Dr Ange's Blog

My parents are both teachers and 12 of my uncles/aunties/cousins are also teachers. You could say teaching is in my blood! Education is my passion, but more specifically primary school maths education. I love to teach maths. I love watching a ‘lightbulb’ go on when a student ‘gets’ a maths concept.

When you Google ‘what changes between having 3 and 4 kids’, one of the most common observations is the need to buy a larger car. Purchasing a ‘people mover’ was something we put off for a while, and a two year COVID production delay on our car of choice (a Kia Carnival) also didn’t help the situatio...

Our world is filled with uncertainty: climate change, war, the decisions of the US president, the results of football finals… the reality is there are many things we cannot control, and that can feel unsettling.

Human brains are wired to prefer certainty, pattern and routine.

I once read that re...

This year we entered the ‘Learner Driver’ phase of parenting. This is a scary phase. As my children have grown up, I have greatly enjoyed teaching them different skills. From using a spoon, to putting on jumpers, tying shoe laces, riding their bikes and stacking the dishwasher. I have considered eve...

I am terrible at staying hydrated. I don’t drink enough water and as a consequence I often end up with a headache.

A few weeks ago I was having a routine check-up at the doctor, and she asked how much water I drink per day. My answer was ‘hardly any’😯.

I think she was mildly horrified, consideri...

My absolute favourite way to exercise is to swim. Over summer we went on a beach holiday to Newcastle in NSW, where I was able to swim every day in the sea baths and I absolutely loved it! 

Something I have always struggled with is swimming in a straight line. If I am not in a pool with lines, I am...

In Victoria, Year 12 is the last year of formal schooling and for those students who are completing the Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE), the exams at the end of the school year form a very important summative measure of their understanding in the subjects they have chosen to study.

Even th...

When I taught Year 1/2 I created an activity that was the ‘bee's knees’ of place value. It was engaging and ensured place value was on the agenda every day! Since then, I have shared my idea with thousands of teachers in my 'Developing a Whole School Approach to Place Value' PD sessions. Teachers ha...

As you probably know, I am very passionate about developing high quality place value instruction in schools. I think if we can help students develop a deep understanding of place value, it lays strong foundations for their future understanding in mathematics as a whole.

When I work with schools on ...

One of my favourite sayings to share with my students (and my children) is: "Don't worry, it will be easier the second time". Pretty much everything in life has the highest level of difficulty the first time you try! 

Whether it is cooking a new dinner, riding a bike, exercising or learning a new m...

One of the most frustrating parts of my parenting is disappearing socks, never both (well now that I think about it… they could both disappear… but I wouldn’t actually notice... and I would actually prefer this to be the case if I am being honest)!

In our laundry we have an odd sock collection that...

I often receive emails from teachers and Numeracy leaders within my Numeracy Teachers Academy asking questions about classroom resources. Recently a school was having a debate about the best counting chart to use in their Year 1 class a 1-100 or 0-99 chart.

There were differing opinions within the ...