Chris Maths

Most important topic in maths?

2012-01-01T20:50:00.001Z

What is the most important topic in maths. Many, including parents, and (more worryingly government) would have you believe it is 'basic numeracy', which tends to mean 'times tables'. I agree that a basic awareness of magnitude and the ability to add siubtract or do multiplaications in your head is important, I really don't think that it is the most important thing that maths teachers should be doing with classes.

This is not my idea, by the way, I heard it discussed (briefly) on Radio 4's rather excellent "The Infinite Monkey Cage", about a year ago, but the more I think about it, the more I'm convinced its right.

What we should do more of is probability. Not just the stuff we do already - words, probability lines, fractions / decimals (do any maths teachers use percentages for probability, and if not, should we if the real world do?). Not just Venn diagrams and tree diagrams, but actual probability and risk assessment.

Don't panic. This is not risk assessment from a H and S form point of view, but from a maths point of view!

Why?

Well, every decision we make is based on probabilities and expectations. Should I buy a lottery ticket? What car finance deal should I go for? What stocks and shares should I buy?

Everyone needs to be able to properly weigh up the pros and cons of any situation. We need to teach the appropriate skills to do that. Students need to be able to set up appropriate models (modelling may be the second most important thing we teach!), and interogate those models. We then need to use our understanding of probabilities (using prior information) to make the 'best' decision.

There's a great example of this earlier on my blog - have a look at http://chrismaths.blogspot.com/2010/05/real-functional-maths.html to see why it's important.

Any other thoughts??

Made up Maths Words

2011-10-06T21:39:00.003+01:00

I'm a big fan of creative literacy, generally with a maths focus. What I'm worried about is whether it may do more harm than good.

Some examples; from recent lessons, to things from a while ago...

Shape names: I asked a class if they knew the name of a 12 sided polygon. After a sea of blank faces presented itself, I prompted "it begins with D". Dozenagon was the answer offered. So, for the rest of the lesson we used Dozenagon alongside the proper name.

Same lesson, outterior angles. Opposite of interior, in case you were wondering!

I've also used squillimeters and squentimetres for sq mm and sq cm. This helps avoid the centimetres squared problem. Many students don't appreciate the difference until I tell the (both true) stories of the tech teacher who ordered 10 metres squared of turf for his 10 sq metre garden, and the one (from the telly I'm told) who ordered 5 metres cubed of concrete to be poured on to the floor that required 5 cubic metres. They certainly know the difference.

I've also verbised words. Y12/13 in particular use the verbs To Pythagorise and To Trigonometrise to describe what to do to a forces or vector triangle. Bracketising is something I use as a synonym for factorising.

The question is does it matter? I am always careful to use the real word too, but I feel it is part of building up a good relationship for learning with pupils, and a few years ago some of a class startd keeping a list of made up words in the back of their books. I tried to get them to create a wiki for it, but the VLE didn't make it easy enough, which is a shame as it would be great to have a full record of words over the year.

All thoughts always gratefully received!

Me and Google+

2011-07-23T20:51:00.001+01:00

There has been quite a lot written about google+, and how it is the same / different to twitter / facebook / blogging / everything else. This is just my attempt to clarify in my mind how I might be using it in the future, and how it fits for me with all of the above.

Let just start by saying I don't facebook. I've never felt the need to particularly. On the whole I stay in touch with real friends by email phone and text, so have never really seen the point.

I could ramble on for ages, but this is how i see things panning out for me...

Twitter will continue to be the main form of sharing ideas and engaging in conversations. I like its openness, and that many people will see - you may get responses you don't expect and that challenge your thinking, and that is a good thing.

For me, circles are the usp for google+. I envisage using it as a collaborative tool at school, using circles as a way to direct and focus conversations. Assuming I can persuade enough people to sign up (and I've already got our new eLearning coordinator on side, which is a good start) here is how I hope it might look soon.

A Maths circle, containing my team. We already use GDocs readily, but a forum we can discuss things could be really powerful

A Year team circle. If all Y11 tutors and our HoY belong to a circle then issues discussion points etc can be raised in between meetings.

A maths management circle of me with my TLC's.

An eLearning group circle.

Some might (will) say that this can all be done through forums on our VLE, but circles offers something different to this. If I am discussing Y11 exams with the maths circle I can post it to the Y11 team also. The VLE doesn't support this (I don't think).

To summarise...

Facebook isn't (currently) for me
Twitter is for open chat, albeit with a professioanl focus.
Blogging is for reflection, a place to publish thought out and slightly more polished thoughts.

Google+ is for collaboration, both in real time (with huddles, which i haven't played with yet) and as a forum that allows cross pollination between circles.

I would love to hear other peoples thoughts on all of the above.

Do what you like...

2011-05-22T21:11:00.002+01:00

An extract from this weeks Monday Morning Maths Memo (shortened to Monday Notes, or M⁴)

For the rest of this year, with year 9, our proposal is “Do what you like”.

Seriously.

No one is suggesting term 6 is filled with DVD lessons or colouring.

Obviously.

Lessons need to be Learning Goal led, and jam packed with good mathematical learning, but we would like to give you the freedom to teach everything and anything maths like. For me a useful catchphrase for this is “Excite, Engage, Enthuse”. In quick conversations, we’ve come up with the following ideas…

Lalage—Playing with numbers. For example learning cancelling shortcuts when multiplying fractions, but also interesting facts like 111111111²=12345678987654321

Steve—Functional Maths—Using the OCR and Edexcel functional papers as learning activities.

Chris—International lessons. I’ve still got diosplay on my boards from an old top set y9 from “The Swiss Challenge”, including critical path analysis, and complex numbers, doing work based on Euler. We have 18 of these lessons.

Monday’s entire meeting agenda is set over to discussions of all of the above, and every Tuesday briefing will be “what are you doing with Y9 this week” to encourage sharing ideas.

A Lesson on Voting reform

2011-04-30T20:05:00.006+01:00

Some days the best lessons just happen unplanned, and the numbers drop out beautifully.

I was going through exam papers with my Y11 last week, and a number of the class weren't there, due to Dance, PE, and Art exams (its that time of year). Some of those left were asking about next week's referendum, and commented that AV wasn't fair and was too complicated.

So we did it.

We modelled the situation, running a vote for where they would like to go on their end of year trip. They suggested the following places...

Alton Towers
Bournemouth Beach
Chessington
Legoland
Thorpe Park

I asked them to vote, and the votes came out at...

3 for Alton Towers, 11 for Bournemouth, 3 for Chessington, 1 for Legoland and 5 for Thorpe Park. The general consensus was that clearly a trip to Bournemouth was out and out the winner. Then I pointed out that while 11 had voted for a trip to the beach, 12 had voted for a theme park trip.

We then AV'ed the vote, by physically moving around the room to redistribute the votes. As it happens Bournemouth did win, as some people wanted as a first choice to go to a theme park, but couldn't face the long coach trip to Alton Towers.

They weren't all convinced by the argument that it was a better system, they did at least understand how it worked, and why some people see it as fairer.

Again, I was lucky - the fact that the numbers added up so well to 11/13 for the fptp system was something of a gift - something you just cannot plan for.

This is similar to the video on youtube by "Dan Snow", if you're interested, but I got lucky the numbers worked out the way I wanted!

Referendum on voting as a lesson

2011-04-21T09:48:00.002+01:00

I'm planning to use the referendum on voting (FPTP vs AV) as a lesson on sampling etc.

I'd really appreciate it if people would fill in my survey, and then we can compare my sample with the final result. I realise that there is significant bias built in to my sample / sampling, but thats kind of the point!

