Guest blogger: GuyClaxton

Educating Ruby

The school curriculum consists of several different kinds of things: things that are intrinsically interesting (to all young people of a certain age); things that can be made interesting by a good teacher; things that are self-evidently useful; things that, while neither useful or interesting in their own right, are effective ‘exercise-machines’ for developing useful life-skills and habits of mind; and things that everyone agrees are such ‘cultural treasures’ that everyone ought to just know about them, even if they are directly useful or interesting.

And then there is the rest of the curriculum: stuff that’s just there because its always been there, and some influential people, without a shred of evidence, insist that they be taught and examined. Why French irregular verbs (rather than Mandarin, say, or Hindi)? Why adding fractions (rather than computer coding, or Bayesian statistics)?

We have a FREE Signed copy of @GuyClaxton and Bill Lucas's Educating Ruby. Just RT or comment in post to enter! https://t.co/DLKNCCpJ98

— Magicalmaths.org (@magicalmaths) April 26, 2015

We need a real re-think of what we teach – and Maths is no exception. Despite a lot of hot air, there is scant evidence that learning maths makes you spontaneously more rational in non-mathematical or non-educational contexts. Nor do I know of any evidence that says we have to teach all young people algebra just in case they might need it, rather than ‘just-in-time’, when they do actually need it. With out the turbo-charger of real need, and in the absence of intrinsic interest, learning is weak, formulaic and usually disagreeable.

And we need a re-think of how we teach as well. As Jo Boaler and others have shown, you can teach ‘area’ or ‘fractions’ in a way that develops passivity, compliance, mindless application of procedures and fear of mistakes – and also gets good results. Or you can teach the same topics in a way that gets even better results, but develops attitudes of curiosity, collaboration, creative experimentation, and critical thinking. The pedagogy is crucial for these deeper aims.

Our new book Educating Ruby (‘us’ is Guy Claxton and Bill Lucas) argues really strongly that we owe it to all kids to explain why what we are teaching, and how we are teaching it, will add to their confidence and capability as adults – whether they are destined to be carers, cooks, mechanics or neurosurgeons. We think thousands of parents, and thousands of teachers, know in their heart-of-hearts that way too much of school is boring and pointless – and not knowing how to change things, we all fixate on the grades. We want all those people to start talking, tweeting and blogging about the need for a real re-thjink – so politicians will get off thier backsides and start to think about what really needs to be done. have a look at educatingruby.org, read the book, tweet (@educatingruby) and join the groundswell. We want whoever wins the election to be thinking hard about how to spread the good practice that exoists in many schools faster and wider. we owe it to the kids – especially the ones who are not going to do well in the competitive Examinations Game.

Guy Claxton

Such a simple game but yet so effective at improving Adding and Subtracting! Warning: Addictive!

Did you know 9 out of 10 pupils love getting stickers! Stock up for the year!

Have you downloaded these FREE Maths Apps for your classroom?

Top 10 when teachers get the last laugh! Very funny and a must SHARE!

OMG! This is probably the best way to get your kids to practice their Maths times tables! Flappy Maths!

How Japanese Kids Learn To Multiply – Amazing, No Need to Learn Japanese

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The best Maths tips ever

I would so love to be in the position of being able to do this out in a restaurant and see the face of the waiter. : )

What a way to give a tip, share this with your lesson as a starter and see if they can work out why this is such a #mathsfunny!

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One for the mathematicians i guess… t.co/HHGy47D3Sq pic.twitter.com/yE2ZLLP7br

— Magicalmaths.org (@magicalmaths) April 25, 2015

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The story of bottled water – a manufactured demand!

The video below makes an engaging starter, assembly theme, or form discussion about the how we have been manipulated to desire bottled water over the conventional supply of tap water. A manufactured demand has been used to develop a multi billion industry that is actually causing a great deal of harm to our environment. The video is amazing, as it makes the audience really think about their actions and attitudes towards bottled water and generates some great discussion points.

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The solution to the Albert, Bernard and Cheryl’s Birthday Maths Problem

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If you have not seen it, then the overnight internet viral Maths problem goes something like this;

Albert and Bernard just became friends with Cheryl, and they want to know when her birthday is.

