tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-64355575006522742102024-03-21T03:37:56.360-07:00sines & wondersMusings on maths teaching and, you know, stuff.maths teacherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13432285217048280785noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6435557500652274210.post-16675666301324881962013-10-07T11:31:00.001-07:002013-10-07T11:31:16.853-07:00The Friday Four
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<br />
<div class="Body1">
<i>I've been meaning to post this for ages. Better late than never. I've no idea how transferable the idea is to subjects other than maths, but it might be worth a bash.</i></div>
<div class="Body1">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body1">
I've
been teaching for long enough that I can see for myself how things come back in
to fashion, providing you are prepared to wait. And so I find myself writing a
blog post putting forward the perhaps not so revolutionary idea that, in maths
at least, it's a good idea to give your classes a short test every Friday
(other days are of course also available).</div>
<div class="Body1">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body1">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">Bear
with me and I'll provide the back story to my deciding to try this, and I'll
also do my best to show how this idea is not entirely unsupported by research
either.</span></div>
<div class="Body1">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body1">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">It
started by accident. On the last lesson of a Thursday, a junior class of mine
were doing a test, which meant that the room had to be set out accordingly
(desks separated etc). I should explain that for some teachers in some rooms
this would be a trifling matter, but space in my classroom is at a premium so
this can take a wee while to do well. The test was a little on the long side so
I didn't get the class to return the desks to their normal position at the end,
thinking I would do this myself instead. (Yes, I"m that kind of a guy.)
But then I realised that another class of mine had another test the following
day, lesson two - at which point I decided that having the room set out as it
was, would save me a lot of hassle. The only problem was that I had a senior
class due the lesson before, with no test scheduled. Och, what the heck, I
decided, they can just sit at individual desks for once and put up with it.
It's hardly the end of the world. </span></div>
<div class="Body1">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body1">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">And
then I thought, what the heck, they can have.a test as well. Not a long one,
mind - maybe just ten minutes - but (a) it seemed a shame to waste the chance
offered by the desks being test-ready and (b) partly I just wanted to enjoy the
look of sheer horror on the senior class students' faces when they realised
they had a test. (It's a guilty pleasure I"m sure other teachers enjoy
too, when a less-than well-organised student turns up to see desks in test
position and asks worriedly, "do we have a test today?", and you wait
a beat before reassuring them that no, it was the class before who had the
test. How much more enjoyable then to do a double bluff?)</span></div>
<div class="Body1">
<span lang="EN-US"><o:p> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/59620000/jpg/_59620534_jex_1376668_de27-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/59620000/jpg/_59620534_jex_1376668_de27-1.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">You're giving us a TEST????</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</o:p></span></div>
<div class="Body1">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">So,
now all I needed was a test, and quick. Fortunately here in Scotland, all the
recent exam papers are available for free on the website of our (single)
examining body, the SQA.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We'd
recently been studying vectors so I hunted through recent questions and a few
cuts and pastes later and hey presto, I had a double-sided sheet of A4
containing four questions, with room for workings and answers. My first Friday
Four was born.</span></div>
<div class="Body1">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body1">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">A
quick trip to the photocopier later, and before you could say Evil Swine I had
the test papers laid out on the desks, ready for the class to arrive. Which
they duly did. Now yes, they were Not Happy to have a test sprung upon them,
but they took it damn seriously. I explained that they had ten minutes to do
the questions, after which I'd collect them in and we'd move on to the content
of the lesson proper.</span></div>
<div class="Body1">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body1">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">Now
that could have been it - I certainly had no Grand Plan in mind - but as the
wee dears worked away I began to think about the potential presented by this on
the hoof idea. A number of things struck me, to wit:</span></div>
<div class="Body1">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body1">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">-
this wasn't really costing us much in time: ten minutes out of 55 or 60 doesn't
have to be that big a deal. Oftentimes we'll happily spend that long on a
warm-up activity. If you plan in advance then surely you can adjust lesson
content over the week to ensure that Friday's lesson can accommodate a Friday
Four? (In this I have to admit that this does rely on your seeing the class in
question a number of times over the school week, but that is likely to be the
case with a certificate subject.)</span></div>
<div class="Body1">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body1">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">-
this was giving my class a brief spell of practice for the exam room. I think
we do proper "tests" with our senior kids about three times a year,
and that's about the only time they really experience exam conditions, and time
pressure. The rest of the time they are working in class under less pressurised
conditions - maybe working on their own, or with others. Now OK, given how long
exams are, it's not easy to give them the full blown experience within normal
class time, but a ten minute burst has to be better than nothing. A good deal
better, in fact. Put it this way: someone in training for a marathon may not
run the full 26 miles until the day in question, but they sure as hell do some
running every week!</span></div>
<div class="Body1">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body1">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">-
maybe I could select a different topic each week, and give the class a heads-up
the day before, so that they can do a bit of revision the night before? Or the
topics could be mixed up, maybe a better idea the nearer to the exam you get.
Either way this seems a chance to get in some deliberate practice - spaced
repetition, even. (OK, I'll fess up, that's my "backed up by
research" bit. I hope you're not too disappointed.)</span></div>
<div class="Body1">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body1">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">And
so on. A scant ten minutes later and as I was collecting in the papers I was
already telling the class that this was going to be a regular occurrence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They didn't seem to mind, I have to
say. (In fact, in later feedback, they complained that they should have had
Friday Fours all year!)</span></div>
<div class="Body1">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body1">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">The
rest of the lesson continued as usual. As I suspected, there wasn't much of a
cost in terms of getting through the work. Let's face it, if you can survive
kids arriving late because of an overrunning assembly, you can survive this.
