Digging for the Why: Recent Episodes
MEI
A podcast for maths teachers of Years 5-8 looking at continuity and why we need to dig for the why in our lessons. Join Andy (former secondary teacher) and Alison (former primary teacher) for a podcast series discussing issues around continuity, the transition from primary to secondary, and many of the problems around teaching and learning maths.
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In our final episode of Season 2 of ‘Digging For The Why’ we talk to Curriculum Lead for Oak National Academy, Ed Southall.
In this week’s episode, Ed emphasises the need to nurture curiosity from an early age to encourage participation in the classroom.
We delve into the challenges of moving away from traditional teaching models and the benefits that conceptual insight can bring to enrich students’ learning experiences.
Additionally, we explore how to create a classroom culture in which students feel safe to make mistakes, share ideas and engage in discussion to enhance their understanding and shift traditional teaching practices.
Meet our Guest:
Author of ‘Yes But Why? Teaching for Understanding in Mathematics, Curriculum Lead for Oak National Academy and editor-in-chief of the Mathematical Association, Ed Southall, is the perfect guest for our podcast.
Ed specialises in speaking about conceptual teaching in maths and making maths make sense for children of all ages. He has an array of experience in teaching and senior leadership, as well as experience teaching in the Middle East.
@edsouthall
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You can find us on X
Andy - @desire2undrstnd/Bluesky
Alison - @AlisonHopperMEI
A talented young creative iingledew produced our intro/outro – check out his Soundcloud.
Send us a Text Message.
In this week’s episode, we invite Susan Okereke to open the conversation on whether students should study maths till age 18.
We take a look at the enhancing numeracy levels in the UK and the positive effects that might have. As well as the societal impact of poor math skills and emotional responses to maths.
We also explore the importance of welcoming mistakes and encouraging inclusivity within the classroom to build both confidence and competence among students and, ultimately, a supportive learning environment.
Meet our Guest:
As an experienced maths teacher and communicator, Susan aims to encourage thought and discussion about how we can improve numeracy levels in this country and how we can make maths more engaging in the classroom. Susan is also a podcast host for Maths Appeal and a BBC Radio 4 puzzle writer. Susan is passionate about showing that maths is everywhere and for everyone.
@DoTheMathsThingListen to Maths Appeal now!
Acast |Apple | Spotify |YouTube
Enjoyed this episode? Help us reach more people by leaving us a 5*!! review
You can find us on X
Andy - @desire2undrstnd/Bluesky
Alison - @AlisonHopperMEI
A talented young creative iingledew produced our intro/outro – check out his Soundcloud.
In this captivating episode, we invite Alex Bellos, renowned author, mathematician, and puzzle-maker, to join the discussion on why we dig for the why.
Alex is an expert on the narrative approach to making maths engaging.
We explore the similarities in teaching methods between maths and computer science. As well as the significance of generating curiosity and the role teachers play in encouraging an open and safe environment that prompts students to question ‘Why?’.
Meet out Guest:
Alex Bellos studied Mathematics and Philosophy at Cambridge before going into Journalism. For over 5 years, he lived in Brazil, working for The Guardian as their South American correspondent. In 2010, when he returned to the UK, Alex published ‘Alex’s Adventures in Numberland’, followed shortly by ‘Alex Through the Looking Glass’ in 2014. Alex is also an experienced public speaker and gives talks to a whole range of students, profesionals and the general public.
@alexbellos
Enjoyed this episode? Help us reach more people by leaving us a 5*!! review
You can find us on X
Andy - @desire2undrstnd/Bluesky
Alison - @AlisonHopperMEI
A talented young creative iingledew produced our intro/outro – check out his Soundcloud.
Episode 2 of ‘Digging For The Why’ explores the idea of enquiry-based learning in mathematics education.
This week, we talk to Catriona Agg, a specialist in continuity between years 5 – 8, about the benefits of incorporating puzzles into your lessons.
We also look at independent learning across educational levels and explore strategies for engaging students in mathematics and reflecting on education in the post-pandemic world.
