Evidence Post

Last June, following our staff-wide exploration of data and conversations, the FESL committee met to determine our new school goal. We narrowed it down to “Building confidence through numeracy”. This new goal was proposed to and accepted by staff at our first staff meeting in September. As Mitchell started a new school year, it was important to start planning around our new school story right away!

Therefore, we have been working hard since September, in committee, to collaborate on:

• Gathering more data around numeracy at Mitchell
• Planning professional development opportunities for staff around numeracy
• Planning numeracy activities for students

As the goal is to build confidence, we decided to start by looking at confidence levels in staff teaching Math/Numeracy. We understand that teachers’ learning will have trickle down effects to student learning, and the FESL committee had a hunch that professional development would be the right place to start with our new goal. The surveying of staff was necessary for the committee to know what to target when planning for staff-wide professional development opportunities. We asked teachers:

• How comfortable are you in teaching Math?
• What resources do you use/know how to use?
• How would you describe your understanding of the BC Math curriculum?
• How comfortable are you in assessing Math?
• What would support your work in teaching Math to the diverse learners in your class?

When looking at the data this survey provided us, we were able to establish some areas of focus for future pro-d opportunities:

• Universal Design for Learning in Math/Numeracy and planning
• Exploration of various hands-on materials and resources for all grade levels
• Assessment of Numeracy and Math skill

As we soon enter November, we are proud to share the work that we have completed toward our new school focus at Mitchell:

• Thanks to the CEF (Classroom Enhancement Fund) grant, the FESL committee was able to meet for two full days with our teacher-consultant to explore:

• Foundations of Numeracy
• Hands-on materials and interactive Math activities, including a scan of what is already available at Mitchell
• How to reach other staff to share new-found knowledge and mentor

• Survey to staff about their feelings about and teaching practices of numeracy
• Planned for a Math Festival to be held in January 2025 (Julia Robinson Mathematics Festival)
• Held numeracy conversations at both staff meetings
• Started a “Math Board” for staff to share fun activities completed in their classes
• Most staff engaged in an afternoon of professional development around numeracy on September 20, and many staff joined in for a “lunch and learn” session in October.

With this information in mind, the committee was able to plan several in-house pro-d opportunities for the year:

• Four collaboration sessions where teachers will be working with each other on specific Math/Numeracy topics, the first one being on October 30 about Math and Numeracy planning. All four collaboration sessions will be led by Janice Novakowski, our teacher-consultant, who is a well-renowned Math/Numeracy specialist.
• Four “Lunch & Learn” sessions. The first one has already taken place, on October 15. Themes explored will be: manipulatives and hands-on materials, supporting language learning in Math, and Universal Design for Learning (teaching to include all learners).

As we are already getting to start on this important project, how will we know that we are making progress towards our goal? By the end of June 2025, we are hoping to see evidence of progress in different ways:

• Increased staff participation to professional development opportunities in Math/Numeracy;
• Anecdotal evidence through staff meeting conversations;
• Increased use of the Math Board by staff to showcase activities happening in their classes;
• Increased student engagement during Math/Numeracy lessons and activities;
• Decreased student math anxiety

We will continue to monitor this progress through staff conversations, and student surveying. Already, we are noticing a trickle-down effect to student learning, as will be showcased in our action posts through the year. In the long-term, our goal is to see improvements in student learning. As we analyse FSA scores, reporting data and student surveying through the years, we will be able to track student success and improvement to know when we have reached our goal of feeling confident in numeracy.