All the more so if you plan for it. </span>And if you find that students are getting too stressed out at having a weekly test, just go all American on them and call it a "quiz" instead.</div>
<div class="Body1">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body1">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">Oh,
and one final benefit: if you stick to multiple choice questions, you can get
those suckers marked in minutes. In fact, you can even mark them, return them
at the end, and go over any problems. In some ways I suppose this is similar to
the idea of an "exit pass" proposed by Dylan Wiliam and others, only
it's more like an entrance ticket. The kids get very useful exam practice, and
I get pretty instant feedback on the areas where they need to improve. What's
not to like?</span></div>
<div class="Body1">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body1">
<br /></div>
<!--EndFragment-->maths teacherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13432285217048280785noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6435557500652274210.post-3418446026798681972013-08-10T07:37:00.002-07:002013-08-10T07:37:46.696-07:00New Strings
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<br />
<div class="Body1">
I
got a new guitar about three years ago. Quite an expensive guitar, as it
happens, and one I enjoy playing. I don't make any claim to be a particularly
good guitarist but I know my way round the chords well enough. Hell, on better
days I can even fingerpick.</div>
<div class="Body1">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body1">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">Anyway,
today I changed the strings on the guitar. For the first time. The first time
in over three years. Three and a half, come to think of it.</span></div>
<div class="Body1">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body1">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">Now
if you're not up to speed on guitar maintenance, I should explain that you're
meant to change strings reasonably regularly, maybe every six months or so (or
even more often if you're really keen). Otherwise your strings get old and
tired, and sound "dead" - the sound quickly dies off, whereas with
newer strings the noise resonates longer. Basically, put a new set of strings
on your guitar, and it'll automatically sound a whole lot better next time you
play it. Brighter, more vibrant, more resonant.</span></div>
<div class="Body1">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body1">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">You'll
see where I'm going with this, I'm sure.</span></div>
<div class="Body1">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body1">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">So
why the hell did it take me so long to change the strings? It wasn't lack of
money - you can get a new set for six quid easily enough (pay more if you want,
but six quid will do fine). And it wasn't really for lack of time either. It's
been a while since I changed a set of strings (obviously) but even then I
managed to change them, and clean the guitar up a bit too, in the space of an
hour or so. (Experienced professionals will, I hasten to add, be able to do
this in a quarter of the time, but that's not entirely off the point.)</span></div>
<div class="Body1">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body1">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">I've
known for ages that the strings were well past it, but that didn't stop me from
playing the guitar anyway. And it's not as if it sounded that bad... until of
course I put the new strings on, and bloody hell, what a difference. There are
many ways in which you can improve your guitar playing, but I'm not looking for
a Lemovian "Practice Perfect" rant here. All I'm saying is, I'd
avoided doing the simplest, most obvious thing for a long time. It wasn't lack
of money, or lack of time. It was lack of effort, or perhaps willingness to be
distracted. To miss the most obvious thing.</span></div>
<div class="Body1">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body1">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">A
final observation to make is that I do enjoy playing the guitar. Changing
strings is not an enjoyable task, and of course when you're doing it, you're
not playing the guitar. It would have been easy this morning to just say, och,
it'll wait, and play the guitar for an hour, instead of stepping back, getting
all they right gear together, and changing the strings.</span></div>
<div class="Body1">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body1">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">And
so I got to thinking about my teaching. I don't think I'm stretching too far
for a metaphor here if I say that there are definite parallels between my
teaching and my guitar playing. I'm not bad at teaching, and I've been doing it
for years. I get by more or less just fine.</span></div>
<div class="Body1">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body1">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">But
what if I got some new strings?</span></div>
<div class="Body1">
<span lang="EN-US"><o:p> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsL9CRUk_-Rw31TTRHHP7ChKqAcpJLbup1XocncMiCF8mGAvv6ZuJ4w-aE5vU13r1EK2jk_HxxEbgeFhnwfDJk184d7UsJnT-lwk7Cw-6wb0-g3hO8iCoLlpahqH-xgLN9FgfOoQUn0mRA/s1600/2013-08-10+15.02.46.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="243" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsL9CRUk_-Rw31TTRHHP7ChKqAcpJLbup1XocncMiCF8mGAvv6ZuJ4w-aE5vU13r1EK2jk_HxxEbgeFhnwfDJk184d7UsJnT-lwk7Cw-6wb0-g3hO8iCoLlpahqH-xgLN9FgfOoQUn0mRA/s400/2013-08-10+15.02.46.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(Don't worry, we're really not going to go there, honest.)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</o:p></span></div>
<div class="Body1">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="Body1">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">At
this point you might be expecting me to launch my grand new idea: the Learning
Guitar, incorporating the Fretboard of Discovery, upon which sit the Six
Strings of Effective Engagement (complete with vomit-inducing infographic)...
but please, rest assured, that's not what this is about. I'm simply struck by
this business of the new strings, and I can't help but wonder if it's a useful
metaphor for teaching - in particular, for the notion of renewing oneself
periodically as a teacher. There's no better time to do this than over the
holidays, after all.</span></div>
<div class="Body1">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body1">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">I'd
love to be able to reveal what I think the equivalent of new stings is for a
teacher, but truth be told I'm not at all sure. It could be that it's different
for each of us. I do know that I am NOT talking about trying out new ideas or
methods: that's not what putting on new strings is about. Most guitarists will
find a set and make of strings that they are happy with, and stick pretty
loyally to them. But they will buy new sets regularly.</span></div>
<div class="Body1">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body1">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">Maybe
for us teachers, we need our subject knowledge renewed or refreshed? Or maybe
our room displays (though that seems a tad trite)? Hell, maybe it's our voices
that need renewed? It just strikes me that there must be something which is, I
dunno, the sort of engine room of a teacher (to reach for another metaphor
entirely), and I wonder if we give that the care and attention it deserves.
Given that no-one really enjoys fitting new strings, maybe the equivalent is
taking a fresh look at our planning for lessons and/or topics we</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica;">’</span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">ve taught over and
over again? I mean, who enjoys planning lessons, for goodness</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica;">’</span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";"> sake? (Or maybe
that</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica;">’</span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">s
just me.)</span></div>
<div class="Body1">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body1">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">I
don't know, but I'm going to think about this for a bit. I'd welcome any
suggestions too.</span></div>
<div class="Body1">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body1">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">In
the meantime, in this holiday season (about to end for us Scots), I hope you
manage to somehow find renewal and revival. Good luck!</span><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<!--EndFragment-->maths teacherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13432285217048280785noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6435557500652274210.post-53933396818374619162013-06-30T02:16:00.001-07:002013-06-30T02:16:13.809-07:00The Times They Are A Changin'<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">One
of the great joys of Twitter is being introduced to </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica;">“</span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">big</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica;">”</span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";"> names in
education, without the social embarrassment of clearly not having a clue as to
who they are (on the internet, no-one can hear you google). And so, in time,
one comes to know one</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica;">’</span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">s Hattie from one</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica;">’</span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">s Lemov. Speaking of whom</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica;">…</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica;"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">Fairly
early on this academic year I came across the work of Lemov </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica;">–</span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";"> yes, via Twitter </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica;">–</span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";"> and so boldly
ordered a copy of </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica;">“</span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">Teach Like A Champion</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica;">”</span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">, only slightly
alarmed by how appallingly bad the cover is (seriously, Doug, have a word with
someone about that). For those who don</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica;">’</span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">t know, Doug Lemov spent quite
a while observing </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica;">“</span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">champion</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica;">”</span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";"> teachers, trying to isolate exactly what skills or
attitudes or practices they had which made them so effective. I should mention
that Lemov</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica;">’</span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">s work was targeted particularly at schools serving </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica;">“</span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">poor</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica;">”</span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";"> areas in the USA.