My 1st Android App

2011-04-14T14:07:00.008+01:00

I've written my first Android App. I'll be honest, I have cheated, but it's my app nonetheless.

I had been good, and downloaded the right software from google, but then I got lazy. I didn't want to work through a pile of tutorials that makes a picture of a cat miaow.

So I googled 'android app templates' in the hope I could find someone had some the techy bit for me. I ended up at www.appsgeyser.com; which almost does it.

It takes a url or bit of a site, and turns it into an app with a custom icon and everything.

Then, once you've downloaded it to your phone, the app shows a more mobile friendly view of the website.

It's not really what I want, but it was fun to set up, and run. It doesn't work offline at all. I'd like it to still run off line with the stored history, and update data when possible. I may have ot make the cat miaow after all!

If you have android then there are 2 qr code links below. 1 to my school blog, the other to the app for that blog. Compare & contrast, and then coment here please!

Web blog

App link

Portable Visualiser

2011-04-06T20:56:00.006+01:00

Some of you will know I got all excited last night when I discovered a new trick with my phone.

I found an app in the Android Market place that lets me use my phone as a wireless webcam. Its called ipwebcam, and can be found on the right.

Its dead easy to set up. Install, choose image size, refresh rate etc, and click run. You need both your phone and PC connected to the same wireless network.

It really is that easy. You then point your browser to the address at the bottom of the screen, and choose how you want to view - I used the "browser built in viewer" with Firefox.

Here are the results...

As you can see, not bad results.

I had issues at school. It didn't work (I was gutted). Turns out the proxy servers can't cope. Fortunately a friendly ICT teacher found a solution. Turn off the proxy. Now (at school) I have Chrome for the internet (all proxied up), and Firefox with proxy turned off for the webcam.

My Dept eLearning rep is @Maridavies82, and while she is a brilliant teacher, she is team apple! There is an iPhone app that does much the same thing - called Mini Web Cam, I believe. All the setting up and proxy issues are the same.

Sadly as a portable visualiser it doesn't really work - the resolution on the camera, and the lighting is not really up to the job. That could be a function of my phone (ZTE Blade btw) as much as anything else.

I have however, enjoyed playing with the gadgetry, and reckon there is scope for using this in other ways. It'll support sound, and as it will work anywhere in the school's wireless bubble it could be a lot of fun...

I'd love to hear if anyone uses phones in this way.

DreamTeachers, not a Dream School

2011-03-04T21:53:00.004Z

Jamie Oliver's Dream School caused quite a stir last week. I didn't watch it, but I didn't feel the need to - there were enough tweets about it to get a general feel. Many comments were along the line of "Why don;t they get good teachers, not celebs".

Then I got this email...

Hello Chris Smy,

Did you see Jamie's Dream School on Channel 4? Did it leave you seething or surprised by the celebrity experts’ approach to teaching? To allow teachers to have their say Jamie Oliver and You Tube have launched a parallel campaign, Britain’s Dream Teachers. Their aim is to promote real teachers who are doing it right in the classroom rather than celebrity experts doing it for the TV.

Britain's Dream Teachers is looking for teachers to video and upload their best approaches to teaching tough GCSE and Standard Grade topics. There will be seven 'Dream Teachers' judged by a panel of past National Teaching Awards winners and the seven teachers will win £3k for themselves and £7k for their school.

The Maths topics teachers are being asked to tackle are:

· How do I rearrange complex algebraic formulae?

· What is Pythagoras’ theorem and where does it apply?

· What are vectors and how do I work them out?

Have a look at http://www.youtube.com/dreamteachers and for tips on creating a short film and to upload your entry. Do also encourage your colleagues from other subjects to get involved, there are topics to be answered in Physics, Biology, Chemistry, Geography, History and English Lit.

The deadline for entries is 5 April.

Thanks

Nicola

Nicola Hern

Hern Communications

My only worry is that it turns into #xteacher. Lets just say I won't be applying.

Square of Area 10

2011-02-28T21:32:00.006Z

This is another one from my PGCE; all those years ago now, but continues to be a favourite little investigation. I take no originality credit! I'm posting in response to @mathsatschool comment on #mathchat that students don't accept that "diamond"s are squares.

I say little, it can be anything from 1 lesson to a week or fortnight's worth.

Resources: Square spotty paper and lots of it.

Draw a square of area 1. Easy enough to start. I get peculiar looks at this stage...
Draw a sqaure of area 4. Have a look around, you get some 16's at this stage.
Draw a square of area 9. They are starting to think either "This is going to be easy" or "He's up to something" depending on how well they know me.
Draw a sqaure of ares ... wait for it (they'll be storming ahead with 16 if they're anything like my usual lot).... draw a square of area 10.

At this point you tend to get the stunned silence, followed by some frantic scribbling. Some clever so and so will root 10, and try to do that. "Exactly 10" usually stops them.

It's worth a play, but here's my offering - and indeed I usually have to show them the answer...

I find I need to show them the 'proof' of its area. My usual method is the Big Square around the outside, take away the triangles....

A = 16 - 4 * (0.5 * 3 * 1) = 10.

I find having a notation for labeling squares handy. This one I'd call 3_1. (To move long an edge you go along 3, down 1, etc).

So - what squares can you draw? Area 20? Area 14? Are there any you cannot do?

Whats great is that you can check their answers really quickly. You'll either see the answer really instantly, or you'll do the algebra with square x_y, and go "Oh - yeah".

Enjoy. Good for Shape / Area work, and for Algebra.

Homework & blogging

2011-02-08T21:07:00.006Z

As many of you know I set up a school departmental blog last week (thanks to everyone who helped give me dots all over my globe). Kids response has been broadly positive, but I still want them to write more and me to write less.

Ukedchat last week was about homework, and I also went on our County Maths Subject Leaders day. All of that conspired to set up the activity below...

I used the new Bowland PD module (The new resources look brilliant) about sharing, setting up the activity in a very similar way to the teacher on the video (but I had 30 children, not 14!).

Here's the activity...I then set the homework bearing in mind some of the comments from Thursday's UKEdchat.

(We use www.plannerlive.com for all our homeworks).

Here are the results...

I'm reasonably happy with the results. If you want to comment on my pedagogy, feel free to comment here.
If you want to comment on their results, Y9 would be so chuffed. That blog is at www.jbsmaths.blogspot.com

Teachmeet Bath Spa

2011-02-07T21:42:00.007Z

My first teachmeet was such buzz.

There's too much going on in my head to properly blog it all, but what a lot of ideas!

It was great to meet so many people that I feel I know but had never met (Sally, Nicky, Emma, Donna, Clare, & bet I've missed someone here). It was great to see colleagues I had persuaded to come along to see ideas, and I'm looking forward to talking about how to use all these fab resources.

I also presented - twice. I think it went down reasonably well, I talked about how fab twitter is, and in a separate demo showed how to use a webcam as an effective visualiser.

Would I go again? Definitely. Would I present again? Absolutely.

I will struggle to get too far afield, with school and family commitments, but will keep my eyes open.

For a much better summary of the content, I'd suggest Emma Asprey's blog from the evening.
http://mustardlearning.com/2011/02/07/teachmeet-bath-spa-university/

For those interested, here is my prez...

Twitter @ School

2011-02-03T21:11:00.009Z

I presented (albeit 5minutes) at our eLearning group tonight. My brief was to talk about how I use twitter. At the end of my bit (I had to shoot off - an 8 year old's birthday - more than my lifes worth to be late) I promised to send some links around about what I'd said.

I've now decided to send one link - this blog - with all my ideas in it. This is primarily for school people, but may be of interest to others.

My personal use of twitter.