Meet our Guest:
We are joined by Catriona Agg, group lead and experienced maths teacher. Catriona works with her local maths hub as a Work Group Lead developing A level pedagogy. She has also been a Work Group Lead for Year 5 to 8 Continuity, which, as listeners of season one will know, is very close to our hearts! Catriona is also well known in the maths-twitter world for her awesome geometry puzzles.
@Cshearer41
Enjoyed this episode? Help us reach more people by leaving us a 5*!! review
You can find us on X
Andy - @desire2undrstnd/Bluesky
Alison - @AlisonHopperMEI
A talented young creative iingledew produced our intro/outro – check out his Soundcloud.
Join us and our special guest, Ben Sparks, as we discuss everything from engaging teaching methods and practical applications to fostering curiosity among students.
We emphasise the need for teachers to make maths interesting and accessible beyond the traditional curriculum. While exploring the importance of deep understanding over memorisation across all subjects.
We also take a look at parental influence and some different, varied pedagogical approaches to create an engaging and accessible learning environment for all students.
Meet our Guest:Ben is an experienced mathematician, musician and public speaker. He hosts maths talks and workshops around the world.
Ben is currently part freelance and an Area Coordinator with the AMSP, and is based at the University of Bath. His performances include regular work with the Numberphile YouTube channel, where his videos have been watched over 12 million times. He also runs his own YouTube channel, SparksMaths.
@SparksMaths | https://www.bensparks.co.uk/
Enjoyed this episode? Help us reach more people by leaving us a 5*!! review
You can find us on X
Andy - @desire2undrstnd/Bluesky
Alison - @AlisonHopperMEI
A talented young creative iingledew produced our intro/outro – check out his Soundcloud.
Hello and welcome to Digging for the why - the podcast for maths teachers and maths enthusiasts where we discuss the need to ask why.
In this special episode, recorded live at the MEI conference in June 2023, we get the opportunity to ask questions to the key people involved in designing the new maths curriculum for KS1-4 for the Oak National Academy.
Andy hosts the episode and is joined by the following guests on stage:
Charlie Stripp – CEO of MEI
Ed Southall – Maths lead for the Oak National Academy
Alison Hopper – Primary lead for the Oak National Academy (and usual co-host for DFTW!)
Vicky Wheelhouse – Secondary lead for the Oak National Academy
This was a 45 minute Q&A about the planned Oak curriculum for maths where teachers and other audience members go the chance to ask questions of the panel.
The questions include:
· Why choose MEI?
· How will Oak address the various transitions across KS1-4?
· As a student, will I feel ‘Oak fatigue’?
· How does this project differ from other ‘bought in’ curriculums?
· How do the Oak resources empower teachers rather than deskill them?
· How are the resources created and how can teachers adapt them?
· Is accessibility considered for these resources?
· Are there any resources for SEND? If not, are they planned for the future?
Links to things mentioned in this episode:
The Oak National Academy
Equatio
Find Ed and VIcky here:
· Ed – @edsouthall
· Vicky - @v_wheelhouse
If you enjoyed this episode please help us reach more people by leaving us a (good and 5*!!) review :-)
You can find us on twitter/alternatives:
Andy - Twitter/Bluesky
Alison - Twitter
Our intro/outro was produced by a talented young creative - check out his Soundcloud.
Hello and welcome to Digging for the why - the podcast for maths teachers of years 5-8 looking at continuity and why we need to dig for the why in our lessons.
In this episode, Alison and Andy are joined by a special guest, Tom Button. Together they discuss the following:
- Season 2 of Digging For The Why?
- How can students and teachers benefit from technology?
- When should students start using technology?
- Andy poses the daft question: Is there a difference between using technology and using technology in the classroom?
- What is happening with technology use in the primary sector?
- How can we improve teaching through the use of technology?
- Take simple steps to experience success with technology
Links to things mentioned in this episode:
- Calculator Crunch
- Graphing software - Autograph/Desmos/GeoGebra
- SAMR model
- Flipgrid - now called Flip!