Before long, Doug had a list of 50 things champion teachers do, and so the book
was born. Quite what would have happened if he</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica;">’</span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">d got stuck on 49 things,
is anyone</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica;">’</span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">s guess.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">The
book is an easy read, if a tad heavy on the Americanisms and positivity (I</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica;">’</span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">m Scottish, you
see) and it</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica;">’</span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">s all the better for coming with a DVD illustrating the
methods etc in question. So before long, I found myself at the end of chapter
one, and with all manner of ideas for trying things out in class. I was
particularly taken with Method Two: </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica;">“</span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">Right is Right</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica;">”</span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">, in which Doug
challenges teachers to insist on getting correct answers from pupils before
moving on </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica;">–</span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";"> don</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica;">’</span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">t accept answers that are half-way right, or nearly right,
and insist on correct usage in terms of notation, vocabulary and whatever. (I
know this probably sounds pretty harsh the first time you hear it, but Lemov</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica;">’</span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">s worry is that by
not insisting on correct usage, we are impoverishing the vocabulary of poorer
students, and denying them the sort of knowledge they need for gaining entry to
further/higher education </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica;">–</span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";"> the whole book is really a form of handbook for
encouraging students into college entry.)</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">Quite
why this approach struck a chord with me deserves some explanation. I</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica;">’</span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">ve been teaching
for a good few years now (ahem) and my trajectory in terms of using correct
mathematical phrases etc is probably not uncommon; that is to say, when first I
started out, I was gung-ho for using high-falutin</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica;">’</span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";"> language with my
classes, and overall I was quite definitely pitching things too high. In time,
I</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica;">’</span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">ve
learned to temper my language, in order to ensure that things are clearer to
students </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica;">–</span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";"> so these days I</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica;">’</span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">m probably less likely to
explain to a class that one can</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica;">’</span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">t be a prime number because if it is then we can</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica;">’</span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">t have the
Fundamental Theorem of Arithmetic. Like I say, I was young. Or if I</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica;">’</span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">m keen to promote
proper usage, I</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica;">’</span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">ll do so in a more throwaway manner: a favourite would be when
a pupil says that an area is, say, 25 cm squared, and I say back to them, </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica;">“</span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">yes, that</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica;">’</span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">s right, it</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica;">’</span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">s 25 square cm</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica;">”</span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">. You see what I
did there? Johnny gets praise for the right answer (well, almost) and I don</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica;">’</span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">t get thrown out of
the mathematically correct club. Everyone</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica;">’</span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">s happy.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">But
then you catch yourself in the mirror one day and think, wait a minute, I
almost never say </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica;">“</span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">multiply</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica;">”</span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";"> anymore. The kids say </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica;">“</span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">times</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica;">”</span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";"> all the time, and
so do I. Likewise </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica;">“</span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">top and bottom</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica;">”</span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";"> rather than </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica;">“</span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">numerator and
denominator</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica;">”</span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">. God help me, these days I</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica;">’</span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">ll even talk about </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica;">“</span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">happy parabolas</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica;">”</span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";"> (where a>0). I
mean, who cares anyway</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica;">”</span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";"> (Just so long as none of my students ever come across a
maths professor at a party and talk about happy and sad graphs. Oh, the shame I</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica;">’</span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">ll feel then.)</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">And
now along comes Lemov to challenge me on exactly this very practice. Right is
right, right?</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">Normally
my response would be pretty blunt. If the kids </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica;">“</span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">get it</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica;">”</span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">, then what</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica;">’</span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">s the problem?
Except</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica;">…</span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">
is there a sense in which you don</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica;">’</span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">t really get it if you rely on
incorrect terminology? And more importantly, what about this college entry
stuff? The last thing I</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica;">’</span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">d want to do is limit the horizons or opportunities of my
weans, just because I can</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica;">’</span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">t be bothered to make a fuss over what could </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica;">–</span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";"> just could </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica;">–</span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";"> be relatively minor
matters in terms of correction.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">Hmm.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">Ah,
what the heck, I though, might as well give it a go. And so off I went to teach
my classes, reborn with an enthusiasm for correctness in all things
mathematical.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">Please
believe me when I tell you that I</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica;">’</span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">m not making the next bit up.