1, Why I tweet. An early blog post of mine. It's at http://chrismaths.blogspot.com/2009/12/why-i-tweet.html

2, How to set up a PLN (Personal Learning Network). Also on this blog. http://chrismaths.blogspot.com/p/how-to-set-up-your-pln.html

3, #Ukedchat (see http://ianaddison.net/?p=288 or http://ukedchat.wikispaces.com/ for details

4, Networking. I'm the only timetabler in school, so where do i go to talk to other timetablers. It's also a place to talk to teachers from other phases - primary, tertiary, etc..

School Use.

1, I've got a school twitter account. It's at http://twitter.com/JBSMaths It's the one I share with students.

2, I have strict (but positive) guidelines on how it is used. All of this can be found by going to my new dept blog - http://jbsmaths.blogspot.com/p/twitter.htmltml

Hootsuite lets me see what students write, when and only when they @mention my acc. So far this has been a very successful technique. Below is an exmaple of what I see on hootsuite...

Whilst I could read all their tweets, i really have no desire to!

Anything I need to add?

My favourite Maths Android Apps.

2011-01-27T10:57:00.019Z

I recently got an android smartphone - I didn't get what I really wanted - an HTC7, or Desire, but went for the cheaper San Francisco from Orange - apparently the same as the ZTE Blade (or so I'm told).

It's camera isn't stunning, and it has a slightly irritating tendency to drop its wireless at the drop of a hat, but it does the job. I can make and recieve calls, and texts, and it can run everything i've downloaded from the Android App market.

Once I got the games I wanted sorted (Angry Birds is maths / physics based - honest) I've started to think about how I can use it as a classroom tool - for me, and how students can use their phones (at home more than at school) to help check their work. As you can tell from the fact that I balked at paying for a better phone, I don't really want to shell out more than I need to, so most of these will be free apps.

Here are a few of my thoughts.

1. Quickmark. A nice straightforward QR reader. Will also create them (All the codes on this page were created with it) and store the history of searches. Nice simple interface, and easy to use. I do realise there is an irony in the adding of a QR code link to a QR reader... I'm still slightly unconvinced about QR Codes, above and beyond gimmick value. I'm going to continue to use them and develop their use in school. Our Head of Transition and I are working on a QR trail for open evening this year, to enrich the whole process. That'll be a seperate blog.
2. Algeo. I've only recently discovered this particular gem. I was trying to demonstrate non linear simultaneous equations, and why they have more than one pair of solutions. Usually I use Autograph or Omnigraph on my laptop and Smart board, but I was not near it. Algeo is a graph plotter - up to three graphs at once, with zoom. It's only y=f(x), so circles etc an issue, but trig graphs work (and it defaults to radians). You can zoom, pan, and even trace. It won't work out intersections, so you'll need to zoom close enough to have a look properly, but it illustrates things nicely, and will help students with double checking their curve sketching.
3. Integration and Differentiation. This really is a student app. It's a self assessment app that puts a few questions on the screen, and students differentiate or integrate them. Click on the question, and it gives the answer. From a quick play it seems to cover a fair bit of the A level maths specs as they currently are.
4. RealCalc. A scientific Calcultaor. Better than the built in calculator, but still not what I really want. It is oldfashioned in that you do "70 sin" instead of "sin 70", and there is no fraction button. I guess what I am after is something more like the casio that most students seem to have these days. If anyone finds one, drop me a line!
5. Solver. Solve's quadratics equations. Does what it says on the tin. Even copes admirably with complex solutions.
6.Triangle Solver. Solves traingles. Put in the three bits of info you know (combinations of sides and angles) and it tells you the other three (and even produces a nice little sketch). Only needs a combination of Sine and Cosine rule, but again, useful for checking answers (for me and them!)
No discussion of maths apps would be complete without a discussion of Wolfram\|Alpha. When the iphone app was first produced at an astronomical price tag (£50 rings a bell, but I'm not 100% on that) I couldn't imagine needing it - the mobile web version is still free and simple (ish) to use. Then I bought it in a sale (79p) for my ipod touch. It is brilliant, as you get a much richer keyboard, for symbols integrals etc. The price is currently about £1.20 on android, and so far I've resisted. I suspect its only a matter of time though.

What Apps have I missed. What should I (or my students) not be without to make our mathematical lives simpler?

QR Codes - phase 4.

2011-01-21T14:23:00.004Z

We had our Year 11 into Year 12 evening last night. An opportunity for year 11 to really find out about the choices they can make going into our sixth form.

It was an opportunity for me too. I've given up on pictures on display boards - I'll leave that to Art, and the other visual subjects. I've taken to using my big wide screen monitor on a shelf, and a flyer. We're always a popular subject - the maths sells itself.

Here's my slide show(I must get more into Prezi - this could look so good in there )...

The QR code just links to our VLE, where there is another copy of the presentation.
As you can see there is a little code in the corner of each page. We also produced a flyer with similar information on it for students to take away with them - this too had the same QR code, and (potentially controversially) the address of my school Twitter Account.

As you can see so far the QR code has had 7 hits - not a landslide response, but on the other hand, it may be 7 people accessing information that would not otherwise have done so.

Whole Staff Algebra

2011-01-04T20:23:00.008Z

As you may be aware from my twitter feed last week, I rather foolishly vounteered to do some maths with the whole staff today. There was a reason for this. In the past we've done starters as part of sessions that involved cutting and sticking poetry, and dnigbats - more word games. As a department we felt that we should be able to come up with some maths that was accessible to the whole staff.

I got my plan as a result of the most recent subject leader day - a session on algebraic thinking. My cut down version of the NCETM slideshow is above.

What Went Well. Although I only had 5 minutes, the staff engaged quickly. I didn't do much different to I would with a class - just faster! There was some interesting debate, and I could see people asking questions of their neighbours. When I gave my answer (deliberately wrong) of 40, people were confident enough to call me wrong (although interestingly less confident than students are of calling me wrong!). My final challenge slide went down well, and I had an email within a few minutes of finishing speaking (from an AHT's iPhone!).

Even Better If. I'd have liked a little longer. Mainly I'd have liked longer to discuss wrong and right answers, and ways of counting. Obviously with a class I would have!

Outcomes. From discussions with other staff (not just maths) including SLT and other Middle Leaders I think more people may volunteer to run quick sessions on TD days. Our head of Languages has said she may do some Russian or Latin (Gove would be so proud).

Was it worth it. Yes - without a doubt. It raised the idea of Algebraic thinking (as opposed to simply doing algebra) with all staff - maths and all. It was also a different way to do a bit of learning on a TD day.

Plausible Estimation Quiz

2010-12-14T21:05:00.004Z

One of my favourite end of term lessons is a Plausible Estimation Quiz. I've written about it on the NCETM website, and there is a spreadsheet there to download for scoring too.

In principle it is a quiz, where every answer is a number. Each round is 5 questions, with (ideally) all the answers in that round being the same order of magnitude. At the end of the round all 5 answers are added, and that number is the teams submitted score. The difference between the real answer, and the submitted answer is worked out, and then points awarded according to who is closest.

Usually I use Wolfram|Alpha to find answers, for random questions that pop into my head, either as I'm planning, or as I'm actually doing the quiz. Frustratingly I don't have a record of questions I've asked! I'd like to harness the power of twitter to get more questions.

1. Please suggest some questions! If you have the answers too, so much the better.
Click here to Launch the Form

2. Feel free to use it yourself. Click here to access the questions.

QR Codes. Phase 2

2010-12-03T12:41:00.004Z

I've started phase two of my attempt to get more teachers to know what QR codes are, and how they may be useful.

