Today I had the chance to observe Jem’s session with her year 12 Standard Maths student. I found this session an interesting one to sit in on, noting the way that Jem collaborates with her maths students to build a sense of common understanding. This relationship is the product of consistency over a long period of time, and it’s clear that trust has been built, and the student feels comfortable thinking aloud, making mistakes, and then correcting them with Jem’s guidance.
Jem uses a combination of the student’s own notes, the textbooks in the centre, and online resources to anchor the concepts in practical examples. This takes quite a seamless form, and means the session is tailored to the specific needs of the student in the leadup to the HSC.

Throughout the hour, Jem worked through questions alongside her student, not in front of them. She encouraged the student to tackle each step while she modelled the reasoning process, often pausing to ask “why do you think this works?” or “what pattern do you notice here?” This helped her to reinforce and guide the student’s learnings without ever stepping into an overly authoritative instructive position.

Kate Ambrogio