Half a dozen – Six partner schools in Slovakia

Not one but two new partner schools in Slovakia are introduced this week! Gymnázium Štefana Moysesa in Moldava nad Bodvou and Základná škola in Bánovce nad Bebravou both successfully applied and are now partner schools five and six in Slovakia.

Gabriela Kövesiová, a math teacher from Gymnázium Štefana Moysesa told us that: “All math teachers of this school decided to organize a mathtrail for the students of this small town in the east of Slovakia. Together they prepared two trails near the school, one for the 6th grade students and one for the 7th grade students. They also tested the trails with the students of two classes, and then these students created their own math problems in small groups. In this way, the third walk was created, with the tasks coming from the learners. Mathtrails are a great opportunity to see math in a different light. Here, many students learned how to use measuring devices and understood that math is all around us. They enjoyed working in teams and solving different problems together and understood that together they can achieve anything. We thank you for the opportunity to be part of this great project, and we wish that the network of practical mathtrails will grow with more and more high-quality routes, providing unforgettable experiences to its users.”Also the Základná škola in Bánovce nad Bebravou gave us a little insight into their application process through the teacher Marián Igaz:

Also the Základná škola in Bánovce nad Bebravou gave us a little insight into their application process through the teacher Marián Igaz:

“One of the reasons we were interested in creating Mathtrails was to take a different approach to teaching math. Tasks written in books focus to a small extent on the application of acquired mathematical knowledge in practice. We welcome the use of tablets or folding rulers in the classroom and find this very interesting and motivating for children. A few initial trails have convinced us that the children enjoy doing these tasks. We have developed our own tasks to bring more quality to math lessons and we think we have fulfilled our intention.

MathCityMap impressed us because we saw great potential in combining theoretical knowledge with everyday situations. The children have the opportunity to work in groups and compete with each other, which they find very amusing. At the same time, they have the opportunity to gain practical experience by measuring lengths in geometry. In addition to measuring, they also learn about the approximate distance between different objects. Mathtrails are very attractive to students and add variety to the teaching process.”

Of course, the package with the official partner school plaque and the MCM measuring instruments is already on its way to both schools and we are very much looking forward to receiving further applications from all over the world.

All further information about the partner school program and the requirements for the application can be found in the article about the first MCM partner school as well as on the homepage of our project MaSCE³.