We have ID badges that we have to wear. Most schools do. All I've done is create a QR vCard, made it small, and stuck it to my badge. I've spoken to a few people about it (including around eSafety), and they like the idea. If parents ask for my contact details (at subject evening etc.), they can access them from the code.

If anyone would like to check that it works and email me!

Phase three also in the pipeline; using them in the community.

QR codes Phase 1

2010-11-28T22:04:00.005Z

I was a little slow on the uptake with QR codes. I don't have a smart phone (yet), so was not at the cutting edge of having a clue what this was all about. Once I realised, I decided "that sounds fun, and useful, lets have a play".

I needed to be wary. Mobile devices are not banned in school, as such, but they are not allowed to be out at any stage, and certainly not in lessons. I agree completely with this policy; at the moment and on the whole the disruption they cause when visible outweighs the benefits. As and when we change the rules, I'll make sure I'm very involved in the details. That however is another issue.

I put together this poster.
For those of you without QR readers, I downloaded (for free) Quickmark, which seems to work well with my webcam. I put the posters in Y10 tutor rooms, in which students are unsupervised at lunchtime. I hoped they may read them during these times they were less likely to have their phones confiscated.

Apparently not. According to my bit.ly tracking there were not dozens of hits, unless the tracking doesn't fully work.

Phase two is to more legitimately engage parents throug the newsletter. Details to follow...

Helping students less.

2010-11-08T12:18:00.007Z

I don't like helping students with their maths.

That's probably controversial (and probably not true either), so I'd better qualify it.

I don't like helping student's with their maths, until they have made an effort to help themselves.

That's better. The question is how to best help them do that! It's all about independent learning and learning to learn. Here is one way I've developed in my classroom, that is now all around my department, and starting to spread, as I've spoken with at least one other Maths Subject leader about it...

Maths Posters. Seems simple enough. I've downloaded and printed the "Maths Facts" posters from here. I printed them onto different colour card - green for shape, yellow for data, blue for algebra and pink for number, and had them laminated.

I did have them around the back of my room, but my LA advisor suggested moving them to the front.

Now, whenever a student first asks for help, all I need to say (much of the time) is "there's a poster about that", and they go to find it. If they're still stuck then of course I'll help.

It's getting to the stage where the question is not "Which one is the mean again?" but becoming "Where is the poster about the mean again?"

Yes, I let them get up during a test to look - after all tests are formative as well as summative. I also get them to right down on their test paper which posters they needed to look at. This gives them a starting point for their revision for their exams.

Rocket Science - no.
Simple and effective - yes.BTW - I want a better phone...

Mathemagic

2010-10-29T10:19:00.002+01:00

My favorite card trick! I posted it on youtube a while back, for an ncetm thread, and sudddenly thought I could post it here.

Enjoy.

Newpage - how to set up a PLN

2010-10-25T17:31:00.003+01:00

I've set up a new standalone "How to set up your PLN page". Please tell me what you think and what I've missed...
The link is on the right. I'd welcome comments here...

Factor caterpillars

2010-09-28T17:48:00.008+01:00

1. Choose a start number. Find the factors of the number..
e.g. 16. Factors are 1,2,4,8,16
2. Add up the PROPER Factors of the number.
e.g. 1+2+4+8=15.

Repeat for 15.
Factors are 1,3,5,15.
1+3+5=9.

Factors of 9 are 1,3,9
1+3=4

Factors of 4 are 1,2,4
1+2=3

Factors of 3 are 1,3 (3 is prime as it has two factors).

1=1 So stop here.

If you write each number in your chain on a circle of card, you can make lovely caterpillars.

Good questions. Whixh numbers under 100 make the longest chain.
Which numbers are boring! (Primes)
Why are square numbers interesting here?
What is special about powers of 2 to start?
What is really special about 6 and 28!
Try 220!

FULL PAGE LINK

Here are some pictures...
One of them includes what happens when you start at 30 ...

Difference of 4

2010-09-13T21:14:00.006+01:00

This is one of my favoruite early lessons, and really lends itself to mixed ability Y7. I'm posting it in response to the mathchat discussion tonight.

Start with a 2x2 grid, and put numbers in the spaces...

Having done this, drawe a few arrows, and do some times tables...

Followed by some adding...

Then, simply - the difference between 46 and 64 is 18.

Questions you can ask...

"Can you choose numbers that give you a difference of 4"

"What happens if you use the same numbers, in a different order"

"What happens if you add 1 to every number"

"Are there any differences you cannot make"

"what happens if you put numbers in in a pattern - 2,4,6,8, etc"

"Is there more than 1 way to make a difference of 4?"

....

It is a lot of fun (and I take no original credit for the lesson. Picked it up on my PGCE many moons ago (OK - 1995/96!)

Supermarkets' Dodgy Special offers.

2010-08-28T15:05:00.004+01:00

1. Diet Coke. £1.09 each, or 2 for £1.70. This is a good special offer.

2. Beer. £4.00 for a pack, or £9.00 for two packs. This is a bad special offer.

3. Bread. £1.00 for 1 loaf, £2.00 for two. This is an irrelevant special offer.

If you don't beleive the 2nd one, I saw it in Tesco Extra Llanelli, and here is the proof!

(Click it to see the full prices)

The third one I saw in my local Tesco metro this morning, and as luck would have it there was a minion stocking the shelves, so I asked him about it!

His opinion (and I don't think its the party line) is that the "2 for £2" bit is a Tesco global policy, but each store can change their own prices, so while they charge £1.00for one, a smaller store may charge £1.09.

I still think they should put their prices through a sanity check, as it just makes them look stupid!

Queueing

2010-08-22T21:34:00.002+01:00

Written after our trip to Legoland.

I understand queueing. I am British, after all! I get the idea that one waits, until it is ones turn.

I understand supermarket queueing. I like the challenge of looking for the shortest (time not distance) queue. I appreciate the Post Office style 'Cashier Number 5 please', mainly because although it is a longer queue it keeps moving along steadily

I don't like it when people push in. I can cope with people returning to a queue after a small child needs the toilet (been there!), and just about with a person catching up with the rest of their group (although part of me thinks that the rest of the group should let people through until the left behind member catches up naturally).

What I don't understand are theme park Q-bots.

Q-bots are virtual q-ers. They allow you (at an extra cost) to be in a virtual queue, and turn up when at the front, to get on the ride. I should point out that this idea is not exclusive to Legoland. Most theme parks, I believe have something similar. There is now also a Q bot express, for even less queueing!

There are 2 issues here.

1. I don't think it's fair that just because someone has more money they shouldn't have to queue. I've payed plenty for my ticket! (actually I haven't, I've used tesco clubcard vouchers, but in principle). They also board the ride first, meaning they get the best seats, every time, whether you like the front of the roller coaster, or the back, or the seat by the giraffe on the train. That's not fair either.

2. The signs everywhere state that this system doesn't make queueing time longer for anyone.

It's this 2nd statement with which I take exception, from a mathematical point of view. It certainly feels longer.

Case study 1

I'm in a queue for a little roller coaster. The roller coaster seats 12, and there are 6 people in front of us. I feel I should get on, but 6 people roll up the qbot line, so I don't. That feels like a longer queue. (and multiply that for every time the queue should move forward 12 spaces but only does 6).

Their argument is that I haven't waited any longer, as those people would gave been in front of me in the queue - they were there virtually, so I would have had to wait that long, I just didn't see the people.

Case study 2.

We've split up, I'm with 2 of the kids queueing for ride A. Mrs S is with 3rd daughter queueing for ride B. In front of me is a virtual family (but I don't know it). They would queue for ride A, but are richer than me, so don't really have to. How do their real selves spend the extra free time? By queueing for ride B, meaning the rest of my family are also queueing longer because of the same people.

