#5 Maths Gems 182

Welcome to my 182^nd gems post. This is where I share some of the latest news, ideas and resources for maths teachers.

1.Bad Graphs

It's fun (and important) to share examples of misleading graphs with students. @ticktockmaths has shared a gallery of bad graphs which will be very helpful. I love the example below: at first glance it seems very clear and the scale seems fine, but when you think about what it's trying to show you realise how misleading it is.

Do check out the rest of ticktockmaths.co.uk - the lessons on there are really nice. Recent additions include one on Mixed Numbers and Improper Fractions and one on Writing Expressions. 

2. Algebraic Fractions

@japleen_kaur1 shared these lovely algebraic fractions questions made by her colleague.

Answers are here. Thank you for sharing these Japleen! I love the creativity. 

3. Fractions Vocabulary

@Scott_Math83 shared three simple questions which highlight the challenges students face when working with fractions and percentages. A subtle change in wording totally changes each question. 

4. Multiples

I love tasks which encourage deeper thinking about factors, multiples and primes. Thank you to @studymaths for sharing this:

Check out @studymaths' feed for lots more excellent tasks.

5. Dr Austin

@draustinmaths continues to share great new A level resources for both pure maths and mechanics. Recent examples include a task on set notation and one on graphical inequalities and regions. Thanks Amanda!

Update
On Friday I was at the Harris October Conference with my lovely colleagues. 

If you want to join my brilliant team, we have a vacancy for a January start. Contact me if you want to chat about the role - but note that the closing date for applications is Monday 14th October so you will have to act quickly!

After a quick stop at post-conference drinks in London, I got the train up to Sheffield for pre-#mathsconf36 drinks. Two sets of drinks on the same day in two different cities was a bit much for me - I'm too old for this and I was beyond exhausted!

 

On Saturday I attended #mathsconf36 which was excellent. It was the best conference I have been to in a long time, and it has rekindled my love for mathsconfs! I went to fantastic workshops led by Rob Eastaway, Sam Blatherwick and Craig Latimir. I really enjoyed these workshops. I ran a session myself called 'Every Mark Matters' where I shared examples of where students lose marks at GCSE. The idea is that we show these examples to our students to help them better understand what's expected. If you attended the conference, my slides will be emailed out next week by the team at Complete Mathematics.

If you've not been to a mathsconf in a while, or you've never been before, then I strongly encourage you to attend the next one. It will be in March - date and venue tbc.

Finally, this week I did the classic paper folding integration activity with my Year 13 class. The idea came from @sxpmaths many years ago and it's always my favourite A level lesson of the year!

5 Maths Gems #178

Welcome to my 178^th gems post. This is where I share some of the latest news, ideas and resources for maths teachers.

1. Inverse Proportion
I really like this tweet from @catrionateaches. When teaching inverse proportion I always talk about constant products but then I head straight into the formula y = k/x. Catriona suggests a subtle change in method. 

2. Graph Transformations

MathsPad has published another brilliant interactive tool for the Higher GCSE topic graph transformations. It shows how points on the original curves map on to those on the transformed curves. There is a separate section for quadratic graphs, which is particularly useful for relating completed square form to graph transformations. 

There is also a section for trigonometric graphs, where transformations of the graphs of y=sin(x) and y=cos(x) can be explored.

It's great to see a new resource published for teaching graph transformations - I always find that this is the GCSE topic for which it's trickiest to find suitable resources, because many tasks still include stretches (these were removed from the syllabus back in 2017 - GCSE now just covers reflections and translations).

Do check out MathsPad's full range of interactive tools - some of them are free to use even if you don't subscribe (you really should subscribe to MathsPad though!).

3. GeoGebra

It's worth following @geogebra to see ideas for interactive GeoGebra maths resources that can be used for demonstrations in lessons or student activities. Here are a few recent examples:

⚖️ GEOGEBRA RESOURCE! 📏

Try this FREE GeoGebra Exploration resource to convert units within a given system of measurement. Check it out! https://t.co/RQuWgxlNTR#mtbos #iteachmath #math #mathematics pic.twitter.com/qbp4U8DIFj

— GeoGebra (@geogebra) February 27, 2024

📦🐭 GEOGEBRA RESOURCE! 🥡🐱

Try this FREE GeoGebra Practice resource to draw box-and-whisker plots from a set of data. Check it out! https://t.co/VsqOGblJ2P#MTBoS #iteachmath #math #statistics pic.twitter.com/GAz9gbyLAR

— GeoGebra (@geogebra) February 27, 2024

🦾 GEOGEBRA RESOURCE! 🎰

Try this NEW & FREE GeoGebra Exploration resource to convert a number from standard form to expanded form one place value at a time. Check it out! https://t.co/vAIXvL5g48#MTBoS #iteachmath #math #mathematics pic.twitter.com/UXSN3RHQ69

— GeoGebra (@geogebra) March 4, 2024

4. Pythagoras
@nathanday314 shared a clever set of questions on Pythagoras' Theorem. There's a lot of challenge here (check out Question 12). Question 3 is deliberately impossible, and note the subtle differences between Questions 3, 4 and 5.

