Category Archives: 3. Prof. Skills & Abilities

Maths is not a Spectator Sport

My experience of sports has always been about avoiding falling over, getting hit in the face with a ball or accidentally scoring a goal in my own nets so I’ve never really stopped to think about the maths that comes with sports. Both of my younger brothers are really into playing rugby and I often spend most of my time during their matches not watching them but instead trying to wrap my head how many points a try is worth. Sports and I have never really got along well so when I walked into a lecture all about maths in sports I intended to completely get lost in all the sporting rules but I surprisingly found that I actually learnt a lot and are more comfortable with the concept of maths in sport.

Prior to the lecture we had to research a sport and some of the maths that surrounds it. I decided to pick tennis because I understand the rules and the scoring system of the game and was interested to learn more. Whilst doing research I found that mathematics can be used in many ways that I would never have thought of e.g. to rank players, plan tournaments, evaluate strategies, track and predict tennis ball trajectories (Pragear, 2016). One aspect of maths in tennis I was very keen to learn more about was how to hit the perfect serve. A mathematician from University College London Nick Ovenden said that “the perfect tennis serve relies on keeping your opponent guessing about how the ball may bounce out of the service box- this can be achieved by putting spin on the ball”. Ovenden looked at the speed the ball flies through the air at, the axis of the angle the ball spins at and the force that the racket hits the ball to create the perfect serve (Thomas, 2012).

During the lecture we looked at the first football league table from 1888. The only experience I’ve had with football league tables is when my brother tries to explain to me how he’s going to win his fantasy football league. So at first I was very confused. We were instructed to re-organise the information from the matches into a modern league table so after some googling we worked out the best way to organise the teams. From the 1888 table we found that there was 132 games played by 12 different football teams. We had to organise the information from the 1888 table into 10 columns; position, team, matches played, matches won, matches drawn, matches lost, goals for, goals against, goal difference and overall points. The most difficult one to figure out was the goal difference so we came up with an equation to work it out: Points = (No. of wins x 2) + no. of draws.

After this lecture I have a new found appreciation of how maths is used in sports. Maths is pretty much used in every sport to work out the size of courts or tracks, the size of equipment and the timings used for different sports. But it is also used to work out predictions of the outcomes of games and comparison for different athletes. We watched an interesting video on the history of the 100 metre Olympic sprint and how the runners have gotten faster over time (Wimp, 2012) . This made me think of how we still haven’t reached a peak in sporting performance and how much maths can help improve athletic performance.

References

Wimp. (2012). Usain Bolt vs. 116 years of Olympic sprinters. [Online Video]. 5 August 2012. Available at: https://www.wimp.com/usain-bolt-vs-116-years-of-olympic-sprinters/?dm_i=LQE,25SE0,3LDIRH,7T51A,1/ (Accessed: 14 November 2017).

Thomas, R (2012) Spinning the Perfect Serve. Available at: https://plus.maths.org/content/spinning-perfect-serve (Accessed: 14 November 2017).

Pragear, C (2016). Maths point—the mathematics of tennis. Available at: https://www.science.org.au/curious/everything-else/tennis-maths (Accessed: 14 November 2017).

Reflecting on Semester 1

Semester one of university brought about a lot of key moments in my journey to becoming a teacher. From the values module, which encouraged me to think about my personal and professional values, to having to choose an elective subject where I got to learn further about a topic that I was interested in. However the standout moment for me from semester one had to be the working together module and what it taught me about reflection.

At the start of the module I was apprehensive. I was so eager to get stuck straight into teaching and so was a little confused about why we were doing this module. On reflection I can see the importance of working together. The module involved working together in a group of ten people. I am quite a naturally shy person and so being thrown into a group of big personalities was very daunting to me. At the start I was very content to sit in the background occasionally agreeing with someones opinion and not really fully investing. However as the weeks progressed our group got closer and started to have more banter with each other. I began to get more comfortable contributing to the group and by the presentation I was confident enough to present alongside my group.

Through the working together module we learnt a lot about reflection and how important it is to your professional development. Reflection is about assessing what you did right, what you did wrong and what you would do different next time to improve. It is important to not just reflect after the incident but during the incident in order to assess your next move. This will be key for me as I begin my journey as a teacher and start professional practice later in the semester.

