The photos below are taken from a mathematics lesson that I created and taught in my first teaching practicum to a year 3 class, focusing on multiplication. The students started with a mental warm up on multiplication using Matific, then moved to the floor space to be introduced to the lesson and begin working in pairs to create a Mix’n’Match game. Students then had the opportunity to swap and play each others games by matching every 3 laminated cards that were equivalent. 

The lesson focuses on a less teacher centred approach, divided into short spans where students switched to different settings from working individually on their laptops, to listening on the floor in a circle and finally working in pairs and moving around to match different games. This was purposely done as students focus better when activities and workspaces are constantly changing throughout the lesson due to their physical and intellectual characteristics, whereby too much time sitting and listening to the teacher is ineffective and students become disengaged (Khan, 2012). Students were assigned into pairs to create their own Mix’n’Match game, and also worked in pairs to play and match other students games, thus supporting students in their social development through being given opportunities to interact with other peers and build on their communication skills. This also enables students to build on their cognitive development, as supported by Piaget who claims that social interaction in the classroom is integral to a child’s cognitive development as students gain new insights off of each other and are more likely to remember activities and lessons more thoroughly by working with their peers (Webb, 1980). This demonstrates my attainment of standard 1.1.1 through understanding how the students’ physical, social and intellectual characteristics and development affects their learning, and applying this understanding in lessons to cater for these learning needs.