5. Prime Factors

@StudyMaths shared a video showing how to use the interactive Prime Factor Tiles on MathsBot to find a lowest common multiple, and in response @MrCowardMaths shared this really lovely task.

Update
Here are some other things you might have missed:

• The NCETM continue to publish their set of secondary mastery professional development materials. Their first set of Key Stage 4 materials focuses on numerical structure. These materials contain lots of teaching ideas that are well worth exploring. 
• @1stclassmaths has shared GCSE Predicted Paper 1 for both Edexcel and AQA. After Paper 1 takes place in May he will publish Predicted Paper 2s, and after Paper 2 he will publish Predicted Paper 3s. These papers will be very high quality so I recommend following @1stclassmaths for updates.
• @cclay8 has shared some more of her excellent calculator guides for the new Casio model. 
• @MattTheApp continues to share numerous resources for GCSE preparation on Maths White Board including maths formula sheet familiarisation tasks.
• @AMercerMaths shared a fantastic example of a curriculum booklet on diagonals in quadrilaterals. 

My school is still seeking an A level teacher to start in September. I can offer 100% A level teaching, or alternatively I can offer a timetable with Year 11 - 13 (or similar) if that's more desirable. Our students are a delight to teach and my team is awesome. If you live in Surrey or South London, this is an amazing opportunity. Please get in touch (email resourceaholic@gmail.com) if you're interested - I'm very happy to arrange a tour or call.

I'm presenting at two maths conferences in the next four weeks. The first is #mathsconf34 which is near Bristol:

And in the Easter holidays I'm presenting at the Shape Up conference in Stratford-Upon-Avon:

Finally, it's been a while since I've hosted a social event so I'm excited about this... more information coming soon.

5 Maths Gems #177

Welcome to my 177^th gems post. This is where I share some of the latest news, ideas and resources for maths teachers.

1. MathsLinks

I discovered the website MathsLinks through TES. It's run by maths teacher Kenneth Stafford. He has collated lots of resources in one place. For example, on his GCSE Questions by Topics page he has included links to websites such as Corbett Maths and Maths Genie for every topic.

He has produced numerous other resources including Grade 1 GCSE Maths Questions where he has combined the first two pages of Foundation GCSE maths papers, and a set of questions on Reverse Mean. 

Check out Kenneth's TES page and website for more.

2. Oak National Academy
It's good to see the collection of maths resources at Oak National Academy has grown since I last blogged about them in Gems 175. Here are a few extracts.

From Problem solving with factors, multiples, squares and cubes

From Angles on parallel lines traversed by a straight line

From Problem solving with polygons

3. OAT Maths

Thanks to @jemmaths for sharing some new algebra units published by OAT Maths: The Cartesian Grid, Introduction to Sequences and Linear Inequalities. Check out the carefully sequenced slides and booklets.

4. Etymology Update

One of my favourite resources of all time is @boss_maths' amazing vocabulary resource. It aims to relate mathematical terms to key words from other subjects that share the same etymology. It has recently had an update.

5. Tasks

Here are a few nice resources I've spotted on Twitter recently.

A prime puzzle from Sarah Farrell, suitable for Key Stage 2 or 3:

A task on solving quadratics by factorisation from @DrStoneMaths:

An area task from @brynspiration in which students have to find the area of the polygons, where no perpendicular lengths have been given:

@ChrisMcGrane84 shared a really nice logs task:

Update

I've not posted much on my blog recently but I've very been busy in the background. Thanks to maths teacher Alastair Mundy, who kindly offered to help out and has been an absolute legend, I've finally got my Key Stage 3/4 resource libraries in order. I've fixed broken links and added some new resources - everything is now in much better shape. I still have work to do: my next step is to fix my A level pages.

I also published a post on GCSE revision resources and one on A level resources. 

The start of 2024 saw a very well-deserved MBE for my brilliant friend Chris Smith (congratulations Chris!).

I'm looking forward to conference season. I will be at #mathsconf34 in Yate (near Bristol) on 16th March presenting on 'Ten Strategies for Good GCSE Results'.

Over the Easter holidays I'll be at the Joint Conference of the Mathematics Subject Associations in Stratford-Upon-Avon. I'm running a nice long session in Pythagoras so we'll have time to get stuck into some fun maths.