That's the flaw in the argument as I see it, that 1 person can be in two queues at the same time and that must make total queue time on the park longer. It also makes the shows / shops etc busier

Either their argument is flawed, or mine is. Which?

Disney, btw and IMHO have a much fairer system, just for the record, as everyone can fasttrack 1 ride at a time, and there is no paying extra involved.

TweetDeck - multiple accounts

2010-08-08T11:12:00.003+01:00

A few people have asked recently how to set up (and manage) multiple twitter accounts. This is mainly in the light of #twittereducator and @tweetingeducatr, but I've been running two accounts for a bit (I know many others are too).

Step by Step guide... (Pictures will follow)
1. Set up a 2nd (3rd, 4th) account on twitter. Please remember all usernames and passwords!!

2. Open Tweetdeck. Click on "Add more accounts". It's one the Top left of the page, next to the blue icon with your Avatar on it.

3. When the Tweetdeck settings page appears, Click on Add new account, and choose Twitter. Type in the details, and CLick Verify. Simples.
4. You will get a grey icon at the top, next to the blue one. Whichever one (or ones) are blue, you are tweeting from, if it is grey, it is not active. When you add columns, you'll be asked for which account.

5. Replies are automatically sent from the account you are replying too.

Questions?!! Like I said, a bit of a rush!

#TwitterEducator

2010-08-07T14:56:00.006+01:00

Firstly, can I apologise NOW for wrong use of apostrophes. When typing twitter #tags, if you want to pluralise (is that made up too?) the tag, you cannot just put s on the end or it becomes a new tag. Therefor here when I'm typing tags I'll stick to that convention.

I've really grown to like #ukedchat. It's a great way to network, but with more of a focus than your usual ongoing teacher chat. At the end of each week, there is usually a suggestion to BlastFollow all #ukedchat-ers. Blast Follow is a way to follow ALL people who post with a particular tag.

Then the other day there was the suggestion (I think from, but certainly blogged by @primarypete_) that we tweet #twittereducator, and then blastfollow that tag.

I wasn't convinced. I've found that twitter following is a bit like boiling a frog. You can keep up when you follow 12 people, and wonder how people keep up with 50. You get to 50, and thats fine, but how can people manage to follow 100? By 100, you're doing fine, but there are people who follow 500. And so on. I also tend to follow people with whom I've intereacted, either generally or through a tag such as #movemeon, #ukedchat, and recently #pgcetips.

I know at least one other tweep out there felt the same, as I saw their tweet on the matter, so I got to thinking a solution. Then it came to me - lists. If I set up a list of #twittereducator's I could keep an eye on their tweets, and then follow them if I liked what they said enough. The trick was going to be how to set up the list, as I knew no way (and nor did my pln or google) of turning a tag into a list.

However I did find a solution. If there's a better way, let me know. I created a new twitter account, called @tweetingeducatr. I wanted @twittereducator, obviously but you cannot have twitter in the name and you can only have 15 characters, so I now know!.

This account blastfollowed #twittereducator, and then using tweetdeck I copied all of the people into a list, which I now share. Rather than all following all of the tag, you can keep an eye on the list, and like me individually follow the ones you like the look of. My Tweetdeck columns are getting a little out of hand, now I have 3 accounts, but that's my problem! I don't anticipate tweeting from the new account very often, except maybe to remind people the list is there to follow if they want. If you like the idea, the list is here.

Could it be done differently? Is this useful? Let me know.

PS1. Here is @dughall's link - http://twitter.com/Tweetingeducatr/twittereducator/members

PS2. Here is the XKCD cartoon I'm reminded of when reading my post.

Academies - am I right to be worried?

2010-07-19T20:37:00.004+01:00

I'll be honest and admit that I'm not sure about academies. I have a few worries.

One is about how it is being rushed through. I suspect the media are playing a but of a political game with this, but there is no doubt that this is being rushed for September. I'm slightly curious as to what the big rush is.

I'm also concerned for my local area (where I live, more than where I teach). We have 3 schools in town. 2 are officially outstanding, and well established. The third is offically satisfactory, with good featrues, and improving, as well as relatively new. It was also inspected quite early under the new framework, when they were being tougher.

It's the third school I'm worried for. It's the one my daughters ought to go to, asI'd like them to go to the most local school. If the other 2 become academies, and they do not, it is not going to do their reputation any good, and so they will continue to be the third choice for many in town.

With both these point in mind I sent a tweet to my local MP - I also RT'ed it under ukedchat, you may have seen it. I actually got a reply, which I'm impressed by, but am not sure where to go from here.

UKEdchat - trying to bring more into the fold.

2010-07-18T20:44:00.005+01:00

Below is the text of an email I've sent to my team and SLT. It's an attempt to get more people from school involved.

Dear all,

No Monday Notes proper this week – as I said last week, that was the last of the year. There are however, a couple of things I want to mention going forward into the holiday.

There was an online debate last Thursday night called UKEdchat. It’s every Thursday night (this was the 3rd). This week was about creativity, and what it means, and how we can encourage it. It threw up a few interesting ideas.

Firstly, there was some discussion about exercise books. Why do we use them? What’s the point, and whose benefit is it for? Now I’m not about the suggest that we don’t use books (although we seem to get through an awful lot), but maybe we need to look at how we use them. Most students (in my opinion) don’t ever look back at their stuff, and that’s something to look at. This is leading to this link… http://kn.open.ac.uk/public/document.cfm?docid=12916 which is a research document about Learning Journals. I’d like to consider next year how we could use something like this.

Also looking at creativity, the same person who wrote the above research paper blogged “creativity in the maths classroom”. It’s at http://mainlyschool.blogspot.com/2010/07/creative-maths-classrooms.html and makes for quite an interesting read, and there are things I want to try (but probably not this week).

People’s summaries after the event can be found at http://ukedchat.wordpress.com/2010/07/17/participants-reflections-from-15072010/ .

Each week a different person shortlists 5 question’s and it polled. The poll is at http://twtpoll.com/pv56x8 . This Thursday’s promises to be interesting. Leading the vote (as I write this) is How do we make IWB’s truly interactive. As you can imagine I’ve got a few ideas to contribute, and look forward to learning more. Second place (currently) is “How do we encourage student ownership of their learning”, also something I’d like to discuss, so it looks to be a good evening either way. I’m certainly planning to take part fully.

If you want to know how to either lurk, or to take part fully, give me a shout. It’s well worth it!

Chris

Google Update

2010-06-29T22:20:00.002+01:00

An email I got from our County ICT people on the blocking of Google....

Dear All,

I am pleased to inform you all that the testing of SWGfL SafetyNet with the changes that Google made over the weekend have been successfully completed.

From Wednesday morning:

· https://encrypted.google.com will be blocked and therefore access to Search over SSL will be prevented for all users in the SWGfL. School have the option to unblock https://encrypted.google.com , but there should be no reason for taking this option.

· https://www.google.com will be unblocked. This will enable the use Gmail and other Google application which require a Log on to be used. Please note that if you visit the site https://www/google/com the page will be displayed as if you are about to make a search, but when you attempt to make a search the https://encrypted.google.com filter will block the site.

· If users attempt to use http://encrypted.google.com there will not be any SWGfL SafetyNet filtering page, but a browser message stating that the browser cannot display the web page. This is because the block is on a https:// page.

· The SWGfL Support desk is ready to provide assistance should schools have any queries.

Hopefully it will all work now!!

Why Google has been blocked

2010-06-14T21:11:00.002+01:00

Copy of FAQ of Why Google has been blocked.

