M
athematics
asindi
4
Report on a Mathematics workshop for Buruli Primary Five to Primary Seven
teachers held at Masindi Public Primary School on Friday, 19th November, 2010
We went back to Masindi Public School because it
offered a town centre location and a large bright
room. There seemed to be little point of dealing
with individual topics in the syllabus, since
participants would have different needs. Instead
we wanted to offer the teachers a more relevant
approach to all their teaching. Pace, pleasure and
practicality were the watchwords. Teachers were urged to give lots of mental
arithmetic (they don’t at the moment), to revisit
previous topics (there is no culture of revisiting),
and use the own brains to create examples. They
had to tackle the tyranny of the textbook to which
most of them are enslaved.
A straw poll suggested that the topics which the
children find most difficult are fractions and
geometry. Geometry is a problem because many children do not buy sets of
geometrical instruments, even though they only cost about 40p.
string, chalk and a slate.
The teachers were greeted by pupils who wheeled
their bicycles to the shade and carried their bags.
(The notice on the tree says “Beware of falling
coconuts”!) They signed in and were given an
individual
number, two
sets of notes,
a squared
exercise book,
We started by singing the
Ugandan National Anthem
and the Bunyoro Anthem. The first question was “How many
words are there in that first verse of the National Anthem?”
There are 21, but answers between 17 and 29 were offered.
Then we moved onto slate work based on their individual
numbers (see “Training Ideas”). At various times in the day we
went back to topics in this booklet, the idea being to make the
study of mathematics more varied and interesting.
1
The booklet “Mental and Slate Work” was meant
to give them examples of the sort of material
they can make up out of their own heads for
revision purposes. The other booklet, “Games
and Puzzles” contained various ideas for games
and activities that they would not have come
across. Even something as basic as Noughts and
Crosses is unknown here.
The participants worked dutifully at “Brain
trainers” – nothing particularly subtle – such as
treble
it
78
+ 22
100
- 42
58
+2
60
double
it
120
- 3/8
of it
(= -45) 75
÷5
+ 11
15
26
double
it
>
answer
26
52
52
Make up your own, they were told. From the same booklet, at various times, we played
Bingo, Nim, Nice and Nasty (that went very well since there is an element of gambling
in it), and Join the Dots, and we made magic squares. Some of them solved those
quite quickly.
They found the alphametic (?) puzzle quite challenging
and you cannot make up your own. Still, once the
principle is explained, some Primary Seven pupils would
be able to crack them.
Ngaronsa Joan did “Same value” with the teachers. Each
group of six had about thirty cards, which were laid out face down. The object was
the find the pairs. But the pairs were examples
1
4
such as
and . This was good training in
2
8
mathematics, memory and taking turns. In this
2
2
gentleman’s case ( and ) they did not match.
8
4
Much laughter ensued over this game.
Participants were given a piece of string and had to
tie knots in it at one end, and at 1m and 5m along its
length. This gave them a simple instrument with
which they measured the size of the buildings and
the compound.
2
The food is always appreciated at these workshops. We had breakfast – chapatti and
soda – and then lunch – fish, rice, matoke, beans, and a bottle of water, all eaten with
the fingers. The pupil helpers got a bonus in this case.
Classroom displays are a problem. In only a very few schools is there glass in any of
the windows, and in more than half the schools there are no bars across the window
spaces. This means that classrooms
are open to the weather and to
intruders, and displays just don’t stay
around. One solution is use nylon flour
sacks (25p each) and draw on them
with permanent marker pens (£1.80
for a pack of 12). These can produce
hard wearing displays, unaffected by
damp or termites, which can be got
out and put away easily.
The turnout on the day was good – all
60 government primary schools were
represented and 13 private schools as well. Some teachers had travelled over 30
kilometres over murram roads. Transport refunds ranged from £1 to £6.
The cost of 1 day’s training for each teacher on this course was 24,927UGX or £6.92
at the current exchange rate of 3,600UGX = £1. See over for details.
3
Costs for three workshops, 19th, 24th and 26th November, 2010
Many of the expenses (e.g. photocopying) were incurred jointly for the workshops.
Receipts and signatures are available.
Personnel expenses
Travelling expenses, 26th November
Travelling expenses, 24th November
Travelling expenses, 19th November
Transport and facilitation CCT's, 26th November
Transport and facilitation CCT's, 24th November
Transport and facilitation CCT's, 19th November
Special Hire, car, November 26th
Special Hire, pickup, November 24th
Special Hire, car, November 19th
Food, November 26th
Food, November 24th
Food, November 19th
Chairs, 24th November
UGX
354,000
354,000
691,000
99,000
99,000
99,000
60,000
100,000
50,000
253,000
253,000
480,000
20,000
Total personnel expenses
2,912,000
Resource expenses
Kaswa Stationers – photocopying, books, etc
Kaswa Stationers – photocopying, books, etc
Kaswa Stationers – photocopying, books, etc
Kaswa Stationers – photocopying, books, etc
Kaswa Stationers – photocopying, books, etc
Kaswa Stationers – photocopying, books, etc
Kaswa Stationers – photocopying, books, etc
Kaswa Stationers – photocopying, books, etc
Kaswa Stationers – photocopying, books, etc
Kaswa Stationers – photocopying, books, etc
Kaswa Stationers – photocopying, books, etc
Kaswa Stationers – photocopying, books, etc
Hiren - chalk
Starlight – chalk
Bakerm - string
Radio announcements
07 September 2010
10 September 2010
14 September 2010
15 September 2010
18 October 2010
05 November 2010
13 November 2010
15 November 2010
16 November 2010
18 November 2010
20 November 2010
23 November 2010
20 November 2010
15 November 2010
Total resource expenses
15,500
20,400
24,300
6,000
20,400
6,000
13,500
177,450
66,000
176,800
15,000
69,000
48,000
50,000
24,000
20,000
752,350
Total expenses for 3 workshops
Total number of participants
Cost per participant for 1 day's training in UGX
3,664,350
147
24,927
Cost per participant for 1 day's training in £ (at 3,600UGX = £1)
4
6.92