I have a couple of vacancies on my team, so if you're looking for a change of school in September then do come and join us. We're based in South London. Here's my fabulous team at the Christmas party:

One of our two vacancies is for a mechanics teacher. We currently have a thriving Year 12 cohort (we are by far the most popular subject in the school, with three A Level Maths classes and one A Level Further Maths class). Most of the A level teaching is done by me (statistics specialist) and my colleague (mechanics specialist). Sadly my colleague is relocating in September so I need to replace her, preferably with an experienced A level teacher. For the right candidate we'll be able offer a timetable where the vast majority of classes are A level (Year 12 and 13 Maths and Further Maths). The Year 13 Further Maths module they'll be teaching is Further Pure 1. I think this is a really appealing job - my school is lovely, and teaching A level is a delight. If you have any questions about the role, or you want to visit prior to interview, feel free to contact me (resourceaholic@gmail.com). The closing date for applications is 26th February 2024.

I'll leave you with these lovely magic squares from Chris Smith. Did you know that Don Steward had an entire blog of magic square activities? Check it out at medianmagicsquares.blogspot.com.

5 Maths Gems #176

Welcome to my 176^th gems post. This is where I share some of the latest news, ideas and resources for maths teachers.

1. 1st Class Maths

1stclassmaths.com has always been full of incredibly high quality resources, and the recent additions are no exception. The GCSE revision resources (designed for both Edexcel and AQA) contain original GCSE-style questions which are very well written.

I also love the question frequency data on the Topic Appearance page. There's so much interesting analysis here!

2. MathsBot Games

I'm enjoying @StudyMaths' revival of old Flash Maths games. For example Find the Primes is really fun and easy to use. I enjoy playing this with my Year 7 daughter! It's a bit more accessible for her age than IsThisPrime? which is also awesome. 

Also check out Beat the Clock for times tables fun.

I was always a big fan of Flash Maths back in the day. My favourites were Shape Shoot and Memory Maths, which visitors used to play on Open Evenings at my last school. 

3. Tasks

Here are some great tasks I've seen on Twitter over the last few weeks:

An angle chase with bearings from @mrwatkinsmaths:

Scaffolded resources on loci and constructions from @draustinmaths:

A Venn Diagram task from @MrSMaths11:

Ratio questions from @MrDraperMaths:

I really recommend this excellent blog post about task design: 'Task Writing – Unintended Consequences' from Dan Draper.

4. Dr Frost

It's great to see lots of newly improved resources being published by Dr Frost's team. For example @nathanday314 has created excellent slides and exercises for angles in parallel lines. 

Follow @DrFrostResource for updates on all the new resources being released. 

5. Function Machines

PolyPad from @mathigon has a brilliant new function machine tool. It's very easy to use and a fantastic way to illustrate composite and inverse functions. Have a play with it. For me it's perfectly timed as I'll be teaching this topic to Year 11 next week.

Maths Week

We ran a Maths Week at my school last week (not in the same week as Maths Week England, because that clashes with Anti-Bullying Week). It was a very successful event with loads of engagement from students across all year groups. We designed it to be high impact without an excessive workload, with lots of opportunities for all students to earn House Points (not just the best mathematicians).

• We ran a Teacher Treasure Hunt using the fantastic resources created by @missradders. We had over 170 entries and it was wonderful to see the level of enthusiasm amongst students. They loved it! We will definitely make this an annual event.
• We ran a daily puzzle, which we displayed around school and in tutor time notices. We were delighted by the level of engagement. It was such a joy to see students crowded around puzzles in corridors discussing their ideas and solutions. There's an example below (many students and teachers struggled with the third sequence, though it's wonderfully simple when you spot it - I got it from a Complete Maths conference!).
• We had a Sparx XP competition and we were shocked by how much Sparx usage increased as a result!
• Our wonderful librarian set up a special display of maths books in the library and promoted them throughout the week.
• I delivered an assembly to each year group on 'How I Fell in Love With Maths', the idea being that one day they'll find something that they are so passionate about that they want to talk about it all the time. My assembly centred around Fermat's Last Theorem, which I think is a story everyone should be told. I also wore a different maths dress for each assembly!

Update

• If you didn't see the news about this - GCSE teachers should be aware that Year 11 might get the formula sheet in their exams this summer. This comes as a surprise, but a good one - even though I think the design of the formula sheet is poor, I'm in favour of formulae being provided with exams (every year, not just in 'covid years'). The consultation closes on 30th November.
• Sunday 26th November is your last chance to submit a proposal to speak at the Joint Conference of Mathematical Subject Associations 2024 which takes place in the Easter holidays. 

Finally, as Christmas is coming I thought it might be a good time to mention that my book A Compendium of Mathematical Methods makes an excellent present for a maths teacher. 

Have a great week everyone!