Maths Chats: Recent Episodes
Maths Chats
This podcast is an opportunity to hear from Maths teachers across Northern Ireland. Jonny English (@mrenglishmaths) chats with local teachers as they will share from their experience, discuss resources and feedback about different teaching strategies. Keep up to date on Facebook, Twitter & Instagram (@mathschatsni)
In this episode we chat to Leah Hunt who talks to us about her live teaching that has been going on since the start of lockdown. While many schools spent time finding their feet, Leah and the rest of her department took to Collaborate Ultra to engage with their pupils and to continue teaching as normal. Their commitment is second to none!
Going beyond that, they all invested in visualisers to enhance their teaching and to ensure pupils could see exactly how work should be presented.
There is no doubt that Leah is a huge fan of these visualisers and I'd almost go as far to say that once you have listened, you'll be wanting to buy one yourself (or at least convince your department to get one or two!)
Also, why not try count how many times she says the word visualiser!
Remember to keep up to date with us on Facebook, Twitter & Instagram (@mathschatsni) for updates and feel free to share this podcast with whoever you think may be interested.
If you are a teacher with something you would like us to chat about, please get in touch as we plan for future episodes. Similarly, if you would like to be chat about anything with us, do let us know - we look forward to hearing from you!
This episode contains the audio from our Maths Chats Live conversation on Thursday 11th June 2020. Maths teachers from all over Northern Ireland came together to talk about their experience over the last few months and to share ideas ahead of what may be a slightly different beginning to the new school year.
If you would like any further information on any of what was discussed, please do get in touch and if you want added to the Google Drive that is mentioned, just email mathschatsni@gmail.com or get in touch via Twitter. Also feel free to fill in the follow up form after you've had a listen - https://forms.gle/y6HDGvCzjJxUnqcQ7
I hope that the conversation is helpful to you and that all is going well with your own remote teaching!
Remember to keep up to date with us on Facebook, Twitter & Instagram (@mathschatsni) for updates and feel free to share this podcast with whoever you think may be interested.
If you are a teacher with something you would like us to chat about, please get in touch as we plan for future episodes. Similarly, if you would like to be chat about anything with us, do let us know - we look forward to hearing from you!
In this episode, we initially chat with Alison McClure who has taken her tutoring online to teach group classes for those in Year 12 hoping to begin A Level Mathematics in September. Alison talks about the reasons that she got into tutoring and the benefits that she thinks it can have for Maths teachers.
We then also briefly discuss the opportunities that using technology offers to teaching Maths but also some of the limitations.
Remember to keep up to date with us on Facebook, Twitter & Instagram (@mathschatsni) for updates and feel free to share this podcast with whoever you think may be interested.
If you are a teacher with something you would like us to chat about, please get in touch as we plan for future episodes. Similarly, if you would like to be chat about anything with us, do let us know - we look forward to hearing from you!
In this episode, we speak to Jamie Williamson, originally from Tyrone but now teaching in Lisburn.
Jamie chats about his teaching from home and his experience with seeing Maths Anxiety in pupils and parents, following on from National Numeracy Day last month. He also talks about some of his teaching methods that have worked well in recent years and some changes he has been making.
One particular interest point raised was the fact that working memory can be affected by time spent worrying about knowledge or performance. Surprisingly, both low and high achievers can suffer from Maths Anxiety.
A few things that came up during the conversation are below:
- David Didau - What if everything I knew about education was wrong?
- https://www.learnupon.com/blog/ebbinghaus-forgetting-curve/
- Low Stakes Testing / Retrieval Practice
- https://mathsbot.com/starters/retrievalStarter
- Mr Barton Maths - SSDD
- Colleagues in his department
Remember to keep up to date with us on Facebook, Twitter & Instagram for updates and feel free to share this podcast with whoever you think may be interested.
If you are a teacher with something you would like us to chat about, please get in touch as we plan for future episodes. Similarly, if you would like to be chat about anything with us, do let us know - we look forward to hearing from you!
Sign up to Maths Chats Live: Blended Learning on Thursday 11th June at 4pm
https://t.co/hSjSZhHn4O
In this episode, we chat with Lauren from Explore Learning Belfast about what the tuition centre usually does on a daily basis and what Explore are doing online for both their members and the public at this time. We also briefly talk about the workshops and competitions that Explore will hopefully be organising as normal when school resumes.