Cheryl gives them a list of 10 possible dates.

May 15, May 16, May 19, June 17, June 18, July 14, July 16, August 14, August 15, August 17

Cheryl then tells Albert and Bernard Separately the month and the day of her birthday respectively.

Albert: I don’t know when Cheryl’s birthday is, but I know that Bernard knows too.

Bernard: At first I did not know when Cheryl’s birthday is, but I know now.

Albert: Then I also know when Cheryl’s birthday is.

So when is Cheryl’s birthday?

The solution Explained

Going through the problem line by line it shows the following logic;

Albert: I don’t know when Cheryl’s birthday is, but I know that Bernard does not know too.

All Albert knows is the month, and every month has more than one possible date. Therefore he does not know when her birthday is. The first part of the sentence is complete waste of time.

The only way that Bernard could know the date with a single number would be if Cheryl had told him 18 or 19. Of the ten date options only these numbers appear once, as May 19 and June 18.

For Albert to know that Bernard does not know, Albert must therefore have been told July or August, since this rules out Bernard being told 18 or 19.

Second Line: Bernard: At first I don’t know when Cheryl’s birthday is, but now I know.

Bernard has worked out that Albert has either August or July. If he knows the full date, he must have been told 15, 16 or 17, since if he had been told 14 he would be none the wiser about whether the month was August or July. Each of 15, 16 and 17 only refers to one specific month, but 14 could be either month.

Third Line: Albert: Then I also know when Cheryl’s birthday is.

Albert has therefore worked out that the possible dates are July 16, Aug 15 and Aug 17. For him to now know, he must have been told July. Since if he had been told August, he would not know which date for certain is Cheryl’s birthday.

The solution has to be July 16.

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All teachers should have a go at the “I wish my teacher knew activity”!

This is a great looking activity that I found on twitter and can not wait to have a go at;

You could do this during form time to try and know your tutees better or use it in a lesson to identify and develop learning. Make sure you emphasise that all responses can not be kept private as due to child protection protocol you may have to report what a pupil may disclose.

All teachers should have a go at the “I wish my teacher knew activity”! t.co/S33OnJampi #usedchat #ausedchat #nzedchat

— Magicalmaths.org (@magicalmaths) April 6, 2015

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Give your feedback sideways

I am not taking credit for this but what a great idea that appeared on my twitter timeline. I have tried this in my classroom and it is absolutely amazing. As students have to turn their books to read your feedback you can see clearly who is reading your response and also who is responding to it.

They say the small things make a difference and this small change definitely does!

I love this idea on giving feedback! pic.twitter.com/lE6nVAzJH6

— Magicalmaths.org (@magicalmaths) September 28, 2014

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Guestblogger: andylutwyche

Everyone Can Do The Math!

It is my firm belief that everyone is born with the ability to be a decent mathematician. The problem is that sometimes things don’t quite pan out in a way that is conducive to bringing out the mathematician in all of us. So if that is the case, how can that heavily subdued number cruncher be coaxed out of hiding?

That’s where I (hopefully) come in. To attempt to make maths fun is possibly an error; fun is a desirable by-product of piquing an interest in mathematics. What is essential is that I, the teacher, have an interest and enjoy what I am doling out to the students in front of me because let’s face it, if the person delivering the stuff isn’t enthusiastic about it then why should those who are expected to do it be enthusiastic?
I was lucky enough to be recommended to Canterbury College by magicalmaths.org to deliver two days of maths revision to their students with the days broken up into six separate two hour sessions with groups of young people ranging from those retaking GCSE to Entry Level candidates. After they’d contacted me I was keen to know what they wanted rather than impose on them what I thought they might like; they know their students better than I after all. We agreed on a mixture of algebra, fractions and ratio in varying amounts with the maths faculty as these topics were consistently the “least popular” with the students despite being arguably the most useful in their future careers.
Over my 15 year teaching career I have produced numerous resources covering most topics on the maths curriculum, a number of which have received positive feedback on TES from colleagues, which is not only flattering but exceptionally pleasing to know that other maths teachers have found my resources useful and taken the time to tell me so. Many of these resources involve popular culture or technology or both and these are the resources that chose from to take and use to deliver these revision sessions. Not only was the novelty of a different person teaching the students helpful, but they got to see different methods of getting the mathematical baby bathed. Alongside this the staff members who would normally be teaching the students were in the sessions, seeing how the resources worked and being introduced to new tools. I had a chat with the majority of the maths faculty and shared all my resources with some of my less experienced colleagues.
As a result of all this I hope we have all benefited from my 48 hours in Canterbury; I certainly welcomed the experience of teaching in the different environment of an FE college, the students have hopefully had some pennies drop into place and the staff have found at least one thing that will engage their classes and enhance learning if only a little bit.

