Tuesday, September 20, 2016

#Mathsconf10

Yesterday I attended #mathsconf10 inward sunny Essex. I'm really grateful to Mark McCourt together with La Salle Education for but about other fantastic solar daytime of maths CPD together with networking.

I started the solar daytime past times coming together upwards alongside here. We travelled from Central London to Essex past times educate together with had plenty of fourth dimension to banking concern gibe out the exhibition before the conference started. The format of the solar daytime was slightly dissimilar to previous conferences - because in that location were hence many workshops, in that location was an additional session added to the programme together with no keynote at the start. This worked good - it was expert to hold out able to select 5 workshops, though choices were every bit hard every bit ever.

In the outset session I presented my 'Angles inward Depth' workshop. This is the outset inward a novel serial of workshops where I expression at a theme inward depth (misconceptions, explanations, resources etc). I experience quite strongly that this is something that maths teachers need, though I mean value it volition accept me a spell to convince people of this! I blogged most it here.
Apart from the uncomfortably hot room together with the glare on the screen, I mean value my session went well. I focused specifically on 2 angle facts - following angles on direct lines together with angles inward a triangle. After my workshop, lots of members of the audience told me stories of their experience teaching angles - the misconceptions they'd seen together with the approaches they'd used - which was brilliant.

Lots of people at the conference requested that I portion my session online. It makes a lot to a greater extent than feel if y'all genuinely listen me verbalise through it, but hither y'all go:

Links together with sources are inward the notes at the bottom of each slide.

Once I've made a few to a greater extent than of these I'll pose them on a split page hence they're all inward 1 place.

The thought is that these slide packs are shared alongside trainee teachers the outset fourth dimension they learn these topics. My following session, at Sheffield inward September, volition focus on angles inward parallel lines.

After my session Charlie Dawson showed me a bright manipulative which is genuinely elementary to make:

In the 2d session I attended Mark McCourt's workshop on the history of maths education. I did a lot of query on this before inward the twelvemonth because I ran a session on it for my SCITT trainees, but I felt that I had but about gaps inward my noesis hence it was worth aid Mark's session to uncovering out more. As expected, this was a genuinely interesting session. It's fascinating that maths teaching keeps swinging from progressive to traditional together with dorsum again.

I together with then went to Andrew Taylor's session where he talked most his personal history of employment solving. He shared but about lovely Malcolm Swan problems, including Skeleton Tower from the blue box.
When he shared the mark guides for the sometime maths GCSE coursework it made me really happy that I became a instructor subsequently coursework was removed from GCSE. Tilly's tweet most this genuinely made me laugh:

Andrew spoke most the reasons that coursework was discontinued together with how exams straightaway endeavor to show employment solving skills, though of course of instruction nosotros know that conducting mathematical investigations nether fourth dimension atmospheric condition is non ideal.

During this workshop a lot of people attended the lovely here together with included but about links to learn out ticket resources (though, arguably, an learn out ticket should solely accept a few minutes to create hence teachers may hold out amend off making their ain tailored learn out tickets instead of using pre-made ones).

At tiffin I popped along to the tweet-up together with tried (unsuccessfully!) to brand a cobra weave stick bomb alongside Lucy Rycroft-Smith.

After tiffin I attended Rachel Horsman's session 'Geometrical Gems'. This was a lovely session total of practical activities. My favourite purpose was the Area Game, which I played alongside Martin Noon. The thought is to accept it inward turns to describe lines within a rectangle to cast triangles. When y'all cast a triangle y'all claim it past times colouring or labelling it. Each business y'all describe must start where the previous business finished together with has to encounter the other side of the rectangle. The mortal alongside the biggest total expanse at the terminate wins.
It's obvious now, but whatever y'all do you'll terminate upwards alongside a describe - because you'll both receive got the length of the rectangle every bit your total base, together with all the triangles receive got the same height. Clever!

In the terminal session Dani together with Rose headlined alongside a workshop on workload. I didn't become to this session because I experience that my workload is every bit nether command every bit it tin be. Most of the large drains on my workload (UCAS references, mock mark etc) are unavoidable. Influenza A virus subtype H5N1 lot of the tweets mentioned quizzes, which I've been using for a twain of years straightaway together with absolutely love. Regular depression stakes quizzes are 1 of the best changes to my practise that I've made inward recent years together with I cannot recommend them plenty (I blogged most it here). Influenza A virus subtype H5N1 flat mark together with feedback for a giant cast of 28 is the primary affair that's caused me ongoing workload issues this twelvemonth - I'm non convinced that quizzes are a suitable option at Influenza A virus subtype H5N1 level, but I suppose it's worth considering.

Instead I went to Peter Mattock's session 'Opportunities for Reasoning' inward which he shared lots of interesting activities together with resources, including this from the Standards Unit which requires students to explicate what's happening inward each step:
He likewise shared his lovely fractions activity which y'all tin download here.

I stayed for a twain of drinks subsequently the conference together with had a lovely chat alongside swain maths teachers. Overall it was a slap-up solar daytime together with I expression forrad to the Sheffield conference inward September.


In illustration you're interested, my previous maths conference weblog posts tin hold out institute here:
#mathsconf9 (March 2017)
#mathsconf8 (September 2016)
#mathsconf6 (March 2016)
#mathsconf5 (September 2015)
#mathsconf4 (June 2015)
#mathsconf2015 (March 2015)
Gems 8 (September 2014)

I'm going to the JustMaths Conference on Tuesday (two maths conferences inward 4 days!) - if you're going, catch y'all there.








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