My first lesson was with my high-ability S2 class (that</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica;">’</span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">s Year 9 or
thereabouts in English money), and our topic was multiplying fractions. This
should be interesting.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">An
hour later and I</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica;">’</span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">d become more aware than ever before just how many times
pupils will say </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica;">“</span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">times</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica;">”</span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";"> instead of </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica;">“</span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">multiply</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica;">”</span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">, and ditto the
whole top/bottom business. It was a lot. A helluva lot. And yes. Doug, albeit
light-heartedly, each time they did this, it was corrected by me </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica;">–</span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";"> though I admit
sometimes I saved the corrections up, </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica;">‘</span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">cos we wouldn</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica;">’</span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">t really have got
through the lesson otherwise. Did the kids mind? Not really, as we did treat it
as a bit of fun </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica;">–</span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";"> I might get pelters from Mr Lemov for that, but I couldn</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica;">’</span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">t see any way of
doing this otherwise, though perhaps it</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica;">’</span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">s easier to adopt a
zero tolerance approach from day one, rather than trying to introduce this on
the hoof. You should never evaluate the success (or otherwise) of a new
approach based on the evidence of just one lesson, but so far, so good.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">There
was barely time to draw breath, however before the next class came in, this
time in the form of my middle-ish ability S3 class (a year older). And today's
topic: multiplication of fractions. Well, I thought, that's handy. So, off we
went.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">It's
by no means unusual to find yourself teaching more or less the same content to
classes of efferent ages; obviously you need to pitch the work at the
appropriate level, so this wasn't a direct copy of the previous lesson, but by
jings, it wasn't far off. The kids reacted in much the same way as the previous
lot, with mild bemusement rather than annoyance being the main theme (again, I
was trying to avoid being heavy handed).</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">But
here's the thing: as time went on, and the number of transgressions increased
considerably, I could feel my resolve beginning to weaken. "Och, what does
it matter?" I'd think, as another times whizzed its way towards my
eardrums, "I mean, I've made my point, maybe we can just leave things be
for the rest of the lesson. They get the idea."</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">Being
blunt, I was expecting less of this class than the previous one, and the
temptation to make excuses and drop it was overwhelming. It's insidious, this
business of lowering our expectations, and being honest it's something I pride
myself on avoiding for the most part, but here I was, feeling the pull of just
letting things go. I'd imagine that Lemov's would be quick to point out, that
this is exactly what approaches like Right is Right are all about. You don't
take the easy way out, you don't make excuses, you expect high standards from
all classes at all times. Those you make excuses for, are those who need the
challenge more than most.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Body1">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="Body1">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">This
was a wee while ago, and I</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica;">’</span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">ve continued with the experiment, with (I hope) a certain
degree of success. Nothing earth-shattering, and I have to emphasise again the
obvious point that if you</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica;">’</span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">re going to try this approach, you should do it from the
get-go with new classes, rather than trying to introduce it on the hoof as I
did. What surprised me most about this while business, though, was how much it
revealed about my own bad habits, as well as (on a deeper level) my prejudices and
expectations.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Body1">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="Body1">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">If
you haven</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica;">’</span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">t read Lemov on this subject, I do recommend that you dig
out his book (ignoring the cover) and see what he has to say.</span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs3bcHJKDz3V7a37jbPH3gOkAkQUTe3Vu2Vq2lI5PaMOXf7oN-Hdg4UCHW6vdv4KE0_2Z_Zo9u6tu6QL01oxc3rElnB2wwkRKwXX3K04C3IBajCHjhURlBNJGKpwTMm18sTNxMVgVL8OPH/s353/lemov_cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs3bcHJKDz3V7a37jbPH3gOkAkQUTe3Vu2Vq2lI5PaMOXf7oN-Hdg4UCHW6vdv4KE0_2Z_Zo9u6tu6QL01oxc3rElnB2wwkRKwXX3K04C3IBajCHjhURlBNJGKpwTMm18sTNxMVgVL8OPH/s320/lemov_cover.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Seriously, someone was paid to design this cover?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="Body1">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";"><br /></span></div>
<!--EndFragment-->maths teacherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13432285217048280785noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6435557500652274210.post-24908751262552863322013-04-02T13:15:00.002-07:002013-04-02T13:15:19.577-07:00Binary binary binary
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<!--StartFragment-->
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">It’s been a while since my last effort, and
meanwhile all manner of debate rages across the educational landscape, or
battlefield. So, for what it’s worth, here’s my far from fully thought out
contribution.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">What is it with all
this binary business, I wonder?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">According to Dweck,
for example, we either have a “growth” or “fixed” mindset. (The former is the
better bet, apparently, as you can then pay lots of money for training and
stuff, whereas if you’re of a fixed mindset then presumably all you do is just go
down the pub.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Or, of course, we can
be “traditionalist” or “progressive” in our teaching. Sorry, sorry, I mean
teaching and learning. No, wait a minute, I mean learning and teaching. It
changed order a while back, didn’t it? Apologies.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">(True story: way back when
plans for Scotland’s shiny new “Curriculum for Excellence” were first unveiled,
ooh, ages ago, there was a lot of talk about “Outcomes and Experiences”, until
suddenly there wasn’t. because they were retitled “Experiences and Outcomes”.
Boy, am I glad we got that sorted out. And that people were, presumably, paid
money so to do. But I digress.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">And now, as a sort of
subplot of the whole “trad” v “prog” business, we have the BIG FIGHT that is
“knowledge” versus “skills”. The Gove versus, em, NUT smackdown. And this is
serious stuff, let there be no doubt.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">But, does it really
have to be so much of an “either/or”? Can’t we have a bit of mix and match?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Now obviously people
will lean to one side of a debate rather than the other (excepting possibly
Nick Clegg), so let me declare my, um, loyalties here. I’m a big fan of the
knowledge brigade, to the point where I have copies of both of Daniel T