Examples of resources used during revision session

Prison Bake QR Code Number QR Code Problem Fraction of a Number

QR Code Number Problem

Proportions – Prison Bake

Such a simple game but yet so effective at improving Adding and Subtracting! Warning: Addictive!

Did you know 9 out of 10 pupils love getting stickers! Stock up for the year!

Have you downloaded these FREE Maths Apps for your classroom?

Top 10 when teachers get the last laugh! Very funny and a must SHARE!

OMG! This is probably the best way to get your kids to practice their Maths times tables! Flappy Maths!

How Japanese Kids Learn To Multiply – Amazing, No Need to Learn Japanese

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Guestblogger: brianmills010

Physics calculations for GCSE and IGCSE

I am Head of Physics at the highly rated John Taylor High School in Staffordshire, England and have recently written the book ‘Physics calculations for GCSE & IGCSE’ which has just been published on Amazon and is available in paperback and kindle.

See link below:

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Guestblogger: thenumberverse

7 Rules To Make Group work Work

It’s the Easter holidays. The harsh Devon wind blasts my ears back as I walk my two young children across the car park into the entrance of the Bear Feet soft play centre. Out of the cold and in the warm, my brain relaxes and within five minutes I feel sure I have solved the problem with group work in maths. Perhaps other people already did it before, but this is how it came to me…

I am standing in a cage made of padded scaffolding and netting, up to my ankles in jolly-coloured plastic balls. About 4 or 5 children are throwing the balls up into a kind of bucket or scoop (like you see on the front of a digger) over our heads. The bucket is attached to a pulley that can be used to tip the contents of the bucket back out. As fast as any child can aim a ball into the mouth of the bucket, one of the other children yanks on the pulley and the bucket vomits the ball back out again.

Now it’s fun to aim a ball at the bucket (I’ve thrown a few myself). And it’s fun to tip the bucket too. I haven’t done that myself but the children are doing it a lot, even when the bucket is empty – which of course makes it impossible to throw any more balls in until the bucket swings back.  Most of the kids have a short frenzy of excitement with the equipment, followed by mild  frustration or disenchantment as  a pulley-operator tips up the bucket every three or four seconds.  They wander off.

… Which leads me to my first point: this whole thing could be more fun. If I were in charge of the children in this cage (if only!), I would tell them to leave the pulley for a while, throw as many balls as we can into the bucket – to fill it, I hope – and only then would someone yank the pulley. There would then be a satisfying downpour of coloured balls, and we could start again. All children would, of course, take turns on the pulley.

Let’s suppose that I’m right, and this would be more fun than everyone randomly throwing and tipping. If I left this group to themselves in the cage for a few hours, I don’t think that they would spontaneously organize themselves in that way. No discussion would take place. No leader would emerge. No suggestions would be considered.  No vote would be taken. In fact, waiting for a group of under-7s to coalesce into a functional group would be like waiting for chimpanzees with typewriters to come up with the works of Shakespeare.

And it wouldn’t work even if I told them they were a group and that they had to work together to find the best way to have fun with the bucket and balls.  And it wouldn’t be much better if the children were a bit older.  I’ve watched it be not much better quite a few times.

And that’s the problem with the ‘group work is good’ mentality, one in which the mere fact that children are wo