- Desmos Classroom
- GlobalGEG
If you enjoyed this episode please help us reach more people by leaving us a (good and 5*!!) review :-)
You can find us on twitter:
Andy - @desire2undrstnd
Alison - @AlisonHopperMEI
Tom - @MathsTechnology
Our intro/outro was produced by a talented young creative - check out his Soundcloud.
Hello and welcome to Digging for the why - the podcast for maths teachers of years 5-8 looking at continuity and why we need to dig for the why in our lessons.
In this episode, Alison and Andy are joined by a special guest, Richard Perring. Together they discuss the following:
- Keeping your LinkedIn up-to-date!
- Why should we encourage the use of rich tasks? What do students and teachers gain?
- The power of asking why
- Rich tasks don't need to last a lesson, just have a thinking question
- Listening to student conversations to guide the teaching
- Is there still a space for coursework?
- Does there need to be a right answer?
- As a teacher, be open to learning
- Where can you go to read about rich tasks and get some starting points?
- The power of a collaborative planning model
Links to things mentioned in this episode:
- Ann Watson & John Mason - Mathematical thinking
- Colin Foster and Tom Francome - Plenary or just ponder?
- Transum - Starter of the day
- Transforming primary mathematics - Mike Askew
- Thinkers - ATM
- Algebradabra
- Mathematical challenges for able pupils
If you enjoyed this episode please help us reach more people by leaving us a (good and 5*!!) review :-)
You can find us on twitter:
Andy - @desire2undrstnd
Alison - @AlisonHopperMEI
Richard - @learning maths
Our intro/outro was produced by a talented young creative - check out his Soundcloud.
Hello and welcome to Digging for the why - the podcast for maths teachers of years 5-8 looking at continuity and why we need to dig for the why in our lessons.
In this episode, Alison and Andy are joined by a special guest, Tom Rainbow. Together they discuss the following:
- Tom's thoughts on challenging and motivating students
- Andy's son passes the Men In Black interview process
- Do we help students awareness of what they know and don't know?
- Teachers should model thinking in class
- Whose responsibility is it to embed problem-solving time in lessons?
- Does a schools' vision for maths impact on what happens in the classroom?
- How do I plan a lesson as a new teacher that can challenge and motivate students and it doesn't wear me out by half term?
- Using 'I wonder' and 'I notice' statements to engage and motivate
- Teachers owning the lesson but still letting the students have space to explore and discover
Links to things mentioned in this episode:
- Ken Robinson's TED talk - Do schools kill creativity?
If you enjoyed this episode please help us reach more people by leaving us a (good and 5*!!) review :-)
You can find us on twitter:
Andy - @desire2undrstnd
Alison - @AlisonHopperMEI
Tom - @CoreMathsTom
Our intro/outro was produced by a talented young creative - check out his Soundcloud.
Hello and welcome to Digging for the why - the podcast for maths teachers of years 5-8 looking at continuity and why we need to dig for the why in our lessons.
In this episode, Alison and Andy discuss the following:
- Andy apologises for a lack of knowledge of adjectives
- Do we take into account the difference in how children conceptualise maths to teachers?
- Clarity in the classroom - is there a difference between what the teacher thinks the lesson was vs what the student thinks the lesson was
- Move from planning what we want students to have 'done' in the lesson to how we want the students to have 'thought' in the lesson
- Give value to the students' years in maths to date
- Do we empathise enough about the transition into Y7 for our students?
- A consistent school culture can lead to consistency in classrooms and have a positive impact on teaching and learning
- Do secondary school teachers give enough credit to what students have learnt in primary schools? Spoiler alert: NO!
Links to things mentioned in this episode:
- The Balacheff article
If you enjoyed this episode please help us reach more people by leaving us a (good and 5*!!) review :-)
You can find us on twitter:
Andy - @desire2undrstnd
Alison - @AlisonHopperMEI
Our intro/outro was produced by a talented young creative - check out his Soundcloud.
Hello and welcome to Digging for the why - the podcast for maths teachers of years 5-8 looking at continuity and why we need to dig for the why in our lessons.
In this episode, Alison and Andy are joined by a special guest, Alison Clark-Wilson. Together they discuss the following:
- Andy learns the meaning of enigmatic!
- Why is curiosity important?
