TomTeach
@tommaths.bsky.social
London, Comprehensive school, from Europe. Maths Teaching is my second career.
Sometimes, a feeling of despair to hear, witness (and understand) the logic in schools: "I looked for responsibilities in order to teach less, it was too much, not enough time..." "You do not want responsibilities other than teaching? You will be crammed with teaching hours until you give up"
I am getting more and more professional emails written by Chat GPT (or else). The best ones are those with a different type of fonts, indicating clearly a copy/paste. But even without the change of fonts, the wording...oh my... #MathsToday
If you were to plot the curve: x-axis: YEARS OF TEACHING (ie 3 is your third year teaching) y-axis: NUMBER OF TEACHING HOURS THAT YEAR What would it look like? What is the max and min? PS: the y-value is purely about teaching a class (ignore other responsibilities) #MathsToday
Is it really wise to have Y12 Single Maths students (mixed with Further students) be taught a lot of Y13 content, in order to facilitate the Further Maths students (edexcel) Core Pure 1 and 2 delivery (which has to be done in Year 12) ? #ALevelMaths
Just a newbie trying to understand practice accross school/opinions: Alevel maths teaching for one year group (let's say Y12): 1) Do you split Half Pure/Stats & Half Pure/Mech between 2 teachers 2) Do you split Pure & Stats/Mech between 2 teachers 3) Other. Which? #ALevelMaths #MathsToday
Another AI Use witnessed in school: Tutor needs to write end of year form tutor reports for each tutee. Tutor leaves long vocal note to AI for each student. AI comes back with a couple of paragraphs. Copy/paste paragraphs after quick check. #MathsToday
#mathstoday #alevelmaths Ridiculous personal view below (back in my youth). Disclaimer: view does not relate to any thoughs about maths pedagogy.
TomTeach@tommaths.bsky.social · last mo.Before going to bed, I will leave with the bombshell and very controversial opinion that I absolutely hate the notation df/dx for derivative of f. In my students days, I would see it as a physicist notation, unworthy (🫢) of the mathematician notation f'
Before going to bed, I will leave with the bombshell and very controversial opinion that I absolutely hate the notation df/dx for derivative of f. In my students days, I would see it as a physicist notation, unworthy (🫢) of the mathematician notation f'
TomTeach@tommaths.bsky.social · last mo.The notation "fg" for composition of functions is a terrible notation... Responsible for much confusion and mistakes galore from students. Do you have your own "most hated" maths notation? Let me know #MathsToday #Alevelmaths
The notation "fg" for composition of functions is a terrible notation... Responsible for much confusion and mistakes galore from students. Do you have your own "most hated" maths notation? Let me know #MathsToday #Alevelmaths
Is is normal to have the end of June and all of July taken out by a flurry (not just one) of trips or activities such as "fun days", in schools? #Mathstoday Too much. It might sound crazy, but I'd rather teach and finish whatever students need to finish studying.
The theorem that was taught to me, many moons ago, and is still taught today to all Year 7 students in France, called Thales theorem (proportionality in triangle) is not called Thales theorem in the UK, but the basic proportionality theorem? Is that correct? Help #MathsToday
In #MathsToday we looked at flow/depth problems with Year 9. I give you a depth/time graph and on your MWB you must sketch a corresponding 3D shape... When we spot an erroneous shape amongst the MWBs we reverse the question and class must draw a graph corresponding to that particular 3D shape.
Recently in a French bookshop: I saw the name Kolmogorov, stopped, scrolled a few pages, and quickly went to the till with this book. Maths books, 3 volumes, sixth form to early uni. Russian masters. Right up there. English version: "Mathematics: its content, method and meaning" #MathsToday
Love Maths, but not always in tune with what are commonly called "puzzles". Sometimes feel "puzzles" look down on you while I like Maths which look straight at you. Therefore am a fraud? Maybe.
Are we part of the social structure? #MathsToday
Rick Moranis Looking Terrified
ALT: Rick Moranis Looking Terrified
static.klipy.com
Timothy Gowers@wtgowers.bsky.social · 3mo agoIt's not necessarily the end of mathematics, but it's hard to see how the all the social structures that support the subject will be able to avoid major disruption over the next few years.
Forgot #MathsToday
TomTeach@tommaths.bsky.social · 3mo agoRemind me again why National Exams are given by different "awarding bodies" (some private), hence giving students slightly different tests, having slighly different ways of doing things, with teachers having slighly different ways to prepare students for them...?
Remind me again why National Exams are given by different "awarding bodies" (some private), hence giving students slightly different tests, having slighly different ways of doing things, with teachers having slighly different ways to prepare students for them...?
Why is a lot of "classic" American authors from late last century, and American litterature in general, so hard to find in bookshops in UK? A bit of McCarthy and DeLillo, that's it? Jim Harrison and Tom Wolfe might not be to everyone's taste, but 0 book in most london bookshops, really ??
I read an exchange once (can't find) between A-Level maths teachers, regarding the sequencing of Stats in the Pearsons textbooks, how it was not great and how some used a different order in practice... If that rings a bell, I d be grateful to get your opinion on it. #Alevelmaths #MathsToday
After immense pressure put on me (see picture attached, not the post quoted), I have ordered this book. It does look great. Hope it arrives at the door fast. #MathsToday #ALevelMaths
Susan Whitehouse@susanwhitehouse.bsky.social · 5mo agoYes, definitely. Apologies for the shameless self-publicity, but in our book, @mrsouthernmaths.bsky.social and I talk a lot about how we introduce different topics at A level, and out favourite resources to use.
Not another textbook, just a great book about Mathematics. What do we really do when we "do" and "think" about Mathematics? I recommend without a doubt. #MathsToday
I did not know this book, apparently "an old classic". I enjoy it. Quite pleasant to open at random and read. #MathsToday
A-Level Maths related question: Is it frequent, not frequent, or in between, to give a Year 13 to a teacher who has never done a Year 12 before? #MathsToday
This seems low to me. For comparison purposes: i am in a London comprehensive, and homework is given on a popular online platform: I see/suspect much higher % #MathsToday
Teacher Tapp@teachertapp.bsky.social · 4mo agoTeacher Tapp was invited to the House of Lords to share what teachers are telling us about AI in schools 🏛️ Students using AI without permission is rising fast. 📈 Secondary teachers reporting it has grown from 15% in 2023 to 58% in 2026 📈 In primary: from 1% to 8% over the same period
"Overscaffolding is a bigger issue than the lack of scaffolding" Some merits or just a provocation? #MathsToday
"97% of homework given nationally is entirely completed by AI." This is a fabricated statistic. Which might be true. #MathsToday
With Year 10, tried something for experimental probability... Gave them tables with number of tails outcomes for each of 2 coins (one biased, one fair) after a series of flips...the experiment repeated several times.
With Year 10, tried something for experimental probability... Gave them tables with number of tails outcomes for each of 2 coins (one biased, one fair) after a series of flips...the experiment repeated several times.