Willingham’s books and have University Challenge on series link, though it’s
been a while since my last pub quiz. I strongly suspect that if an employer,
say, complains that a pupil can’t do shit, then it’s probably because they
don’t know shit either. And if someone mentions “21<sup>st</sup> Century
Skills” or “21<sup>st</sup> Century Learning” to me then I will reach for a
nearby hockey stick with fully murderous intent. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m not out of the Govean closet yet (can I really be
thinking that he of all people has a point?) but I’m in there alright, fumbling
for the light switch and worrying a bit about the possibility. It seems to be
quite crowded in there, I might add…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">But I can see that
skills have their place – proper, actual skills, that is, as opposed to vacuous
guff. OK, for me, that place is as a sort of corollary to all the knowledge
which (one hopes) pupils are building up in the classroom. Nowt wrong with a
bit of Higher Order Thinking Skills, if that’s your bag, just so long as pupils
have built up the knowledge necessary to get that far up Bloom’s colourful
pyramid. (Bloom’s is a pyramid, right? I can’t be bothered checking.) It’s not
as if I’m going to refuse to teach a skill, is it? And along similar lines, are
NUT History teachers really going to refuse to teach facts? (“Miss, when was
the Battle of Hastings?” “I’m not telling.”)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Meanwhile, some of the
rhetoric in all this debate is, frankly, a real pain. I mean, honestly, do
those NUT speakers really think that traditionalists want kids to learn facts
and nothing else? To do nothing with that accumulated knowledge? Give me a
break. And are we really, honestly, going to have a debate about whether or not
it’s A Good Thing for kids to know their times tables? Again? On the other
hand, Gove really should check where education lecturers send their kids to
school before he accords them the label “Marxist”.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">So, in summary, and to
conclude: er, I dunno.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I tell
you, I can’t be bothered with this binary business. Teaching is a complex art,
or science, or whatever. And when we claim to have cracked it, that it’s either
THIS or THAT, and then decide this (or, let’s be fair, that) is the way things
have to be done, then in come the snake-oil salesmen to do their stuff, and
before you know it the Deputy Head’s gone out and spent the year’s CPD budget
on learning bicycles.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">We are better than
this, surely. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Though I do
sometimes recall my mother’s fairly regular comment to me, and fear that it could apply to many teachers: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">“Ye know, tae be so clever, yer awfy stupit.”<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<!--EndFragment-->maths teacherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13432285217048280785noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6435557500652274210.post-59278044917312529322012-09-22T14:01:00.001-07:002012-09-22T14:01:32.045-07:00The ten commandments of CPDAh, in-services and CPD sessions. How we love them. So if you've recently agreed to offer a bit of training for your colleagues, then trust me, what you need is our very own free cut-out-and-keep guide to providing high-quality CPD and getting out alive. Sitting comfortably? OK, read on, to learn our top ten - in reverse order, of course...<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<div style="font-weight: normal;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal;">
<b>10: Stick to time</b></div>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
Our time is precious - if we gave you a half hour slot, then that is your lot, and for good reason. If you are really incapable of speaking to a specified length of time. then you're not much of a teacher. Are you stunned when bells ring in your own school? Haven't you learned to tell the time? If you're not capable of self-editing then we really, really don't want to know.</div>
<br />
<b><br /></b>
<br />
<div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<b>9: If you're not an expert, then feck off</b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
If you begin your talk with "Now I'm not here to tell you anything you don't already know", then don't be surprised to hear me get up, head to the door and say "In that case I have some marking to do." We've come here to hear what you have to say, so you bloomin' well should have something to tell us. And get on with it. We're busy people. Don't try to win us over by reassuring us that you'll be finishing 15 minutes early so we can have cake. All that will happen is we'll have the cake, but still think you're useless.</div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<b>8: Stop showing us facile diagrams</b><br />
Ooh, I've got three things all to do with one other thing. Ooh, look, I can arrange them in a triangle, with arrows. Ooh look, I have the mental age of three...<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrVEKwLlbYUYojTwZ275khV2q-g6_vt5sZdiGcSAetZYF2tnGm_5SY89OrkWYyM8AwUjyMNQgXyOV9o5oB19v723USdsWq4lBptmn8LEHkR-0lh4yJ19cR5plfY47g-4jz3arkEUN8J1vw/s1600/circle+of+sh....png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrVEKwLlbYUYojTwZ275khV2q-g6_vt5sZdiGcSAetZYF2tnGm_5SY89OrkWYyM8AwUjyMNQgXyOV9o5oB19v723USdsWq4lBptmn8LEHkR-0lh4yJ19cR5plfY47g-4jz3arkEUN8J1vw/s320/circle+of+sh....png" width="320" /></a></div>
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></b>
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">Look, we can cope with the idea of there being three things, and them being interlinked - though probably what you're talking about is cobblers anyway, and the link is about as strong as my claim to be the fifth cousin once removed of Len Goodman off Strictly Come Dancing (true) - so just because you're excited by the idea of three vertices making a triangle, don't expect us to be. Stop it. Walk away from the powerpoint.</span></b><br />
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></b>
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></b>
<b>7: Don't give us sheets of A2 paper and ask us to "brainstorm"</b><br />
That's not why we're here. See 9 above - you're the expert, so get on with it. And please, if you must fill time by getting us to brainstorm (or mindfart, or whatever you want to call it), please don't get us to proudly pin all our bits of paper round the room, and then tell us not to worry, and promise that you'll get all the contents written up, and email them to us later. Why the hell would you do that? What if the actual content of some of the bits of paper are, to put it mildly, pish? Let's face it, the chances are the Science department haven't written anything and have just drawn a willy instead - are you going to copy that as well? Yeesh.<br />
<b><br /></b>
<br />
<b><br /></b>
<div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<b>6: Be prepared to cite your sources</b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
If you're really going to tell me that kids learn better when they are in groups, or flashmobs, or dressed as pirates, then you had damn well better have the details of your research ready. I'm fed up with people saying "research shows that in Finland every child has three bums", and then drawing a blank when I ask for the source for the research. And just so we're clear: The Daily Mail is not a research journal, Feng Shui is not a science, and the plural of "anecdote" is damn well not data.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
There you go, I gave you those for free.</div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<br />
<br /></div>
<div style="font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
5: Don't try to sell us a quick fix</div>
<br />
Education is a tricky business, and we teachers have learned the hard way that snake oil is useless, unless you happen to need some snake oil. Trust me, you haven't revolutionised teaching, even if you think you have. There is nothing really new under the sun, though you might have some nice packaging and a snappy acronym. And if you really think EVERY lesson should be a four-part lesson, then please leave us so we can carry on working in the real world. You're clearly as happy as hell in yours, but we have a job to do, and we don't drive Porsches either. Odd that.<br />
<b><br /></b>
<b><br /></b>
<b>4: Stop mentioning the 21st Century</b><br />
