Teaching A Level Maths by @Bigkid4

Name: Bigkid4
Twitter:  @Bigkid4
Sector:  Secondary
Subject: Maths
Position: Teacher
5 Bits of Advice About: Teaching A Level Maths

1. If pupils weren’t motivated, independent learners in year 11 then they still won’t be… Unless you teach them to be.
2. Practice is vital. The more practice they get at everything the better.
3. Your class is highly likely to have a wide range of abilities. Plan to have to break everything down more for at least some of the class.
4. Don’t assume that they can do GCSE maths content. At least some of them will probably not be able to.
5. Set a lot of homework right from the outset. Make them respond proactively if they can’t do it.

Making Maths Resources by @bcoops_online

Name: Ben Cooper
Twitter:  @bcoops_online
Sector:  Secondary
Subject: Maths
Position: Teacher
5 Bits of Advice About: Making Maths resources

1. Find out what your pupils are into and bring that into the resource, either built into the question or just with random pictures dotted about. This gives engagement a little boost.
2. Make use of excel random number generators and formulae to create and answer questions for you. =”What is the area of a circle with a radius of ” & randbetween(2,10)&”cm?”
3. If you’ve spent time making a powerpoint, write some questions on the end, not page 57. You may move school and page 57 is meaningless.
4. Take time to make a nice example slide (include animations) copy this 4 or 5 times. You may not need all examples but it won’t take long to change the numbers.
5. Keep all nice starter or plenary slides together in one file so you can find them quickly to paste them into a new project.

How to Teach Maths by @vellemdiscordant

Name: Vellem Discordant
Twitter:  @vellemdiscordant
Sector: Secondary
Subject: Science and Maths
Position: Teacher with responsibility
5 Bits of Advice About: How to teach Maths

1. Teach them something.
2. Have them practise it.
3. Teach them a little more.
4. Have them practise that.
5. Give them some harder problems, applying what you just taught them, then repeat.

Mathematics by @pdderry

Name: Derry Richardson
Twitter name: @pdderry
Sector: Primary
Subject taught (if applicable):
Position: Primary Maths consultant
What is your advice about? Mathematics

1: Don’t panic: ask for support from your Subject Leader. That’s what they’re there for!

2: Don’t just download: ensure you know your sources and what you want the children to learn, not just ‘do’.

3: Don’t teach what you don’t understand: log onto NCETM Personal Learning, ask and observe others, try it for yourself.

4: Don’t assume they think what you’re thinking: what makes perfect sense to us, because of how we learnt or what we already know, may not be the same for the children.

5: Don’t stay in a silo: know what came before and what comes next. Be familiar with your calculation policy and your curriculum for maths.

Teaching KS1 Maths by @johngriffiths17

Name: John Griffiths
Twitter name: @johngriffiths17
Sector: Primary
Subject taught (if applicable):
Position: Class teacher/maths coordinator
What is your advice about? Teaching KS1 maths

1: Use numicon! It can be used for addition, subtraction, division and multiplication!

2: Practise your number bonds *within* 20. First number bonds to 3, then 4, then 5 etc…

3: Calculate don’t count. Children should try to use their number bonds to jump to 10, 8+6 becomes 8+2+4 becomes 10+4 = 14.  

4: Play with numbers in open ended problems – how many ways can you make 12? Use + – x or /.

5: Keep it fun and try to relate to a topic or something they can relate to!

Teaching Maths by @oldandrewuk

Name: Andrew Old
Twitter name: @oldandrewuk
Sector: Secondary
Subject taught (if applicable): Maths
Position: Teacher
What is your advice about? Teaching Maths

1: Do not attempt to teach “conceptual understanding” of something unless you have first checked with somebody with a maths degree that *you* understand it.

2: Practice is the key to fluency. While questions should get harder, never shy away from setting dozens of questions on the same thing.

3: Sort out the basics first: time tables, number bonds and the standard algorithms.

4: There usually is one best way to solve a problem, so teach it and ask students to stick to it until they are good at it.

5: Teach algebra like it is a language, not a set of methods. Explain what is meant by “=”, “solve”, “expressions”, “term”, “find”, “substitute”, “rearrange”, simplify” etc.

Teaching Maths by @lgreaves222

Name: Linda Greaves
Twitter: @lgreaves222
Sector:  Secondary
Subject: Maths
Position: KS3 Lead
5 Bits of Advice About: Teaching Maths

1. Teach for understanding, not coverage of the scheme of work.
2. Use concrete manipulative for all, not just lower sets.
3. Make explicit links between concepts.
4. Don’t try to make learning of maths ‘fun’. It can be fun, but that shouldn’t be your main aim.
5. Teach to the top and support the bottom. Differentiate by support and scaffolding not content.