The rise and rise of A level maths
A Maths Teacher Writes
by A Maths Teacher
6M ago
Provisional entries for exams for Summer 2024 show that maths continues to be the most popular A level, and its popularity continues to rise, faster than most subjects. With 101,230 entries (11.4% up on last year) it comfortably tops the table, with Pyscology (76,130 entries, down 2.4%) and Biology (69,045 entries, up 0.3%) in second and third places. Further Maths is growing, with 17,420 entries this year, nearly 20% more than sat the exam last year. This growth is fantastic, but not without its challenges. Whilst the numbers, nationally, might be big, and getting bigger, in an individual sch ..read more
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Well behaved …
A Maths Teacher Writes
by BAadmin4
9M ago
Mea culpa. In my time, I may have made a few things up. I’ve “created” a new meaning for the verb: “to pythagorize”, and I regularly tell my students of the “Forgotten Formula” (The first: to pythagorize means to “to philosophize in the manner of the Pythagoreans”. In my classroom it means to use or apply Pythagoras’ theorem. For example, to find the magnitude of a vector I may tell my students to “pythagorize the i and j (and k if working in three dimensions) components.” I think it may be stretch to suggest we are philosophizing in the manner of the Pythagoreans when doing this. The second i ..read more
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Outstanding coursework!
A Maths Teacher Writes
by A Maths Teacher
10M ago
Outstanding coursework Weaning myself off school and education at the end of a busy half-term, I found myself scrolling through edu-twitter and reading of a suggestion that coursework may find its way back into GCSE maths. Being somewhat long in the tooth and grey in the hair, I remember “teaching” maths coursework and I don’t think I am unique amongst those of us that taught it in having very mixed feelings about it. I absolutely loved some of the tasks and the way they encouraged mathematical thinking, discussion and communication were great. But there were a few big, BIG, negatives to GCSE ..read more
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The Professor and his protégé
A Maths Teacher Writes
by A Maths Teacher
11M ago
Herr Schmidt was tired. Tired of the cold, tired of the class of forty-seven pre-teen children that sat before him and, he surprised himself to think, tired of his protégé. In fact, the more he pondered, the more he realised it was his protégé that was the root of all his problems. Life had been simple before young Carl was delivered to his door to be a deserving recipient of Herr Schmidt’s careful tutelage. “Ah, the days before Carl” mused the moustachioed Schmidt to himself. Life was simple then. His forty-six eager students would listen attentively, with awe even, to his every word, and th ..read more
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Saving the best ’til last
A Maths Teacher Writes
by A Maths Teacher
1y ago
123123 As the year draws to a close, it throws up perhaps the best date of the year – if you write it in the American (month/day/year) format. Today is the 31st December 2023, 31/12/23 to those of us in the UK, but across the pond today’s date is written as 12/31/23. Dispense with the slashes separating month/day/year and you are left with 123123 – a date which will not come around for another hundred years. Whatever your resolutions and plans for the new year, I am sure you are already looking forward to the 4th February – 4/2/24 or 4224 – our first palindromic date of the new year (of course ..read more
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Heroes and Gifts
A Maths Teacher Writes
by A Maths Teacher
1y ago
Presents for teachers I don’t really “do” heroes, if I were to compile a list of my heroes it wouldn’t be long, but it would include Martin Lewis, of Money Saving Expert fame – he talks sense, knows his numbers and genuinely tries to make the world better place for everyone. He’s been in the news and across social media of late sharing his thoughts on gifts for teachers. (In essence, don’t feel obliged to buy them. If you really do want to give a gift to a teacher club together to give a class gift) As a teacher, I’m always grateful for any gifts I recieve, but certainly don’t expect them, or ..read more
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A glimpse of the future …
A Maths Teacher Writes
by A Maths Teacher
1y ago
A glimpse into the future … I’ve glimpsed the future, or, perhaps more accurately, I glimpsed my future. And it wasn’t a happy sight … October half-term, a chance to catch your breath after the excitement of the start of a new year begins to wane, but the pace doesn’t. A chance to ask: “Where did the time go? How did we get here?” On one hand, it seems like only a moment ago term began, but on the other those long lazy days of the summer holidays seem a lifetime ago. Needing a mental detox after so many weeks in the classroom, on the first Monday of half term, I headed for the peace and tranqu ..read more
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My favourite prime
A Maths Teacher Writes
by A Maths Teacher
2y ago
Toby Farman, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons I will confess, I got a little excited over the Christmas break when I began hearing of youngsters discussing their favourite prime. For me, it has to be 2 – both the first prime, and also, uniquely, the only even prime. The word prime is derived from the Latin “primis” meaning first (the prime numbers are the first numbers as all other numbers (integers) are subsequently made from the “primis” numbers by multiplying them), so 2 could be said to be the “prime prime” (prime squared, anyone? OK, I’m taking possibly taking a few liberties here ..read more
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Mistakes
A Maths Teacher Writes
by A Maths Teacher
3y ago
  Regrets, I’ve had a few, but then again, too few to mention. Mistakes, however, I’ve made (and continue to make) many of them. I made one this morning. I was working through a difficult “ladders” question with an A level Mechanics class, a problem that I had set as a homework and most couldn’t complete. And so, with the power of OneNote and Teams, the class were able to watch and listen to me as I demonstrated how to do the question, interjecting as appropriate for clarification or help as required. On completing the question I asked the class if they now understood, if they were happy ..read more
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Top Ten
A Maths Teacher Writes
by A Maths Teacher
4y ago
“Ping” Just before I was due to teach Period 1 this morning my computer chimed, announcing the arrival of (yet another) email. Thinking that I might be able to action and delete it before the lesson began, I clicked to open it. I’m glad I did, its the best email I’ve received all week: Good morning Knowing you find beauty in football and maths alike, check out the top ten in league division two. Perhaps you have already! Have a good day, Well, Year 11 could wait – I scuttled over to the BBC Sport webpage and checked the standings at the top of League Two: Now, I’ve no idea if this has happe ..read more
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