Hi, my name is Josh; I am the founder of Ninja Maths. My passion to help all students worldwide have fun while improving their basic facts abilities. I have worked in education in almost all capacities and year groups at the Primary School level. Including teaching Sport, classroom teaching, Maths Co-ordinator and Deputy Principal – over the course of a 20+ year career. From 2012 I have been building Ninja Maths, including the Ninja Maths Programs; hands on games (Ninja Maths Island and Ninja Combat); and downloadable hands-on games (Battle Grid). All of these developments have seen students demonstrate incredible improvement in their basic fact knowledge (all while having fun 😊)
Look sometimes it has to come down to dollars and cents, and here at Ninja Maths we want to give the best value for money. So all of out Bundles are a one off payment to teachers and/or schools. As a teacher and former leader of a school I know how important it is to use the budgets effectively, so that is why we strive to make Ninja Maths the best value for money resources available.
Maths does not have to be a grind for students; basic fact fluency makes all other areas of maths easier – this is a fact. And building this knowledge can be done in a fun way. Having travelled to so many different schools over the last few years I have seen Maths taught in many different ways, but many times it was quite dry. I don’t blame teachers for this; we have not been given another effective way. As stated above my goal is to help teachers build basic fact knowledge in the most effective, efficient and fun way. So, this is my gift to the world – teachers have enough on their plate to try and create another fun way to see amazing improvement, so I have done this for you.
I am consistently looking at research to see what the most engaging, interesting ways is to generate motivation, focus and improvement in students. My next step was creating a version that can be implemented by any teacher anywhere, without adding pressure but instead bringing joy and freedom to the classroom.
Some rhetoric sounds like ‘We don’t need to learn basic facts anymore – we don’t need our times tables we will just use a calculator.’ This is not what learning science says, if you want to do higher level maths you need fact fluency. Cognitive load theory states you have a certain number of working memory slots, and the level of complexity of the math problem will depend upon how many slots you have and how you are using them. Brain chemistry research has found that if you have memorised something to fluency it doesn’t use a slot. You can then do higher level maths. If you need a slot to do basic facts it will restrict you. If you want your students to be able to do higher level maths help them build to basic fact memorisation.
Another passion of mine is Growth Mindset. As a part of my ‘Teacher Full Day PL’, I love to break down Growth Mindset and help teachers communicate this understanding to students. Growth Mindset underpins all effective learning and helps build a framework that supports all who embrace it when learning and getting better at any skill. Ninja Maths and Growth Mindset are inextricably linked as they fit together perfectly in helping students learn and see what a Growth Mindset can do.
I thank you for joining me on this journey and always love to hear about the positive effects Ninja Maths is having on students and teachers – so please reach out if you have any stories or encouragement.
Thanks again,
Josh