Look, I hate to break it to you, but the 21st Century is here. It's arrived. We're over one tenth of the way through it. Going on about "21st Century learners" is like going on about 21st Century air. It's here, it's happened. Stop saying this like it's something new, or like something astonishing happened. We added one to 1999 and it became 2000. That's it. Nothing new here.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikTpJ6vZEi3s17Q-J-unrBUh4suDjvm45eEKLbKFt5uK1ru-cvwZq8zeBEGgYpYdROnZ0bMvYzw6tVHaZc_bId2IpzWa_x8uAwUuhsX-fMvryQJBVnHBAy-herNyb5UbOaDfa6zV22dtl3/s1600/bill_clinton_dnc.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="237" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikTpJ6vZEi3s17Q-J-unrBUh4suDjvm45eEKLbKFt5uK1ru-cvwZq8zeBEGgYpYdROnZ0bMvYzw6tVHaZc_bId2IpzWa_x8uAwUuhsX-fMvryQJBVnHBAy-herNyb5UbOaDfa6zV22dtl3/s320/bill_clinton_dnc.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
I mean, for goodness' sake, Bill Clinton was going on about "building a bridge to the 21st century" back in 1996, and it was embarassing enough then. When are you going to drop this - in 2051, once we're past the half-way mark?<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>3: Let your nouns be nouns</b><br />
We are teachers. We have a duty to uphold the highest standards, and that includes in our use of language. So leave those nouns alone, and adjust your use of jargon accordingly. Turning a noun into a verb doesn't impress us. So don't tell us that we need to "evidence pupils' learning", or "calendar an assessment". At the very least, do your best to un-asshole. That's all we ask.<br />
<br />
And while we're on the subject: leave your acronyms and buzzwords and jargon at home. For example, if anyone has ever learned anything, then trust me, they didn't do so inactively, or passively. Ergo, "active" learning is a tautology. So give it a rest.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>2: Don't just read out your slides</b><br />
Is that all you've got? Seriously? You come all the way to our school, set up your whizzy powerpoint, and then just read the whole thing out? Why not just email the slides to us and stay home? In fact, why not let us stay at home as well? Oh, and for the record: 12 point Times font can NEVER, EVER be read "at the back", so don't even bother asking. The only reason we're not complaining is that we're already asleep.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>1: Give us some nuance and some intelligence</b><br />
Given that there are no quick fixes, then for heaven's sake let's show a bit of intelligence. Let's be open to debate, and acknowledge the difficult job we all have. Stop pretending that things like WALT and WILF and Learning Intentions imbue teachers with superpowers and magic wands when they are simply one possible way of trying to do the job a bit better, and when even the "creators" of such ideas have expressed reservations about their universal, uncritical use. Talk reasonably and sensibly and show us that you do possess a brain of your own. Do that, and we might begin to believe that we're on the same side.<br />
<b><br /></b>
<b><br /></b>
There you go. I'm more than happy to hear other suggestions, but I reckon these aren't bad rules to live by. Good luck with those evaluation sheets!<br />
<br />
<b><br /></b>maths teacherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13432285217048280785noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6435557500652274210.post-47914000179407300332012-08-01T14:07:00.003-07:002012-08-01T14:07:31.413-07:00I love it when a seating plan comes together…<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Before kicking off,
let me make it clear that I’m not teaching granny to suck eggs here. But if you
are new to the teaching profession, or wondering about the best way to arrange
your classroom, it may be that I can at least offer some food for thought.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">And so we begin.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">For those of us in
Scotland, the new academic year is beginning to bear down on us – fewer than
two weeks to go. Not long now until we meet our new classes (or nearly-new, for
those of us who have the joy of the June start, ie a few weeks of running
through the “new” timetable… difficult to explain this to anyone outside of
Scotland, and nae wonder) – and not long until they meet us.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">How, then, to start
off? Do you use a seating plan?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">I know of old hands in
teaching who don’t bother. Get them in the door, then move the more obvious
culprits from the back of the room to the front, and off we go. And I know of
some newer teachers who have committed to having a different seating plan, more
or less randomly generated, for every lesson, so that the pupils get a chance
to work in different groups.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Both types of teachers
have my admiration, but I confess I’m still a fan of the seating plan. I can –
and will – give quite a few reasons for this, but for the main one, let me take
you back a few years. Cue harp music representing flashback sequence…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">It’s my first week in
my first year of secondary school – heck, let’s just say it’s the first day. It
probably was. My class, class 1C1, has been round a few classes already –
English, I seem to recall, and Science, and what have you. In each class we’ve
wandered into the room and found our way to seats – our choice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Next up is History with Miss M. We find
our way to the room and she is waiting right at the door to welcome us (for
which she would still get brownie points today from HMI). I’m not paying much
attention and I give her a friendly nod as I walk into the door when suddenly
I’m not walking any more. She has her hand barring the doorway.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">“And where do you think
you’re going?” she asks. I’m about to point out that I’m quite obviously trying
to get into the classroom, but she’s already asking me for my name, and showing
me on her plan (which I only now notice in her hand) exactly where I’m to sit.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">And to this day I can
remember thinking:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">This is not a teacher
to be messed with.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">That’s your main
reason, right there. An immediate message to the new class: my house, my rules,
my seating plan. Now to be fair, some kids may object to this – to which I can
only say, good. You’ll never have a better chance to quash any complaints than
on day one with a new class, so just go for it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(And let’s face it, if you decide to give the kids free
choice, and then decide a few weeks later that you really need to rearrange the
seating because of all the riots and murder and whatnot, the kids will object
all the more.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Remember also a fairly
basic premise: knowledge is power. If wee Darren is playing silly buggers at
the back of the room, it’s a damn sight easier to call him to order if you know
his name. So if you are going to use a seating plan, you’d better learn it, and
fast, otherwise you’re operating at 50% power from the get-go. True story: I
once took over a class who had been through any number of teachers, mainly
supply, because of staffing difficulties. I drew up a seating plan before I met
the class and, with a bit of effort, I learned the plan by heart, so that by
the end of the lesson I was able – party piece ahoy – to go round the class and
name each pupil, one by one, without recourse to any bits of paper. I then
pointed out to the class that they would no longer be able to complain to their
parents that their maths teacher(s) didn’t even know their name. It made an
impact, I can assure you. (If you need help with memorisation techniques, by
the way, go google. Heck, even Derren Brown will give you tips to get started. And if you still need convincing that knowing names is a powerful matter, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLA7plb6ESI&list=UU1gM9bGSzF25_FiKwKx6aTA&index=8&feature=plcp" target="_blank">here's</a> a clip from Doctor Who where the good Doctor manages to evaporate a baddy just by naming them. Works for me.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Now, for a few other
reasons:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">It’s an unspoken law
that when pupils arrive and are given a free choice, then (a) the seats fill
from the back of the room forwards, and (b) males and females tend to sit
apart. (a) is obviously a daft idea – which is why old hands will move some of
the kids at the back straight off. But based on what, exactly? How they look?
