5 Maths Gems #142

Welcome to my 142^nd gems post. This is where I share some of the latest news, ideas and resources for maths teachers. 

1. Times Table Packs

Thank you to Sarah Farrell (@SarahFarrellKS2) for sharing a set of times table packs. Each one has a 25 different activities aimed at targeting conceptual knowledge and quick recall in each multiplication table. These will be very useful to primary teachers, and I can imagine that they'll also be a helpful resource in secondary interventions.

2. Website
Thank you to Matt Woodfine (@PiXLMattTheApp) for sharing his website
mathswhiteboard.com. This website features examples pairs, mini whiteboard activities, retrieval practice, a worksheet generator, starter activities, class interactive keypads and more. It's all free and easy to use, and Matt has done a lot of work on it recently.

3. Tasks

There have been loads of great tasks shared on Twitter recently. I have probably missed many of them, but here's a selection:

A couple of slides from a task progression I've been working on for connecting the maths I know my students are good at (sequences) to something they are finding tricky (linear graphs and equations of lines).
Thanks to @nathanday314 for making them look professional! pic.twitter.com/3cnjZBUNEh

— Charlotte ✏️📐🧮🤓 (@mrshawthorne7) February 21, 2021

 

Some questions on the mean inspired by @LearningMaths's box fill tasks.https://t.co/g1Fj1lVP1B

— ashton coward (@ashtonC94) February 24, 2021

Upcoming task in the Bearings unit. Is it possible to land on every point? I was a surprised the blue hexagon is complete but their are gaps on the pink hexagon. How would the grid change if the first move was is 2 spaces and second move is 1 space?#MTBoS #iteachmath #mathschat pic.twitter.com/OOLMqaIw87

— D Flynn (@Flynn_DP) February 24, 2021

Not terribly exciting ... After looking at Function Machines I will be moving students on to inputting numbers (then expressions) into a function. Thought I'd share in case it's useful to someone https://t.co/tEUXs2Lnem pic.twitter.com/CGpw3kDAv9

— Miss Konstantine (@giftedHKO) March 7, 2021

4. Virtual Escape Rooms

Thank you to Grant Whitaker for sharing three online maths escape rooms that he has made: one for Key Stage 1, one for Key Stage 2 and one for Key Stage 3.

Some of my readers have asked about maths escape rooms before. Grant asked me to share a link to an online course where teachers can learn how to make an online escape room. 

5. Foundation Booklets
Thank you to Mr Kingsley (@KingsleyMaths) for sharing a set of Foundation GCSE booklets. Each task contains ten 1/2 mark questions, which can be used as lesson starters. They build up in difficulty in both calculator and non-calculator topics.

I have a page of GCSE revision resources here.

Update

I am having a tough time at the moment to be honest. I was so excited to get back in the classroom and I spent a long time preparing to teach some awesome topics, but ridiculous lateral flow test policies have sent many of my students home already. This has upset me. On top of that, being the member of SLT in charge of cover in a year with high staff absence has finally broken me. But Easter is round the corner (a much-needed break after my Covid-filled Christmas) and I'm sure things will improve in the summer term.

Before my teaching of Pythagoras to Year 8 was interrupted, I'd delivered a lovely lesson revising squares and square roots (with and without a calculator) - this is a really important pre-requisite skill in this topic, so I feel that it was time well spent.

In case you missed them, my most recent blog posts were:

• Geometrical Reasoning Within Constraints - a Dose of Don post from Anne Watson
• 150th Birthday! - about the MA's 150th birthday celebrations.

If you haven't already booked, don't forget to get a ticket for the MA's April conference which is coming up soon. If you're not sure, just check out the workshops on offer! They are fantastic, and it's amazing that you can access them on demand for only £10.

Thank you to La Salle for running #mathsconf25 today, and to all the speakers. This was the seventh year in a row that I have attended a maths conference on Pi Day weekend!  Thank you to everyone who came to my session on GCSE Topics: What and How?. I focused mainly on simultaneous equations. The video will be released by La Salle soon. 

Thank you also to people who have bought a copy of my book A Compendium of Mathematical Methods over the last fourteen months. It took a lot of time and effort to write a book, and it's hard to be a female author in a male-dominated field, so I really appreciate the support. I probably don't tell people about my book as often as I should, because promoting your own book seems to bring disapproval from many. I need to stop shying away from it though - the tiny amount of extra income is helping me slowly save for a small loft conversion so my daughter can have her own bedroom, so it is important to me. If you want to 'try before you buy' then there's a sample chapter here, and a free Seneca course here which covers two chapters.

I'll leave you with this fun iceberg drawing tool from @JoshData. I love this!

Draw an iceberg and see how it will float https://t.co/or1oj7QmqH by @JoshData pic.twitter.com/6RCVhta09L

— algoritmic (@algoritmic) February 20, 2021