Simone Meagher -- Coburg West Primary School, Victoria Australia
Simone Meagher, Year 5/6 Team Leader at Coburg West Primary School (Victoria, Australia) shares how her school adapted to remote learning during the period of school closure, and their use of Mangahigh.com with students to raise mathematics engagement and provide continuity of learning during remote learning.
If you are new to Mangahigh, and would like to reach out to Simone to get her view on her experience with the platform for teaching mathematics, please feel free to email her at simone.meagher@education.vic.gov.au
Simone, as the world has seen a sudden shift in the last couple of months, can you share how you have adjusted to the new normal?
We have been using google classroom and setting all work as assignments, and WebEx video conferences with our classes. I have been working from home and have just recently come back to school but without my class.
Can you throw some light on the general preparedness of your school to handle this never-before change in pace and style of schooling that we have experienced recently?
My school did a great job, in part because the principal supported the staff right from the outset. He acted quickly to give us time and support to prepare. But we had only used google classroom for sharing and storing work amongst staff and had not used with students! This meant we had to learn on the job. This was challenging but as a team of 6 teachers we worked really well to support and upskill each other. Different year levels used different apps like Mangahigh.
Specifically with Mangahigh, can you share how you have used the program to support your students' learning?
We have used Mangahigh to consolidate new learning and to stretch extend and expose them to new learning. Some students have used it in their own time as well as in the set times.
We have been sharing in the google classroom, the top students on Mangahigh to try to make a competition amongst the cohort of 5 classes.
I have sent individual emails to students congratulating them on their Effort especially where I could see multiple efforts at certain challenges to get medals. There is a real link to effort and success. This has also been shared in the school newsletter.
We have been encouraging students to do assigned, recommended and freeplay.
What are the elements/features/activities on Mangahigh that have been the most useful for you to continue to be an effective teacher?
I love the easy access to a range of data on each student. It really helps me ascertain their area of need at a glance. I also like that I can email students directly from the platform about their maths. I will be using it when communicating with parents, during reporting. When we are back on the classroom I will be setting individual work at point of need as I see it during a lesson, to target problem areas in an engaging and cognitively stimulating way.
Thoughts from your students... are there any comments from students that you might like to share?
The students that like Mangahigh really love it. During remote learning some have been bored and so doing extra Mangahigh for their own amusement. It has really helped pass the time for some. Students that are visual learners really love it, I do too because that's me! I really believe it stimulates so much more of the brain simultaneously, than a piece of paper!
