Saturday, January 20, 2001

#Atmma19

This calendar week I spent 4 days at the ATM-MA Conference. It was great! I went to a broad diverseness of sessions as well as receive got come upward abode amongst a lot to reverberate on. In my electrical current purpose (working mainly to improve Year xi results) I experience similar I've started to lose sight of what mathematics teaching is all about. Next yr I'll endure teaching alone Year vii as well as 8 as well as am looking forrad to trying some novel approaches. This conference presented the perfect chance to get together my thoughts.

Influenza A virus subtype H5N1 residential conference is a really unlike experience to the ane solar daytime events I ordinarily attend. There were numerous opportunities to create lots of maths as well as run across lots of novel people. I enjoyed the social activities as well as I was impressed past times the venue as well as the agency the conference was organised past times the ATM.

I'm a trustee of The Mathematical Association as well as really proud to stand upward for them at events similar this. The members of MA Council are lovely as well as I believe that the operate they create is genuinely of import to our profession. Not alone create they receive got an incredibly rich history going dorsum to 1871, but they also receive got exciting times ahead amongst Ems Lord of Nrich every bit President as well as Hannah Fry every bit President Designate. If yous desire to join, secondary membership is alone £5.20 a month. I'm already looking forrad to the ii nighttime MA Conference inwards 2020 which I'm absolutely certainly volition endure awesome. I promise that lots of my readers volition bring together me there.

I've decided to job this weblog post to part v ideas as well as resources I saw at #ATMMA19. Obviously I'm non sharing whatsoever of the large ideas as well as deep thinking inwards a brusque weblog post - yous receive got to genuinely drib dead to these conferences for that variety of affair - but at that spot powerfulness endure a few helpful things hither that people haven't seen before. I enjoyed literally every unmarried session I attended at this conference as well as haven't talked most them all inwards this post, but create receive got a psyche to me as well as Craig Barton chatting most the first two days of the conference on Craig's podcast:

Conference Takeaway - #ATMMA19 Day 1

Conference Takeaway - #ATMMA19 Day 2

1. Etudes
Colin Foster did an splendid opening plenary. Here I'm but sharing ane activity nosotros had a drib dead at during his talk: 'Percentage Change'. Visit his website mathematicaletudes.com for lots to a greater extent than similar this. You genuinely receive got to receive got a drib dead at these tasks to larn how goodness they are. The thought is that students railroad train procedural fluency inwards rich job solving contexts.
2. Nrich
Craig as well as I had a dandy fourth dimension at the Nrich workshop run past times Alison Kiddle as well as Charlie Gilderdale. We did 3 tasks which are all linked from the conference page on the Nrich website.
In Which is Bigger?  students tin endeavor out some numbers, create some algebra, describe some graphs... it tin drib dead inwards a position out of directions. Consider how sketching the graphs powerfulness assist yous mean value most the concluding ii pairs of expressions above. The describe comes amongst some dandy extension activities which I genuinely enjoyed completing.

Polygon rings was a highlight of the conference for me! I dear a chip of angle geometry. I especially liked how fun it was to position together our polygon rings using ATM Mats, knowing amongst absolute certainty that they would agree together perfectly because we'd worked out the angles.
3. SMILE
Steve Lyon as well as Mike Anderson from STEM Centre ran a session inwards which nosotros all got to receive got a drib dead at some tasks from sometime SMILE resources as well as thus beak most which tasks nosotros enjoyed. There are c2000 SMILE resources which receive got been scanned inwards as well as uploaded to the STEM Centre website. It's an overwhelming position out of resources thus a goodness house to start is amongst the SMILE cards here which are organised past times topic. 

There were a position out of delegates inwards this session who had never heard of SMILE. I job SMILE resources occasionally but I know at that spot are hundreds I've never seen. The resources that Steve as well as Mike had chosen for this session are inwards booklets here. I didn't endeavor all of them but especially enjoyed 'Multiplication Review' (SMILE Card 2386) where students are asked to seem at v unlike multiplication methods as well as endeavor to sympathise what's going on. Although I'd looked at 'Russian Peasant Multiplication' earlier I'd never genuinely taken the fourth dimension to mean value most why it works. It was a overnice affair to operate out.
If yous similar this thus also cheque out this vivid pack of SMILE activities 'Standards Unit a fair chip but had non seen the 'Dissecting a Square' task.
Students are asked to operate out what fraction as well as pct of the foursquare each department is. When looking at this describe nosotros had some interesting discussions most what prior cognition is required, what reasoning is involved, as well as what assumptions must endure made to consummate it. Following this describe students are asked to brand upward their ain dissection on a grid amongst 100 squares - this becomes a genuinely interesting describe for agreement percentages. Some dandy examples are also provided for cast discussion.
Although I was introduced to the Standards Unit on my PGCE it took me a quite a few years to realise that instead of but using the tasks, I should genuinely read the suggested approaches as well as give-and-take prompts that drib dead amongst each task. The resources as well as their accompanying notes are absolutely brilliant.

