Category Archives: Numeracy

Masters of Education in Professional Practice

Siobhan McKenna – Maths Teacher

I am currently studying for a Masters of Education in Professional Practice with PGDE at University of Glasgow. This is an online course lasting a year and a half with only a few tutorial days in the year at the university. The course is mainly conducted online and tutorials can either be carried out on Skype, by telephone, or face-to-face; this facilitates full-time work as well as independent study.

I completed the first module of the course, Decision Making and Enquiry Skills, during my probation year and am now in the midst of writing my dissertation. My proposal for my dissertation during the first module of the course involved competitiveness within the classroom. However, upon beginning my dissertation in October, I realised that this was no longer relevant to my practice and I am now focussing on Numeracy Across the Curriculum. Having now read a lot of literature on Maths and Numeracy, it turns out that our curriculum is very similar, with regard to numeracy, to that of Australia. I have also been in touch with university lecturers in Australia to find out more about their curriculum and how they support staff who are non-Maths specialists. Continue reading Masters of Education in Professional Practice

The Mathematical Association Secondary Education Mathematics Conference

Bronagh  McKeown – Mathematics Teacher

On Saturday 14th September four members of the maths department attended ‘The Mathematical Association Secondary Education Mathematics Conference’ held in Stirling University (www.m-a.org.uk).  The day consisted of a keynote address by Peter Ransom and then the opportunity to visit four different workshops of our own choice.    Below is a summary of the workshops I attended:

Workshop 1

This workshop was entitled ‘A Square Meal’ by Adam McBride and it was both informative and entertaining (bonus!).  The focus was on investigating Magic Squares (a square in which every row, column and diagonal have the same total).  He showed lots of cool tricks that can be investigated by pupils and the algebra behind it all which could be investigated and discussed with high ability pupils.  I found it very interesting and hope to be able to find a way to incorporate some of it into my lessons. Continue reading The Mathematical Association Secondary Education Mathematics Conference

Maths – Good Practice

The lesson was the last in a series of lesson in preparation for a Level F test and so the confidence of the pupils was the focus. Pupils had written their own questions in a previous lesson, perhaps ones they thought were challenging,  and after vetting the questions I handed them back and ensured the pupils were experts in their questions. They then moved around the room sharing their question with other pupils and if anyone was stuck they were able to show them how to do the question.