September 24, 2016
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Comments Off on There’s Been a Murder!
In the clip below, Dan Walton (Teacher of the Year) is teaching his class Pythagoras. My memories of pythagoras at school mainly involve textbooks, much like most other maths topics in high school. We were taught the rule and how to apply it (instrumental understanding) and given textbook work to consolidate our knowledge. However, […] Continue reading
September 23, 2016
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Comments Off on Lost in Number Translation
Skemp suggests that there are 2 types of understanding: instrumental and relational. Instrumental understanding – Not quite about playing the piano, but I think the analogy applies. Instrumental understanding is like knowing the notes to play, but not knowing the tune – in maths terms, it is about knowing the rules, formulas and processes to get […] Continue reading
September 22, 2016
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Comments Off on What is mathematics?
https://prezi.com/h7x72shmtyol/what-is-mathematics/ What is mathematics? When people ask me what I think mathematics is, I find that quite a hard question to answer to begin with. After having a long think about what I think mathematics I think I can finally answer that dreaded question. I think that mathematics is everyday life. Everything in life revolves […] Continue reading
September 18, 2016
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Comments Off on Why does everyone hate mathematics?
“If I had 50p for every time I failed a maths exam, I’d have £6.30” (Twitter) It has recently occurred to me that maths gets such a bad reputation amongst learners of all ages and as someone who enjoyed maths at school it’s hard to pin point why. After I stumbled upon this tweet it […] Continue reading
September 15, 2016
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Comments Off on “Tough guys don’t do math. Tough guys fry chicken for a living.”
Stand and Deliver (1988) is a film following teacher Jaime Escalante as he teaches a class of mainly Hispanic students in a fairly impoverished school/community. He has a radical teaching style much different from the norm of teachers across the globe, where he frequently makes fun of children and has a ‘no tolerance’ policy for anything […] Continue reading
September 15, 2016
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Comments Off on Stand and Deliver
Stand and Deliver is an American drama filmed in 1988 based on the non-fictional story of a mathematics teacher named Jaime Escalante. Escalante becomes a mathematics teacher at Garfield High School where he faces the daily challenge of teaching an uninspired class. The pupils face many difficulties in their learning, they are well below […] Continue reading
September 13, 2016
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Comments Off on Discovering the ‘M’ word…
On Monday I started my second year at the University of Dundee (time is going too quickly!) which means I am now one step closer to achieving my dream and goal of becoming a primary school teacher. This year I have chosen the elective titled “Discovering Mathematics”. I have taken a piece of my previous blog […] Continue reading
September 13, 2016
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Comments Off on Stand and Deliver!
Stand and Deliver For this TDT we were asked to watch the film Stand and Deliver, which I had never heard of. We were then to answer the question – Why is Jaime Escalante different? There were many reasons why I think he is different. The first thing that I noticed in the film is […] Continue reading
February 8, 2016
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Comments Off on Architecture and tessellation
I was reminded recently of an innovative house building design called a Hivehaus. I first came across this building on the Channel 4 programme “George Clarke’s Amazing Small Spaces” presented by George Clarke. The first time I saw the programme I remember thinking it was a brilliant design and how versatile yet simple it was. However, having now […] Continue reading
February 1, 2016
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Comments Off on Mathematical Terminology Used More Often Than We Think?
My first Maths and Science input of semester 2 with Tara made me challenge my way of thinking or as I thought the normal way of thinking. When talking in social situations or even just reading simple stories it is apparent that mathematical terminology is at the forefront of them. In this lecture, Tara read […] Continue reading
January 28, 2016
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Comments Off on Mental maths! 1, 2, 3… GO!!
In today’s input the class were learning about mental maths. Today’s learning intention was that we were learning: What is meant by ‘mental mathematics’ and its purpose in raising standards To identify a range of mental strategies About the need to develop confidence and competence in learners through teaching a range of strategies To critically […] Continue reading
December 6, 2015
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Comments Off on Maths, this is not the end – I promise
Discovering Mathematics, I can honestly say, has been brilliant. Intriguing, eye-opening, shocking. It has left me sad it has reached an end, but I am 100% certain when I say that this is most definitely not where my new-found love for maths ends. Where to start? I selected ‘Discovering Mathematics’ as my elective module for […] Continue reading
December 6, 2015
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Comments Off on Mundane Maths?
I will not take this for an answer. Maths is not mundane. It is not tedious. Most of all, it is not boring! I have learned this only from teaching maths in my professional practice and still then I was not 100% confident maths could be full of fun and adventure. However, now, having completed […] Continue reading
December 5, 2015
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Comments Off on First position – Dance and Maths
First position. Second position, third, fourth, fifth position. Wall one, two, three, four. Corner five, six, seven, eight. Maths, believe it or not, is a large fundamental element underlying choreography and dance. From the age of two years and for the most-part of my teenage years, I was, unbeknown to my senses, experiencing mathematical thinking […] Continue reading
December 5, 2015
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Comments Off on Finale of Discovering Mathematics
My essay is submitted. The last workshop is over and it’s the end of the discovering mathematics module. To round off the module, I thought I would post an end of module blog post. Was the module what I expected? Discovering mathematics wasn’t exactly what I expected if I am being honest. I expected it […] Continue reading
December 5, 2015
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Comments Off on Look around you! (continuation – tessellation)
Since my last blog post about tessellation – “Look around you!“, I have reflected deeper on what tessellation is and, more specifically, where the fundamental mathematics lies within. You can read ‘Look around you!’ at: https://blogs.glowscotland.org.uk/glowblogs/teachingjourney/2015/12/05/look-around-you/ Harris (2010) discusses the prior knowledge a learner must have acquired, in order to understand the mathematical concepts behind tessellation. The […] Continue reading
December 5, 2015
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Comments Off on Roman numerals, Ishango and all things prehistoric…
Firstly, I’d like to you imagine something. Something unusual for many, but perhaps not so much for others. Imagine you had more than ten fingers. More than ten toes. More than two eyes, two ears, one nose and… Actually, imagining you had more than ten fingers will suffice. We use methodology to take account of […] Continue reading
December 5, 2015
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Comments Off on Beautiful Maths – Mathematics is beauty, literally
During the course of the Discovering Mathematics module, I have grown to have a more active awareness and somewhat alertness about the Golden Ratio… 1.61803398875 It appears as a number we may dismiss, but its essence is something astonishing and that is, the Golden Ratio is a measurement buildings and other objects use to be […] Continue reading
December 5, 2015
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Comments Off on Look around you!
You’re probably thinking how monotonous it is that I continue to repeat this, but maths is everywhere! Again. I will never lose the amazement or curiosity I have filled with, at the fact that maths is the fundamental principle behind the creation and design of many things – and, much to your shock, as you are […] Continue reading
November 30, 2015
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Comments Off on The Significance of Maths in Science!
“There is a strong relationship between science and mathematics. Science is about exploring, describing, understanding and explaining our Universe. To do this scientists have used mathematical tools for analysis of natural phenomena and describing the relationship between natural phenomena in succinct and predictive ways. Today many of our more abstract advanced ideas of nature can currently […] Continue reading
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