec...

My thoughts on NAPLAN…

NAPLAN is something that I am asked about a great deal. And my opinion on the test may be somewhat controversial…

Interestingly, while I was on maternity leave with baby #1, 12 years ago, I wrote items for NAPLAN- so I would like to share the insights that process provided.

In this blog post I wanted to share some thoughts on Professional Learning Team (PLT) meetings.

Now they may be called something else in your school, but essentially as Numeracy Leader I had the responsibility of leading approximately 3 PLT’s per term. 

I remember always trying to rack my brain fo...

I applied for a Numeracy Leader position and I knew I wouldn’t be successful!

I had been working at my school for about 3 years when the opportunity came up to apply for the Numeracy Leader role.

In teaching, sometimes you have to take a bit of a leap and decide upon the path you would like to fol...

Dear English Number Naming System developer,

I write this letter on behalf of all the 6 and 7 year old English speaking children in the world, all those people learning English for the first time, and their hardworking teachers.

Firstly, I just wanted to start by saying thank you for all your hard...

If I could choose one thing to teach in place value it would be…Renaming

Over the years I have taught many Year 3-6 students who display a superficial understanding of our whole number place value system. This has not only held them back from mastering decimals, it has also hindered the development...