Having found out by chance that Google was to be blocked at school this morning, and only finding out by chance from a friend, I started emailing around school & County. This is a copy of the FAQ I got back. What I'm just as concerned by is that when I contacted school, it seemed that I was the first to know about this. I'll let you know how I get on in my campaign to get Google re-instated in school (for Staff & Students).

Frequently Asked Questions

Why has Google “search over SSL” been blocked.?

The Google’s Search over SLL” effectively by passes any filtering controls that schools / local authorities/ SWGfL has for the use of Google search engine. Typically the normal settings which schools would use are:

· Search term filtering - the ability to prevent certain words from being used when performing a search.

· Content filtering – the ability of SWGfL SafetyNet to dynamically read the results from a search and if inappropriate content is found in the results block the display of that page.

· Control the access to Goolge’s safe searching features so that individuals cannot select the “do not filter my search results”, options

Without these controls anyone using Google’s “search over SSL” has uncontrolled access to the search engine.

The beta version of Google’s “search over SLL” current searches, web pages, Videos, Books, News, Blogs, Updates and discussions. Please note that the video search also return thumbnail images which are not filtered.

You need to be aware that blocking https://www.google.com also prevents access to Google applications where you need to login to the service, for example Gmail.

Does this affect Google’s normal search?

No. All other Google search engines will work. e.g. http://www.google.com, http://www.google.co.uk etc

When was Google’s “search over SSL” Blocked ?

The decision to block Google’s “Search over SSL” was taken by Local Authorities and the SWGfL after consultation with experts in the field, Lawyers and Local Authority Staff. Emails were sent to Headteachers at schools in each Local Authority on the 8^th 9^th June 2010 explaining the decision. The Block came into effect on over the weekend 12^th 13^th June 2010

Are there any other implications of Blocking https://www.google.com ?

A side effect of the blocking is that it also blocks the ability to log in to Google applications such as Gmail. The SWGfL is investigation potential solutions and is in dialog with Google to try and find an alternative.

Can schools unblock Google’s “search over SSL”?

The short answer is “Yes”, however schools need to be fully aware of the implications in that unblocking https://www.google.com , basically gives any user in the school uncontrolled access to the search engine.

Schools can request to have https://www.google.com unblocked by

a.) Visiting the web page at .... completing the form
or if having difficulties by:

b.) Calling the SWGfL help desk

c.) Or your Local Authority support

SWGfL SafetyNet will be updates to enable schools to make these changes, planned for the week beginning 14^th June, but only for those schools using the latest version SWGfL SafetyNet . An update for the older version is planned for later in June.

What happens when a user tries to access https://www.google.com when it is blocked ?

For most users there will not be a filtering messages, users will see a browser message explaining that the pages was not available.

Some Scenarios with advice following the blocking of Google’s “search over SSL”

1. School requires access to Google search engines

Impact: Low.
Schools will be protected using SWGfL SafetyNet as before. The search engine http://www.google.com, and http://www.google.co.uk are still operational

2. Some members of staff need to continue to use Gmail and/or other Google applications requiring you to log in.

Impact: Medium.
The blocking of https://www.google.com will prevent staff from logging into Gmail and other Google applications. Schools are asked to consider the use these services and if required then schools are able to make use of the staff proxy functionality. This feature of SWGfL SafetyNet enables members of staff to have a username and password that allows unfiltered access to the Internet from certain dedicated computers in the school and consequently access to https://www.google.com whilst other users remain blocked.

3. Staff and pupils require access to Gmail and other Google applications requiring you to log in to access the service

Impact: High.
The blocking of https://www.google.com will prevent access to the Google applications. Schools will need to consider the implications for unblocking https://www.google.com for the whole school and the processes they will put in place to monitor pupils access of the Googles search over SLL” . It is recommended that any school considering this option contacts their Local Authority for advice.

The SWGfL have made available a web page to request that Google’s “search over SSL” is made available to the school, and consequently access to Gmail and other Google applications .

Web Page .....

Real Functional Maths

2010-05-13T20:35:00.005+01:00

I like maths. I like maths because it's useful, but sometimes in class that is not always obvious. Imagine my delight when I got this email from my little brother (OK, he's 26, but compared to me..).

So we're having a little trouble working out a backup plan should the ash cloud ground our flights next month... we plan on booking a backup coach/train combo to get to barcelona in case Vatnajokull kicks off again.

The plane fare is refundable if the ash kicks off - its price is £75.

For the coach/train, we have two options. One is half refundable - total price £100, but £40 of that is refundable. The other is fully refundable - total price £159.50, all of that refundable.

We're putting the odds of Iceland ruining things at 50/50, so which one train fare is best - half or full - to get based on the prices involved?

This got me thinking. Partly thinking about how to solve the problem, and partly "ooh - that's a good lesson idea".

Anyhow, here is the spreadsheet I wrote ...

&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;

The full link is here...

Now all I need to do is turn it into a lesson. Modelling, excel skills, researching prices, ...

I feel a bit let down by the technology.

2010-05-10T21:30:00.002+01:00

I always feel a high tech solution should be better (more efficient, slicker, make me look better) than a low tech one. With that in mind when planning to collect heights of Y9 to do some serious stats with, I decided to set up a motion sensor in the top of the doorway, and measure the distance to the floor.

Then as students arrive, they stand in the doorway (no heels please), and the sensor measures the distance to the top of their heads. They type that in to a Google Form (along with Age, gender, and some other bits), and then the spreadsheet subtracts one from the other to give their height.

This should have been fool proof. Yeah, right.

Sensor in doorway. Check.

It measures 2.04 m to the ground. Check with tape measure. Check.

I stand underneath, subtract reading from 2.04m to get my height. It tells me I'm 186 cm - 6'1" (according to Wolfram|Alpha).

The problem? I'm 6'3". Double check against my known kids heights. It puts them down 2 inches (and Pippa was measured by school nurse recently). Check with the missus - it puts her short too, by an inch and a half (and she checked at the gym recently).

I can't work out how it could possibly be wrong, but it is.

So my lesson plan goes back to having a metre ruler on the wall, which upsets me more than is reasonable! At least I'm still using GoogleForms to collect the data. That's progress at least.

Using Google in school

2010-03-26T12:00:00.002Z

I'm probably behind the times. In terms of using google in school, I know that probably anyone reading this is streets ahead of me, but in terms of the "pencil" analogy,I like to think I'm a sharp, so am happy to steal ideas from you Leaders out there.

So, here is how I've found Google useful to me in teaching in 2010, and bear in mind that in 2009 all google was to me was a search engine (and maps and google earth, but that's all!).

1. Google Docs for coursework. I read the idea in #movemeon and ran with it. About half my Y10 GCSE Statistics class created a google account, and used that to write their stats coursework. As they worked they shared it with me, so I could go in, correct / annotate it as they went along. On first glance, those that used google docs have got better coursework than those that just worked on it on their own. Obviously I kept to exam board rules and guidelines, but I was able to have the sorts of conversations I'd have had in class, at any time.
I've shown it to other departments now and have discovered they are using it to good effect. I've also uploaded our department handbook to GoogleDocs, so that anyone in the team can edit it if they need to.

2. Google Docs for Parents Evening. We have a system whereby students collect subject consultation evening appointments on little scraps of paper stuck in their planner. This system works, after a fashion, but there was a flaw this year as one of my form was off sick, and parents still wanted appointments (reasonably enough).
So, I set up a spreadsheet, emailed teachers the link, and told them to make appointments for this family. This meant there were no clashes, as the teachers still set the times, and I could leave a copy of the times at the front desk for them.
I'm not sure this would work large scale yet, but for this particular case it was brilliant.