- Do we encourage students to ask why?
- Can we build the right atmosphere in our classrooms?
- Creating a learning plate to have diverse lessons.
- Calculators as an investigative tool.
- A wall of unanswered questions - give value to student questions that are outside the curriculum.
- Are we giving space for curiosity?
Links to things mentioned in this episode:
- Graphing software - Autograph/Desmos/GeoGebra
If you enjoyed this episode please help us reach more people by leaving us a (good and 5*!!) review :-)
You can find us on twitter:
Andy - @desire2undrstnd
Alison - @AlisonHopperMEI
Alison C-W - @AliClarkWilson
Our intro/outro was produced by a talented young creative - check out his Soundcloud.
Hello and welcome to Digging for the why - the podcast for maths teachers of years 5-8 looking at continuity and why we need to dig for the why in our lessons.
In this episode, Alison and Andy are joined by a special guest, Vicky Osborn. Again this episode was recorded in two parts:
Part One: Andy and Alison
- The differences between KS2 and KS3 for stakeholders
- KS3: The Wasted Years? Ofsted report 2015
- What is being done to address issues from this report?
- Valuing the mathematical journey of our students at every stage
Part Two: Andy, Alison and Vicky
- Andy has a rant
- Vicky's experience of the transition years
- Parents as stakeholders in the transition
- Is pedagogy the same at KS2 and KS3? What is should be vs what it could be.
- How does joint planning help plan a scheme of work in KS3?
- What happens after SATs in Y6?
- Why do Year 7s put their hand up and ask what to do when they finish their page?
Links to things mentioned in this episode:
- NCETM
- Find your local maths hub
- Ofsted report
If you enjoyed this episode please help us reach more people by leaving us a (good and 5*!!) review :-)
You can find us on twitter:
Andy - @desire2undrstnd
Alison - @AlisonHopperMEI
Vicky - @CheerVix
Our intro/outro was produced by a talented young creative - check out his Soundcloud.
Hello and welcome to Digging for the why - the podcast for maths teachers of years 5-8 looking at continuity and why we need to dig for the why in our lessons.
This episode is in two parts. In part one, Andy and Alison discuss what they mean by mastery. In part two, they are joined by Steph Kirk, a teacher in a brand new school with just Year 7, to hear how she uses mastery as part of her teaching.
Together they discuss the following:
- The weather - again!
- The challenge and opportunity of only having Year 7 in a school
- PD in your department
- Using mastery in your planning and teaching
Links to things mentioned in this episode:
- Rekenreks
- NCETM - Mastery
- Find your local maths hub
- NCETM - Professional Development resources
- West Yorkshire Maths Hub
- Ready to progress criteria
- NCETM checkpoint resources
If you enjoyed this episode please help us reach more people by leaving us a (good and 5*!!) review :-)
You can find us on twitter:
Andy - @desire2undrstnd
Alison - @AlisonHopperMEI
Steph - @Steph_mathsive
Our intro/outro was produced by a talented young creative - check out his Soundcloud.
Hello and welcome to Digging for the why - the podcast for maths teachers of years 5-8 looking at continuity and why we need to dig for the why in our lessons.
In this episode, Alison and Andy discuss the following:
- What do we mean by digging for the why?
- Why we shouldn't teach tricks
- A student led vs teacher led classroom
Links to things mentioned in this episode:
- NCETM continuity workgroups
- NCETM checkpoint resources
If you enjoyed this episode please help us reach more people by leaving us a (good and 5*!!) review :-)
You can find us on twitter:
Andy - @desire2undrstnd
Alison - @AlisonHopperMEI
Our intro/outro was produced by a talented young creative - check out his Soundcloud.
Hello and welcome to Digging for the why - the podcast for maths teachers of years 5-8 looking at continuity and why we need to dig for the why in our lessons.
This episode is a chance for us (Andy and Alison) to introduce ourselves and give you an overview of the podcast series that will follow.
You can find us on twitter:
Andy - @desire2undrstnd
Alison - @AlisonHopperMEI
Our intro/outro was produced by a talented young creative - check out his Soundcloud.