Teaching Children NOT curriculum

So… today I learnt a valuable lesson. I am teaching CHILDREN not curriculum!! Let me say that yes the curriculum is important but the students in my class will always come first!

Today in maths, my students were just NOT getting two digit by two digit multiplication! You know those days where the blank stares just scream at you lol…. Yup well you know what I’m talking about then! It was at that moment that I rememebred that I am teaching children…. not the curriculum. Today in Maths I didn’t even look at my curriculum. We use Origo and I love it but today we threw it out the window! hehe

Today, we needed to get their knowledge up to scratch and get the students really confident with their two digit multiplication!

It was a fun lesson! It began with a few blank stares and ended up with cheers and laughter as they managed to achieve success and confidence!!

We grabbed all of our cushions and sat in a circle and handed out mini whiteboards! We went through loads of questions together and then began to give them ones to solve in pairs and independently! The students loved using their own whiteboards and the novelty factor kept them engaged!

By the end, they totally understood multiplication and asked for a hard question!!

The “epic” question was super fun! The answer to it was something like 22 million something, something, something!! lol Soooo fun!!!

So… today I really have had a fresh revelation of the fact that I am a teacher of children not the curriculum and when i need to stop and go over something I will do exactly that!! Deep understanding will win every time!!