3. Google Forms for reply slips. As inspired by Tom Barretts (as always) excellent blog on how he used google forms to collect data. I'd never even realised google forms existed until then! We've run a Y10 maths information evening, and have sent out invitations to ALL year 10 parents. To get an idea of numbers there is a reply slip at the bottom, but I decided that I also wanted to get parents to be able to reply online (the weak link in the slip system is that it's students that have to return the slips!).
Setting up the form took about half an hour (and would be quicker next time), and then I created a cutomized bit.ly address to make it more attractive.
I actually put the address as a www (www.bit.ly/jbsmathsevening) as I thought parents would be more comfortable with a web address starting www. I'm indebted to 2 members of my twitter PLN who 'roadtested' the form for me, and gave layout advice, @tomhenzley and @jobadge. We had about 30 parents come, with almost half of the replies being electronically. For a first effort, I was very pleased.

Next steps - make SLT aware of how we can use these resources, and get other departments to use them. Not quite sure how yet!

Learning Goals at Post 16, ideas please

2010-03-13T21:25:00.007Z

I like learning goals. For me they help keep both me and my students focussed on what it is we are doing – what we are doing, and what we are trying to achieve in my maths lessons. We've had a real drive on them a

t school in the last couple of years, and although excellent teachers continue to be excel

lent, I believe that to some extent they can help developing teachers become better. As I've said, I like them.

We've had a departmental push on them also – I've used my Monday Notes to get people to share what they've used. Here are a couple of examples that people have sent me of how they have used them in lessons (another joy of the IWB), taken from last November's notes.

As you can see, I do use them with the Sixth form. This is where I need a little help, please. I was asked by our Head in October “What's the difference between an 'A' grade student, and a 'C' grade student at A level.” He went on - “more particularly what's the difference between an A grade students

exam paper and a 'C' grade student's paper?”

I will admit here to having answered slightly flippantly. “The A grade student gets more marks, because they get more questions right.” This was only slightly flippant, as its also true. I did get a bit of a look, and the question was pushed a bit further. My response was to return to my original repsonse, but with less flippancy in my voice, and to clarify the situation...

“In A level Maths, the top students get most of

the marks. A 'C' grade student will get fewer marks, but not all 'C' grade students will get the same fewer marks. For example, in C2, an 'A' grade student will be able to do the above, and answer all the questions involving logs. One 'C' grade student might not get those marks, but a different one will, but not get the marks on the binomial expansion (for example).”

(With SLT consisting of Music and Humanities teachers there was a degree of glazing over at this point).

We had a post 16 Teaching and Learning Audit last week. Part of our departmental feedback was around Learning Goals.

We should still have them at A level. Tick – I agree.
They should still be differentiated. Tick – Will / Should / Might.
They should be grade related (just like the KS3 / GCSE ones above are). Aaah.

There is my problem. Can anyone help with how to do this for A level maths. Does anybody grade relate learning goals for A level maths? What is the difference between a 'A' grade student / script and a 'C' or 'E' grade student / script.

Please help.

keepmehere or movemeon?

2010-03-06T12:10:00.000Z

I love the #movemeon book. I can't use all the ideas - but as the last tweet says, one thing at a time.

I've also enjoyed the #keepmehere tweets, although I'm alarmed at the number of tweets that I've heard people in school say in all seriousness. In addition to this I was lurking around a lot of #edread tweets on World Book Day. Here's a #keepmehere I read...

#keepmehere reading your book in class while the children are working reinforces how to read well.
(From @mister_jim)

But then, a bit later I read this ...

When having silent reading, read a book as well. Set an example and they'll follow. #edread
(from @daveterron)

I'm not a literacy expert, but this was advice I was given when last a Y7 tutor and we had a regular silent reading slot. What really made me think is that it is being quoted as a strategy here in two completely contradictory ways!

It's not really about reading. That is the example that I saw here, but who's to say what's definitely right, or definitely wrong in teaching. Maybe that's the trouble with twitter - your average tweet doesn't need the research to back it up.

Who's to say that my #movemeon contributions are any good? They work for me, and that's all I'm saying. Similarly with most of the keepmehere.

Just an observation...

(and thankyou to @mister_jim and @daveterron for letting me quote them).

Outstanding Department; please help

2010-02-13T22:40:00.002Z

I need help. We've got a training day on the 1st day back after half term, and it is going to be brilliant. Instead of a 1 size fits all day in school, it is a cross county federation day, with different schools offering different things. So, there are sessions for NQTs and sessions for less experienced teachers. My ks3 co-ordinators are going to sessions about KS3 across the curriculum and my KS4 co-ordinator is approaching threshold, so going on a session targetting that. I've opted for a day about taking a department from good to outstanding; as a middle leader it sounded like a good idea.

So far so good. Then towards the end of last week I was asked (with 2 other HoDs) to actually run some of the session! That's where I need help. Please give me hints on how to run an outstanding department, or at least how to tell people how to run an outstanding department.

I've got some ideas, naturally. I'm going to use my Monday Morning Maths Memo as a way to share best practice, and as a way to lead a large team. I'll also mention #newleaders(if I can re-find them) and #movemeon, but would like other practical things. Please comment, or Tweet me.

Dodgy Statistics - or am I being oversensitive.

2010-02-07T16:17:00.003Z

I need a little help. I am a Statistician by nature, so sometimes get a little oversensitive when it comes to analysing stats - I get ... wound up? irritated? ... by dodgy stats.

Here's the latest, and you can tell me if I'm right, or if I need to shut up and get on with it.

Last years Y13 did an exit questionnaire, for ALIS. It asked them all about what teaching styles they experienced in each subject that they studied. For example ...
"Presentation of a topic by the teacher" or.../
" Practical Work (Using apparatus or Making things)."
... and so on. There were 22 catagories.

Students rate each one from 1 to 6, on the follwoing measure..
1 = never or almost never
2 = about once a term
3 = about once a month
4 = about once a fortnight
5 = about twice a week
6 = about once a lesson.

Scores for all students in each subject (sample size = 7 in my case, but that's another gripe) were then averaged (arithmetic mean for fellow stats types), and these published and compared with national figures.

Here's the problem(s).
1. My Preparing Essays scores was 1.29 (1+1/7). This means that one student thought we prepared essays about once a term. I haven't prepared an essay since my PGCE in 1996. This is a lack of awareness by the students that sheds doubt on all responses.

2. If 4 students respond "Never" and 3 respond "once a lesson" then the average is 22/7 = 3.14 which appears to be once a month despite the fact that NOT ONE STUDENT said once a month. Surely the mode (most common) response of "Never" is more appropriate?

Please help me out with this one?!

Why I Like End of Key Stage National Tests

2010-01-30T22:18:00.005Z

Don't shoot me, but I like SATS (End of Key Stage National Tests - to give them their proper name!). Let me qualify slightly, I like them at KS2 and KS3, but am less convinced by KS1.
(for any non-UK readers, KS1 tests are at about aged 7, KS2 are aged 11 - the end of primary school, KS3 are aged 14, and GCSE exams are at 16, which is the end of KS4 and the end of compulsory education)

I know that's controversial at the moment, that unions (NUT & NAHT) are balloting on boycotting, and that they have support from Mums.net, so before you light the torches, and get the pitchforks out, let me set out my stall and then you can run me out of town!

Let me start by saying I HATE LEAGUE TABLES. I don't like them for primary schools, and I don't like them for secondary schools. As they stand they are grossly unfair - more so for primaries than secondaries - I think. This being because each Y6 in a small primary could be 10% of the data, and even in a big primary could be as high as 2%. For us last year, each student in Y11 was 0.55%. We achieved 49.4% scoring 5+ A*-C, which makes us officially Satisfactory.