We did a lot to a greater extent than inwards Heather's session that genuinely got me thinking, but I volition but get upward ane to a greater extent than affair here: Heather gave us a 'what's the same, what's different?' flick to ponder:
I noticed that both shapes had ane duo of parallel sides. Heather started the give-and-take past times holler for who had spotted the most boring affair that these shapes had inwards common. I was most to offering my proffer because I thought it was going to endure a pretty mutual answer, but thus others offered answers similar 'they're both shapes' as well as 'they're the same colour'. Then it got a chip competitive, amongst people trying to come upward up amongst something fifty-fifty to a greater extent than boring. And every bit a consequence I started noticing to a greater extent than as well as to a greater extent than things most these shapes. The dandy affair most this start to a give-and-take is that it gets fifty-fifty the most reluctant or to the lowest degree confident students contributing, noticing things, as well as smiling. What a lovely idea.

5. Don Steward
It was wonderful to watch Don Steward again. I kickoff met him when he presented at my schoolhouse dorsum inwards March 2016. His workshop was on probability - he spoke most its house inwards the curriculum, showed us some wonderful tasks for teaching it, as well as shared some fascinating historical context.  He has shared his presentation inwards 3 weblog posts:


Obviously there's loads of dandy materials hither thus yous should download the presentations. In this post I'm but sharing a few extracts.

This query is lovely: 
Students tin of class endeavor some numbers, though I hold off that most teachers would drib dead direct for algebra.

Don's laid of 'probability as well as words' tasks are dandy fun. I receive got used these before. 
Don's ideas on teaching systematic listing are fantastic. For example, hither is ane agency of thinking most the ordering of A, B as well as C.
Influenza A virus subtype H5N1 overnice thought when teaching students systematic listing is to nowadays them amongst lists amongst bits missing:
And cheque out how beautifully animated this is:
There is thus much to a greater extent than to beak most from this presentation but I can't part the whole lot here! So create cheque out all of Don's slides on his blog.

My Presentations
I presented twice on Wednesday. First I did a v infinitesimal slot during David Acheson's beak 'Proof past times Chocolate etc'. I spoke most amusing contexts from sometime maths textbooks. Later I did my ain 1.5 hr presentation on the development of vocabulary inwards maths teaching. I powerfulness nowadays some of that at La Salle's adjacent conference inwards Sheffield thus I'm non sharing the slides on here. If yous were at the presentation experience gratuitous to e-mail me for a copy.

I receive got every chance to nowadays at conferences for ii reasons - kickoff because I'm ever thus excited to part all the fascinating materials I've found, as well as minute because I mean value it's genuinely of import that both women as well as classroom teachers position themselves forrad to speak at educational activity events. We can't complain most beingness underrepresented if nosotros don't volunteer to speak. At this conference, where anyone was welcome to submit a workshop proposal, I worked out that most 43% of the speakers were female. That's non bad, but given that our profession is dominated past times women, nosotros could create better. I genuinely really encourage all teachers, especially females, to consider submitting a presentation for adjacent year's conferences when the fourth dimension comes. If yous receive got a detail surface area of expertise, or create something interesting inwards your classroom, or if you've done some research, or yous desire to part some dandy tasks as well as activities, thus delight create larn involved.

Finally, listeners of the podcast volition know that Craig as well as I were rather hopeful that nosotros powerfulness win the quiz over again afterwards in conclusion year's surprise victory. We pulled together a dandy squad (me, Craig, Andrew Taylor, David McEwan as well as David Bedford), as well as hither nosotros are all looking rather optimistic at the start of the night:
We definitely chose the incorrect circular to play our joker, but nosotros even thus ended upward coming 3rd which made me really happy because nosotros won Easter eggs! Well done to the teams that came kickoff as well as minute (including our quiz nemesis, the lovely Alison Kiddle) - really good played.

I also desire to state give thank yous you to Jen Shackley, Andy Sharpe, Ben Sparks as well as David Bedford for keeping me fellowship at as well as afterwards the slightly bonkers (but delightful) opened upward mic trial on the in conclusion nighttime of the conference. What fabulous people.

See yous all over again adjacent time!






No comments:

Post a Comment