Explore Learning certainly have a lot to offer and are worth checking out at the link below. I just can't guarantee you'll get to go to London!
https://www.explorelearning.co.uk/tuition-centre/belfast
Remember to keep up to date with us on Facebook, Twitter & Instagram for updates and feel free to share this podcast with whoever you think may be interested.
If you are a teacher with something you would like us to chat about, please get in touch as we plan for future episodes. Similarly, if you would like to be chat about anything with us, do let us know - we look forward to hearing from you!
Sign up to Maths Chats Live: Blended Learning on Thursday 11th June at 4pm
https://t.co/hSjSZhHn4O
This episode has us chatting with Mark Monteith, a Maths teacher originally from Ballymena who is currently teaching in Co. Down.
He talks about his experience in an all boys boarding school in Edinburgh as well as his most recent experience in Sullivan Upper School. Mark explains some of the challenges he has faced throughout his career and discuses some of the changes he has made in his teaching. In particular, he speaks about how he uses his board and talks the class through an example, putting an emphasis on explanation. He also talked about how consistency was important for him in choosing resources, as opposed to jumping between two many.
Some of the resources that Mark mentioned are below:
- Maths4Everyone
- CorbettMaths
- Solomon questions for A Level (available on www.mathsandphysicstutor.com)
- Mr Barton Maths - SSDD questions
Note. No offence intended for those who teach PE or drink lots of tea or coffee!
Remember to keep up to date with us on Facebook, Twitter & Instagram for updates and feel free to share this podcast with whoever you think may be interested.
If you are a teacher with something you would like us to chat about, please get in touch as we plan for future episodes. Similarly, if you would like to be chat about anything with us, do let us know - we look forward to hearing from you!
Wednesday 13th May 2020 is National Numeracy Day in which pupils, parents and teachers are encouraged to think about Numeracy and using Maths in every day life. In this episode, we briefly discuss the idea of Maths Anxiety, making Maths fun and building confidence in our weaker learners.
Below are some websites to have a look at:
- https://www.nationalnumeracy.org.uk/what-maths-anxiety
- https://corbettmaths.com/5-a-day
- https://www.numeracyninjas.org/
Make sure you tune in to some of the events in the virtual festival for National Numeracy Day. If you have tried any of these resources or have any experience of celebrating Maths or raising Numeracy standards in your school, why not tell us about it?
Remember to keep up to date with us on Facebook, Twitter & Instagram for updates and feel free to share this podcast with whoever you think may be interested.
If you are a teacher with something you would like us to chat about, please get in touch as we plan for future episodes. Similarly, if you would like to be chat about anything with us, do let us know - we look forward to hearing from you!
In this episode, we chat to Rachel Mullan who is currently teaching in Armagh.
Rachel's teaching career has taken her from home to Belfast to Scotland and back again. She speaks about her decision to teach in Scotland and some of the experiences in the two schools there, compared to Northern Ireland. She also talks about why she has decided to come back and what she is looking forward to now that she is settled in a school closer to home.
We also ask her about some of the most important things to her in teaching, one of them being the rapport she builds with pupils through extra-curricular activities. Rachel then chats through some of the resources she has been using in her Maths lessons.
Some resources that were discussed are:
- Corbettmaths
- Mr Barton Maths - SSDD, Diagnostic Questions
- Goal Free Questions
Remember to keep up to date with us on Facebook, Twitter & Instagram for updates and feel free to share this podcast with whoever you think may be interested.
If you are a teacher with something you would like us to chat about, please get in touch as we plan for future episodes. Similarly, if you would like to be chat about anything with us, do let us know - we look forward to hearing from you!
In this episode, we are chatting to Graeme Turk, an experienced Maths teacher from Co. Antrim.
Graeme has been teaching Maths up to A Level standard for about 8 years in a range of schools across Northern Ireland. He shares with us some of his highs and lows from the last number of years, as well as being the first contestant in our Higher or Lower game!
Remember to keep up to date with us on Facebook, Twitter & Instagram for updates and feel free to share this podcast with whoever you think may be interested.
If you are a teacher with something you would like us to chat about, please get in touch as we plan for future episodes. Similarly, if you would like to be chat about anything with us, do let us know - we look forward to hearing from you!