Whether or not they are called Wayne? OK, so the truly worst offenders may well
have tried to stab someone by now, but I doubt your super Spidey-teacher powers
are so good that you can identify any and all trouble makers within three
minutes of meeting the class. Much better, I’d argue, to go for a “random” (of
which more anon) seating plan. One which, incidentally, manages to mix up the
sexes so that boys and girls DO sit together, thereby dealing with (b). I mix
them up not only because there’s a fair chance that behaviour will be better,
but also because I think it’s not a bad idea to engineer an opportunity for
daft wee ladies to be able to say at least a few words to not quite so daft wee
lassies without breaking into a sweat. Well, they probably will sweat
initially, but they’ll get there in the end. Trust me, if teachers didn’t mix
classes up in this way, there’d be some lads out there who wouldn’t say a word
to a girl for six years. (We should probably have seating plans in staff rooms,
now I come to think of it, and for exactly the same reasons.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Next, there’s no point
in pretending that you are drawing up the seating plan in a vacuum, that is to
say, in an absence of information about the pupils to be entrusted into your
care. Even if you are new to the school, I’d be astonished if you weren’t given
all manner of information – too much information, to be honest – about your
pupils. And if such information is not forthcoming from the Support for
Learning Department, or Learning Support Department, or Guidance Department…
then get out there and ask for it, pronto. Otherwise you will be unaware that
Wayne has fallen out with Dwayne and so they must not be seated together; that
Darryl is blind in one eye and so has to be seated at the front and right; that
Carryl is deaf in one ear and must be seated at the front and left; and that
Mac the Knife earned his nickname the hard way and must be kept away from the
safety scissors. Throw in the fact that every second kid has an inhaler and/or allergy
to strawberry cheesecake, and hey presto, your seating plan now begins to
resemble a Sudoku puzzle. That’s no reason not to draw up the plan, by the way,
and it does beg the question of how you cater for all these requirements if you
are randomly generating those plans.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">I could go on, but
it’s time for a break. My next post will look in more detail at seating plans
through the lens of a pretty important question: assuming you have any control
over it, how are you going to set your room out? Will pupils sit in rows, in
pairs? Singly? In groups? And if so, in threes, or fours, or… what, exactly?<o:p></o:p></span></div>maths teacherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13432285217048280785noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6435557500652274210.post-88520078909421740482012-07-23T07:08:00.000-07:002012-07-23T07:11:05.359-07:00App round-upWhat with all the rain, I've been bored enough to do a quick hunt through iTunes and interweb-land to see if there's anything new in the way of Maths Apps - or rather Math Apps, as they tend to be called. I try to check every now and then - <a href="http://maths4edinburgh.edublogs.org/2010/11/29/as-it-appens-sorry/" target="_blank">here's</a> an old post on another blog giving a few good 'uns already - as these can be useful for telling kids/parents about. Or, of course, you could use them in class, if you happen to have an iPod and a way of displaying the output. (If you have an iPhone this is easy-peasy, by the way, but for Luddites like me with a wind-up iPod Touch, the best I can manage is to display the output using a <a href="http://maths4edinburgh.edublogs.org/2011/01/19/visualise-this/" target="_blank">visualiser</a>. Don't have a visualiser? Lobby your Headteacher/HoD immediately!)<br />
<br />
Anyway, I found a handful of decent enough apps, all free. First up, the good people of <a href="http://www.mathscard.co.uk/apps/" target="_blank">Loughborough</a> University, who have developed "Mathscard" apps which give formulae for GCSE and for A/As Level.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidoKRQb8Q3_bdJrmr5QKl_vZli8_7IxmgxK5pFJQfXqUd2DJvJVvMfateNv4RcOjDR8kk-1RizyLeHi7Tn7t0JOTu_Xtx8abQ3dbqH19UFF4ch4UuV-CSPFLHOHm9ms31BVGKmaFxeCTUD/s1600/mathscard.320x480-75.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidoKRQb8Q3_bdJrmr5QKl_vZli8_7IxmgxK5pFJQfXqUd2DJvJVvMfateNv4RcOjDR8kk-1RizyLeHi7Tn7t0JOTu_Xtx8abQ3dbqH19UFF4ch4UuV-CSPFLHOHm9ms31BVGKmaFxeCTUD/s320/mathscard.320x480-75.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
Yes, yes, I know this is not much cop for a Scottish curriculum, but a formula is a formula, at the end of the day. And did I mention the free bit?<br />
<br />
Next - and very much for the lower end of the market - comes a company calling itself Maths Tappers. Hmm. They have a few free apps to play with but the one that caught my eye is their "<a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/mathtappers-equivalents/id446293651?mt=8" target="_blank">equivalents</a>" app, which gets pupils to match fractions and percentages.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsHdWBR3zvTJsDclOHvpP42H8InXhLUbugy6-RPQfsH8fcYaUSwRSesjjduQ2aWdr_zzCuGpsQS5xr71-yA9WvYlY_lX3c8t0nxiSUO9XonNhSa8qkHc_FVLNe78jiALUCVRI7I_4SIYIZ/s1600/mathstappers.320x480-75.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsHdWBR3zvTJsDclOHvpP42H8InXhLUbugy6-RPQfsH8fcYaUSwRSesjjduQ2aWdr_zzCuGpsQS5xr71-yA9WvYlY_lX3c8t0nxiSUO9XonNhSa8qkHc_FVLNe78jiALUCVRI7I_4SIYIZ/s320/mathstappers.320x480-75.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
In my experience, the more practice pupils get at this sort of stuff, the better. You bet your life I'll be recommending the hell out of this one to all and sundry.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Now, is it still raining...? Yeesh.</div>
<br />maths teacherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13432285217048280785noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6435557500652274210.post-82050069033421935382012-06-21T10:13:00.001-07:002012-06-21T10:13:45.999-07:00A bit of background<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Well, summer is almost
upon us, and the end of term is approaching just as surely as DVDs of “Braveheart”
are showing in History classrooms across Scotland. Not long to go now, folks,
yet already the next session begins to intrude. Ah, the joys of the June start
to a new timetable, to say nothing of the three-day P7 visit. And just today I
took delivery of my new Teacher’s Planner for session 2012-2013. I’m sad to
admit I was more than a tad excited by this, and immediately set about
colouring in the holidays in the calendar at the front.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">But back to this blog…
