JULY NEWSLETTER

It's been a long term but we've finally made it! This has been a challenging year for me, one that I'll be glad to see the back of (Pete and Duncan, thank you for getting me through!). 

 

I've still managed to get a few things done this month - thank goodness for gained time. I've written a couple of blogs: I had my last two days of TAM and I've also written about my recent adventures with variation exercises and integrating it as a part of standard practice into my teaching. 

 

I've created a lesson on Fibonacci sequences with a few real-life applications, as well as another IGCSE lesson on set notation, including with Venn diagrams.

 

I've managed to fit in quite a bit of reading too. I'm enjoying reading How I Wish I'd Taught Maths by Craig Barton for a second time and I'm taking in a lot more second time around. I've also been working my way through Craig's latest podcast: Slice of Advice. It's great for listening to for 20 minutes here and there! Since Jo Morgan's workshop at MathsConf15, I've started buying a few old textbooks to look through. My favourite so far is The Essentials of School Algebra; it's amazing how much depth they used to go into and I'm intent on adapting my teaching to procure greater understanding of my students. 

 

Some of the lesson packs I've modified so far are...

Indices

 

Largely as a result of Jo's workshop, these lessons are now far more thorough and something I'm quite proud to share.

 
Click here!

Simplifying and Substituting

 

I've merged two rather vague lesson packs into one very thorough lesson. Inspired by old textbooks.

 
Click here!

Squares, Cubes and Roots

 

Unpicking in more detail what it means for a number to be a square or a cube. Linking more fluidly into indices and powers.

 
Click here!

Website of the Month: Variation Theory

Following its launch at MathsConf15 by Craig Barton, Jess Prior and Ben Gordon, I've been using this website more and more. I've adapted a few activities into worksheets as many of my students find explicit instruction on paper easier than working from the board. There are so many activities available and it's easy to contribute your own too!

 

Anything else you'd like to see? Contact me on Twitter @PixiMaths or directly through the website.

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