Primary teachers learn about math skills for real-life problems

The camp was hosted by the Rwanda Education Board (REB) and Voluntary Services Overseas (VSO) as part of the USAID-funded Literacy, Language, and Learning (L3) Initiative. The primary goal of the Math Camp was to equip teachers with the skills necessary to support students in developing critical math skills for solving real-life problems. Real-life problems require logical thinking, planning, experimentation, and evaluation, skills that are developed in mathematics lessons. According to Terry Ward, VSO mathematics specialist, these math skills are essential in various fields, including business, science, and engineering, and they start in primary school. The Math Camp emphasized these skills and modeled how primary teachers can support children in acquiring them. Teachers learned various strategies to support students in developing math skills, including the use of warm-up activities, assessment, and low-to-no-cost teaching aids. They also learned how to make puzzles from local materials. At the end of the three-day training, each teacher committed to incorporating aspects of the training into their teaching next term. An education specialist will visit each teacher to support this new effort. Many teachers agreed to begin lessons with a starter, a fun and fast-paced game to motivate students, review previous learning, and prepare students for the day's lesson. By doing starters, children also practice quickly doing mental calculations, which will help them in the future with more complex equations. Additionally, teachers plan to begin using mathematical investigations, which are problem-solving exercises in a real-life context. Mathematical investigations involve students in developing key skills such as choosing appropriate strategies, making predictions, thinking critically, and making logical arguments. In one investigation, students are asked to determine the total number of handshakes that would occur if seven people meet and each person shakes hands with the others. This type of investigation helps learners to discover different methods to find solutions for difficult problems. The L3 Initiative, funded by USAID, aims to improve literacy, language, and learning outcomes in Rwanda, and the Math Camp is part of this effort.