Value Added (preferably contextualised) is much fairer. It looks at where children started, and how much progress they have made. From that point of view, with CVA of about 1008 last year, my school is Good. This however relies on the data being reliable and accurate, and for me that's where SATS at KS2 come in.

For secondary schools, our baseline data is KS2 scores. This is the measure used by DCSF, FFT, and all the other acronymic (real word?!) quangos by which our progress is measured. Whether it is 3 levels progress, 4 levels progress, or CVA the premise is the same. Without solid reliable baseline data, the rest is meaningless.
(I'm reminded here of a Dilbert cartoon about inaccurate data, but sadly I couldn't find it online).

I'm not saying that primary teachers would not give reliable Teacher Assessments. The vast majority would and do, but given they are so closely tied to league tables if you have a borderline 3/4 student, and you know that a TA of 4 would add 10% to your figures, there must at least be a temptation. This is not exclusive to primaries - I have the same concerns and misgivings about courses that at KS4 and post 16 are entirely teacher assessed.

The reason I like KS3 tests is that they are (in maths) good preparation for GCSE exams. Maths is entirely exam assessed at GCSE, and given we (like many schools) do a modular course, the first exam in is November of Y10. If a students first experience of an external exam assessment is the GCSE, then this could throw them. We have mock sats this week, and many students will get it wrong going into the exam hall. The vast majority of them will then get it right in May, but again not all. By November, and their modules, they will all be getting it right (or at least that's the plan). We could use mocks in the hall to help, but some students don't take those entirely seriously

I realise this reads a little incoherently, and it many of you will disagree with me. I just wanted to share my views, and put this side of the argument - all I hear on the news is why they are so awful!

Thoughts?

What do our student reports says about us?

2010-01-06T21:33:00.003Z

An interesting thought - how often do we analyse what we write in reports?

Do we get stuck in ruts, with reports, and what does what we write say about us? I got the idea of putting my Y11 reports into Wordle.net from @coolcatteacher, from a retweet. I think I've found someone new to follow there (as often happens). I thought what the hell, I'll try it. One copy and past later, and here is the result. I have tried to scour the reports, and check there's nothing I shouldn't publish, and think I'm OK.

What I don't yet know is what it tells me. I'm tempted to Wordle some of my teams reports - see if they tell me anything about them? Please comment - what do you think my reports say about me as a teacher??

I've sort of been blogging for years...

2010-01-03T21:36:00.007Z

I've only just realised I've been writing a blog for some time, but never realised it. Let me explain...

I'm in my 9th year at my current school, having been originally appointed as 2nd in Maths. At that time my wife was part time at another local school, and a common complaint was that she felt she didn't always know what was going on in the department. At that point I realised there was a danger that all of the team of which I was a part of could be kept better informed.

That was the birth of the "Monday Morning Maths Memo". Shortened to M4 to save space on the paper, and generally called "Maths Notes", or even just "Notes".

It has a very similar layout week to week, with diary dates, meeting agendas for the week (Monday is our meeting day, so that works quite well), and a few key points, for example in the run up to KS4 modules it will have a bit about the admin for the day, or whatever. I upload it to our VLE on Sunday night, so any part timers not in Mondays can read it before their first day of the week if they want to.SLT get a copy too, so they know what we are doing / talking about, as do the TA's linked to the department and our department admin support.

What I've also tried to do, however, is share some of my ethos or ideas through notes. Some of the time it will be a blatant (but always accredited) copy and paste from the NCETM's Mathemapedia, or other places (don't worry - I'll ask before I pinch any of your blogs). Some of the time it'll be based on something I've read, or seen, or an idea. What it boils down to is that I have been writing something that could be called a blog (except that its not online).

I'd recommend all #newleaders start something like this; it's a good way of bringing a new team with you.

Why I Tweet...

2009-12-31T13:12:00.004Z

Quite a lot of people laugh at me for tweeting. My wife thinks its a bit silly, and most of my team don't see the point. The one member of my team who has joined hasn't tweeted since June 9th 2009, and that was only his 4th tweet. I want to share how I got started on twitter, and why I think it is a good thing. I realise it is probably preaching to the converted, but if I can point people here when they ask about it, then maybe they might be convinced...

Almost by chance, if I'm honest. I'm a big fan of Radio 4's friday night comedy, and usually download it to listen to at the gym. One week on The Now Show Mitch Benn sang one of his songs about wanting to be king of twitter, and beat Coldplay and Stephen Fry. I'm usually all for jumping on a bandwagon, so signed up and followed him - that was March 21st 2009, according to http://www.whendidyoujointwitter.com/!

I soon got bored of following celeb types, although the news feeds have stayed. I soon found my brother, with whom I communicate more through twitter than sms or phone calls, and then next 'fad' was twatching. It started with Britains Got Talent, and the tag #bgt. It feels more like watching at a giant pub, but from the luxury of your own sofa. Torchwood Children of Earth (#coe) was next, and of course more recently #xfactor. #theapprentice should also be in there somewhere. Tweetdeck makes this all too easy!

I know many people have more than one account - one for 'work' stuff, and one for 'fun'. I'm reluctant, as I see twitter as a big staffroom. I will talk to work friends about what I saw on TV, but need to remember not to get to carried away (thanks to tweeps who reined in my excessive #jedward slating).

Somewhere along the line I started following and interacting with maths teacher types, and then other teachers, and it has snowballed from there. That's the trick, I think, to have the patience to get to the stage where it does snowball, and you find the right people to not just follow, but interact with. Having been involved with #movemeon has made me feel useful - that I have something to add to the discussion, and eventually I hope to be putting as much in as I take out, but I'm not there yet. The number of ideas I've shared with colleagues, and classes that I would not otherwise have known about, from Interactive Volcanoes to WallWisher and MathsMaps, and all of the 'Interesting Ways'.

Targets for 2010 -
Convert at least 1 colleague.
Add more take less.
I know the second one isn't a smart target, but then this is for me, not a performance management interview...

Happy New Year.

About Me...

2009-12-29T20:49:00.007Z

I am a Head of Mathematics (Curriculum Leader in TLR speak) in a largeish (1200) comprehensive. I have a team of nine other maths teachers, ranging from a 2nd year teacher, to a 33rd yr teacher! One is a member of SLT, and 4 are part time (including my wife). The school is a language college and a training school (both of which create many oppurtunities) and has satisfactory attainement with good progress (apologies for OfSted speak, but this is likely to be an ofsted yr for us).

I've been teaching since 1996, and as well as being CL Maths, I also write the timetable, and have responsibility for staffing and curriculum design (with various members of SLT).

I do have a life outside of school. I created our 'Payday Curry Club', which does what it says on the tin - an excuse for a group of us to go out monthly and try not to talk shop. I also have a family life - with 3 young daughters (approaching ages 5,7,9 as we approach 2010). This means that almost all of my work is done in evenings, so late ones abound.

I'm on Twitter, I'm @Chris_1974, so feel free to look there too.

New Years Revolution...

2009-12-29T20:38:00.004Z

Apoloiges for the dodgy title, and for what will probably be a very poor attempt at blogging. I have been inspired to start by the simply superb blogs out there by the likes of @tombarrett, @dajbelshaw, @janshs , missbrownsword and many others (apologies to those of you I've forgotten).

Why am I doing this?

I have learnt a lot from Twitter over the last few months, and if nothing else it has made me think I want to improve what I do, both in my own maths classroom, and within my department. As this blog increases, I'll have a record for me, if no one else, of what I tried, did, and what impact it may have had.

Wish me luck...