Thursday, September 6, 2012

The Wonderful Globe Of Maths Resources

Last calendar week I spoke at the #powerofsix conference. This effect was hosted past times the 6 London Maths Hubs. Unfortunately my session was cutting brusk so I didn't acquire fourth dimension to complete my presentation. I promised the teachers inwards my session that I'd percentage my slides, so hither they are:

Slides: The Wonderful World of Maths Resources




Do bring a await through my slides as well as experience gratis to borrow them if you lot desire to run a session for your subdivision on maths resources. Although it's non ideal looking through these slides without my commentary, most are self-explanatory.

My session comes alongside a few caveats:

1. I sure enough don't intend that resources are the most of import affair a maths instructor needs to know about. Subject noesis (including noesis of mutual misconceptions as well as how to explicate concepts clearly) should ever locomote our starting fourth dimension priority. But I create intend that knowing how to speedily access high lineament maths resources is beneficial, non exclusively because it saves fourth dimension inwards lesson planning but also because it tin heighten both our experience of pedagogy maths as well as our students' experience of learning maths. I truly relish finding suitable maths resources for my lessons - inwards fact I intend it's i of the most enjoyable aspects of my job. If I notice a slap-up resources for a lesson so I'm fifty-fifty to a greater extent than excited close pedagogy that lesson, as well as I intend my enthusiasm shows.

2. There are many types of resources that I didn't verbalise close inwards my session - manipulatives, bill of fare sorts, videos as well as so on. Because fourth dimension was express my session had to bring a narrow focus - I couldn't encompass everything. Hence at that spot are many many omissions from my slides. My principal objective was to percentage websites that some teachers may non bring seen earlier as well as verbalise close the ways inwards which I bring successfully used detail resources alongside my ain students. I bring a much longer version of this verbalise that I wrote for SCITT trainees inwards which I also percentage all the classics too.

3. For the starting fourth dimension time, I talked close the pros as well as cons of textbooks. I was quoted inwards an article close textbooks inwards The Times of late as well as I intend I came across every bit anti-textbook. I'm non anti-textbook, I only intend that some topics (eg shape transformations) lend themselves improve to write-on sheets, as well as that beingness made to utilization a textbook inwards every unmarried lesson would suck all the fun out of my lesson planning! There are sure enough numerous advantages to using textbooks, every bit summarised below.
It's all irrelevant every bit nosotros can't afford textbooks anyway. Until nosotros acquire decent budgets inwards maths departments, there's no betoken inwards discussing it further.

In my session I asked delegates to percentage the websites that they currently utilization when planning lessons. Their responses are shown here:
TES is mentioned a lot here. There's been some anti-TES persuasion on Twitter of late which I intend is a existent shame. If you're non using TES so you're missing out on the amazing resources of Dan Walker as well as Susan Whitehouse! And without TES, novel teachers wouldn't bring the chance to percentage their ain resources. I'll never forget how skillful it felt when every bit an NQT I loaded my starting fourth dimension ever resources to TES as well as it got a skillful review. It was the starting fourth dimension time I felt operate of a wider community, as well as the starting fourth dimension time inwards pedagogy that I felt that my piece of work mightiness truly locomote valued. I bring a lot to nation on this so I'll relieve it for a split weblog post...

My ain resource libraries listing hundreds of manus picked recommendations for every secondary topic. Please create cheque them out if you lot haven't already.

Thanks to everyone who came to my session. And lamentable i time to a greater extent than for rushing!