I’m still very much in the setting things up phase, so I may as well give a bit
of background, because to a certain extent We Have Been Here Before. It may
seem odd to link to some old blogs of mine, but what the heck, if it can bring
any form of insight or pleasure then I’m up for it. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">And so, the list of blogs:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><a href="http://the-proof-is-out-there.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">The Proof Is Out There</a><br />
I’m still proud of that title. Yes, here is where it all began, with the Top
Ten Mathematics Textbooks of all time (go look, it hasn’t changed much), and
hymns of praise to marker pens of a certain brand. Eventually film reviews
began to creep their way into TPIOT, which led to the launch of…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><a href="http://maths-teacher-goes-to-the-movies.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">Maths Teacher Goes To The Movies</a><br />
… which does exactly what it says on the tin. And, I might add, was once
mentioned in the Times Education Supplement Scotland. However as my movie-going
began to wane, so did the blog. Next up then:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><a href="http://maths4edinburgh.edublogs.org/" target="_blank">maths4edinburgh</a><br />
I’m still embarrassed by that title. But appropriately enough this was an
attempt to run a blog for teachers in and around Edinburgh that would highlight
events, resources etc and generally be A Good Thing. It ran for quite a while
and had, I like to think, something of a cult following. And no, that’s not a
misprint. M4E is hosted on edublogs though, and eventually I got frustrated
with the near-constant demands to upgrade to the Pro version (kerching) and the
warnings of imminent memory death if I didn’t. And so I vowed to leave, heading
off in search of a better life. Not having much in the way of any offers, I
decided to head back to good old Blogger, though I do admit it’s taken me a
while to get here. I did consider relaunching TPIOT but in the end I decided
that a fresh start was called for. And so here we are. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">OK, that's enough nostalgia. Onwards! As well as sharing resources, I do hope to take time to ruminate, fulminate and prevaricate over this whole business of education - maths education in particular. But right now, I can head some Maltesers calling...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<!--EndFragment-->maths teacherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13432285217048280785noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6435557500652274210.post-54663366089953563972012-06-12T09:29:00.000-07:002012-06-12T09:29:11.941-07:00Traffic<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk8WsZUYwpRa2t_RxnG9pnpQRByJ93ExHdASpUzm8j9OXIH1veNJOUR37EBCHv3S0ztez14duL24qlnSahOIy5xiA4uVDJ2Sb6arNKXuDWyR5RP9KcmUTTPqILNSdWb2iLDOmjn3C-icFf/s1600/traffic1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="246" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk8WsZUYwpRa2t_RxnG9pnpQRByJ93ExHdASpUzm8j9OXIH1veNJOUR37EBCHv3S0ztez14duL24qlnSahOIy5xiA4uVDJ2Sb6arNKXuDWyR5RP9KcmUTTPqILNSdWb2iLDOmjn3C-icFf/s320/traffic1.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
My excitement knows no bounds, though to be fair I am seeing a doctor about it. This is a screengrab from the rather wonderful "Traffic" program, which forms part of the package The Language of Functions and Graphs. You'll find this in a variety of places - it's in the DfE's Standards Unit, for one thing - but it's taken me ages to find the actual program as opposed to the worksheets. Steps forward and take a bow, then, the wonderful people at the <a href="http://www.nationalstemcentre.org.uk/elibrary/maths/resource/2004/interpreting-distance-time-graphs-with-a-computer-a5">STEM resource library hingmy</a>.<br />
<br />
I remember this from back in the day, when it was part of the award-winning package called (seriously) The Shell Red Box, by Malcolm Swan. I used the wee computer program with a BBC micro - man, we were cutting edge at Beeslack High School in the 80's, I tell you - but it's good to see the graphics have been spruced up a bit.<br />
<br />
My advice to you is just to get in and play, but be warned as you'll have to set up an account with the STEM folk first. Fear not, it's free. I used the first few examples in the program with my S3 class as we continued our journey (see what I did there) with Distance/Speed/Time, and you'll struggle to find a better introduction to Distance/Time graphs. You can play the situation through without the snapshots and graph and invite pupils to work together and agree their version of the graph. Show-me-boards ahoy!maths teacherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13432285217048280785noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6435557500652274210.post-75259464078019806142012-06-11T12:41:00.001-07:002012-06-11T12:45:01.187-07:00And they're off!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6n7skONWScLcKlNU9Ss4hKwmY22NVsFlrfV76NGiCaH6yEqAmTGbfmI5igKPT4LQEUlWImLcI7Zk3e1tacFo0kirSLFVgBfaSTnLyXJhhtP0IJ4zsqNno4-6LzM2stkxll1RL9EkbhV7_/s1600/30kph.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6n7skONWScLcKlNU9Ss4hKwmY22NVsFlrfV76NGiCaH6yEqAmTGbfmI5igKPT4LQEUlWImLcI7Zk3e1tacFo0kirSLFVgBfaSTnLyXJhhtP0IJ4zsqNno4-6LzM2stkxll1RL9EkbhV7_/s320/30kph.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
OK, so clearly we have to do a bit of "welcome, welcome" stuff, what with this being a new blog and all. I also have to point in the general direction of my other blogs, just in case anyone still needs to catch up on the world-famous "Maths Teacher Goes To The Movies" blog (as featured in TES, folks!). But stuff that for a game of soldiers and on with the motley. There'll be time for hellos later.<br />
<br />
So I'm teaching Distance/Speed/Time to my new S3 class, and I decided to look for some slightly more imaginative starters, as you do. A quick hunt round t'internet brought up Usain Bolt's world record time of 9.58 seconds for the 100m, set in Berlin in 2009. It's a nice enough question to ask the class to work out Bolt's speed in kilometres per hour, but an even better one is: should he have been arrested for speeding? It seems that in residential areas in Germany there's often a speed limit of 30kph.<br />
<br />
There's even a clip you can show from youtube (along with annoying adverts, for which apologies):<br />
<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/5pUxCZVH06g?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe><br />
<br />
See what your class think. I won't spoil things by telling you the answer.maths teacherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13432285217048280785noreply@blogger.com0