How did you work this out?

Rita Pangallo, Executive Officer Primary at Our Lady of Lebanon College in Harris Park, stated,

We understood from the beginning that we would be targeting two avenues in this Australian Government Quality Teacher Programme project: improving student outcomes in numeracy and addressing the professional development needs of our teachers.

Count Me In Too

The medium selected to achieve these goals was the already established numeracy program, Count Me In Too, a professional development program developed by the Curriculum K–12 Directorate, NSW Department of Education and Training for teachers of Stage 1 students. The program focuses on developing teachers’ knowledge and understanding of the strategies and processes that students use to solve mathematical problems.

The program was first introduced into the College in 2003. In the years since, key teachers Maria Kriz (Literacy/Numeracy coordinator), Tricia Delos Reyes (Kindergarten teacher) and Stephanie Wang (Year 2 teacher) have completed Count Me In Too professional development, courses and Maria and Stephanie visited other schools to observe the program in action.

Tricia Delos Reyes

Their learning was brought back to school and shared through staff meetings. As a result, a school-based Count Me In Too team was formed which included Year 1 teacher, Angel Dagher and Year 3 teacher, Julie Figuero as well as Maria, Tricia and Stephanie.

A team approach

The team took the initiative in identifying priorities for students’ numeracy learning. These included number recall and mental computational skills, and the ability to articulate the strategies and tools used to complete these tasks. Consistent teaching practices across the grades were set up and concrete, tactile and fun lesson materials were constructed. The funding covered costs associated with attending courses as well as relief time for classroom teachers to make the learning resources required for the program. The team also worked with all K–3 teachers to develop a set of Sharing Time questions that have been used in each class to focus discussions.

Stephanie Wang

Kids have an answer but can’t explain how they got there apart from saying ‘my brain’ told me.     (Tricia Delos Reyes)

The questions have given the students a language to talk about their numeracy learning but their use has not detracted from the fun of the games used in the group work.

Training parent volunteers

The program has lent itself to community involvement, and some parents of K–3 students at the school have assisted with group work in classrooms.

Julie Figuero

Roles included observing students work with concrete materials, one-on-one assistance as needed and use of the Sharing Time question questions to prompt group discussions. Maria, as school Literacy/Numeracy coordinator, guided parents through Count Me In Too training, with most moving through the grades with their children as they progressed from Kindergarten to Year 3. As a result, the teachers have confidence that parents coming into their classrooms know and understand what the program is trying to achieve.

Sharing in the success

Both students and teachers have shared in the benefits of this project. Students’ confidence levels and social skills have improved along with their numeracy skills. For the K–3 teachers, lessons have become more student-centred and there is a now strong continuum of numeracy learning within Stage 1.

Angel Dagher

I learnt so much from the professional development associated with this program – speaking to teachers at other schools, coming back to school and informing everyone here about the program, trying out the techniques in the classroom. It helped us to identify those numeracy areas where we needed greater focus. (Maria Kriz)

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