This week, I was fortunate to take the Year 12 VCE VM class for an extra. The students were working well when the conversation came up about how tall they all are. With most not knowing their exact height, they set upon working it out through a variety of methods that really impressed me.

The students looked at what resources they had on them. They started with using the 30cm wooden rulers that are stored in a stationery nook in the classroom. With one student lying on the ground, another went ahead and used the rulers to measure her height. Another student then proposed using an app on the phone. They quickly moved to an area of a room that made using the app more effective and set upon scanning the body to work out the height.

What impressed me about these students was not their heights, but the critical and creative thinking and interpersonal skills they exhibited and their persistence to accurately work out their heights. They worked creatively in their methods to get a solution, they questioned their heights when they thought they were wrong, “There’s no way I’m 149 cm” one exclaimed. They certainly can work as a team. A simple task but a myriad of lifelong learning skills they have developed.

Coincidentally, I had also planned for my Year 8 class to complete a task involving calculating their heights. The Year 8 students were given streamers and metre rulers, with the solution to determine their heights left up to them.

The rationale behind given them streamers was so they could create flowers, and we will do this activity again at the end of the year so we can see how much they have grown (literally). Given that the theme for this year is Courage, students wrote on each petal ways that they can show courage this year.

Nearly every student at the College has probably already thought about how they are going to show courage this year and I am excited to watch them display courage in all aspects of their lives and to also watch them grow – not just in height but as learners!

Karen McMullen
Learning Leader: Mathematics