“This PD was so inspiring with its many great facets, ideas, articles, videos and links. It should be compulsory in all teacher training and then should be compulsory again after teaching for your first 2-3 years. Thanks, Richard. ”
Paul Chesher, Westfields Sports High School, Dec 2021.
“This PD made me reflect and carefully analyse my way of teaching, and made me strive to improve myself further. It made me become more willing to 'take risks', thus utilising a variety of different approaches/strategies within my teaching of Maths, even at differing year levels. It was also great to be able to share ideas with the Team members and learn other highly effective ways to keep students motivated (especially at a particular age - Years 7/8 - when many students start to become disengaged or disinterested). ”
Matthew Lafranchi, Bacchus Marsh Grammar, Oct 2021 (Team of 20 teachers)
“I really like the self-paced nature of this PD, the repeated reminders of what's good for the students and wonderful interactions with Richard. I'm inspired to continue the good work of putting students in the centre so we can endeavour to help each individual grow collectively through the power of open-ended tasks/questioning and metacognition. Yes, the course has had positive changes in me. I think I'll revisit these concepts whenever I feel like I'm getting stuck on a tediously boring mode of teaching. Thank you! ”
Liz Tan, Masada College, May 2021
“The PD gives materials to develop a conceptual approach to teaching with a student-centred style without "sugar-coating" this. It focuses on classroom practice by providing a large volume of ready-to-use teaching resources. The videos provided show teachers applying a conceptual approach in the classroom along with their initial doubts and subsequent reflections.
I liked the high volume of resources and variety of videos assembled. It helped me to understand the conceptual shift required.
Additionally, high-quality arguments are made to convince others regarding using a conceptual, student-centred approach against a purely procedural, whole-class teacher-directed approach (that many think is identically equal to explicit teaching). ”
James Kiely, Coomealla High School, Oct 2020
“This PD really kept me inspired throughout the struggles of teaching this year, as soon as I read about a new strategy I wanted to implement it straight away. The student engagement in the classes I have implemented things into has skyrocketed, I'm having students from other classes asking me about the lessons I did with my class and why their teacher doesn't do the same thing with them. I wish my maths teachers in high school did this course. ”
Tammy Brennan, Toormina HIgh School, Sept 2020
“Every maths teacher needs to take this PD. It doesn’t matter if you are new to teaching or have been teaching for 30 years – this PD will make you think about teaching for understanding and hence generate an open, engaged learning environment. It is a hands-on PD that creates opportunities to make genuine changes in your classroom as you go.
Richard has a great understanding of the needs of a classroom teacher and the challenges that we all face. He provides us with strategies that are easy to implement. Every aspect of the PD is well-thought out, interesting and extremely practical. It requires you to stop regularly and reflect on different aspects of your own teaching style. Feedback from others taking the course also regularly happens which is really encouraging. ”
Debra Penny, Head of Mathematics, Bacchus Marsh Grammar, Victoria, Oct 2018 (Leader of Team of 20 teachers)