When reflecting on the working together module I can see the positives and negatives in my work. Even though I am naturally shy I should’ve let go of any reservations I had and put 100% effort into my group discussion. However I am proud of how when the weeks progressed I went out of my comfort zone in order to contribute to the group. I am now eagerly looking forward to learning more about reflection in the upcoming semester and my placement.

Managing my learning

I will update the tables below as I continue to learn what helps my learning.

Recognition/ Reflection Action
What helps my learning? How can I utilise this?
Discussing the topic with peers Set up a study group or group chat of peers

 

Organisation Use to do lists in order to manage my time effectively
Reading Setting out time to do the readings
Removing distractions Turn off my phone and place it in another room whilst I do my room
Self-confidence By not being afraid to ask questions if I don’t understand  topic

 

Recognition/Reflection Action
What hinders my learning? How can I address this factor?
Easily distracted By taking away the distractions such as my phone
Not preparing for lectures Look over the slides before the lectures
Not doing the readings on time Do the readings before the lectures

 

Identifying skills and abilities

I have rated myself in the tables below, 1 being not very well developed and 3 being very well developed. For the last table, which is “skills to be developed”, as I develop these skills I will update the information.

Skills and Abilities 1 2 3
Flexibility

X

Self confidence

X

Self discipline

X

Work under pressure

X

Set personal goals

X

Take risks

X

Share opinions confidently

X

Team work

X

Take responsibility

X

Build social networks

X

Manage time

X

Act as a leader

X

negotiation

X

Make presentations

X

Listen to others

X

Debate formally and informally

X

Contribute to discussions

X

Converse confidently

X

Take notes

X

Write for academic purposes

X

Problem solve

X

Generate new ideas

X

Work on own initiative

X

Organise and plan

X

Think critically

X

Evaluate information X

 

Recognition Reflection Action
Skills already developed How I will use these How do I know (evidence)**
Work under pressure By staying calm and controlled when working under pressure to achieve the best results From doing a levels I have found that some of my best work has come from increased pressure of time or importance
Set personal goals By setting realistic goals that I know can be achieved I set myself personal goals of what I want to achieve
Make presentations By making presentations that put across a point clearly and effectively I have made creative and effective presentations in school that have been informative and engaging
Listen to others By listening to others and taking in and reflecting their opinions I have participated in group work where listening to others and accepting other people’s views is key
Take notes By taking notes that include the important and relevant information I take good notes that include the important points
Organise and plan By organising and time and work load well I organise and plan by using to do lists that help to keep on top of work

 

 

Recognition Reflection Action
Skills to be developed How I will develop these How do I know (evidence) **
Self confidence By learning to speak out in discussions and encouraging g myself to do better
Share opinions confidently By not being afraid to speak my mind whilst also being respectful of other people’s opinions
Negotiation By learning how negotiate and not giving in just because it’s easier

 

 

Why teaching?

I cannot remember the exact moment where I realised that I wanted to be a teacher. But I know that children and learning have always been something that I’ve been passionate about. As the eldest of 8 grandchildren I’ve grown up looking after my younger siblings and cousins. This is where my love of children started and it only developed as a grew up. As a child if you asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up I would have always said that I wanted to be a teacher but it was only in high school that I started taking this prospect seriously. 

In high school I started to get involved with  helping out at the various clubs and organisations that were held at mimg_7073y church. I helped out at girls brigade on a Monday night where I would lead games and craft with the younger girls. I became a leader a junior youth club on a Friday night where I became the youngest leader to take the story. And I became a small group leader at children’s church helping the 4-6 year olds on a Sunday morning. 

As I grew up I used the skills I had gimg_6650ained through church organisations to become a leader at different teams and camps in my summer holidays. From an outreach team in Belfast focused on reaching out to the local kids and teens to Bekoji a small village in Ethiopia where we helped teach children about God, these teams helped my love for children develop and my passion for teaching grow stronger.

As I embarked on my journey to becoming a teacher I did work experience in a few local primary schools. The experiences through getting to know the children on work experience drove me to become completely focused on becoming a teacher and getting a place on the course at Dundee. Even though I can’t remember the moment which made me want to become a teacher, I believe that the combination of experiences and skills that I have gained over the years have equipped me to start my journey to becoming a teacher and I can’t wait to get started!