I'm a maths teacher AMA

[Fuzzyball]

Secondary school maths teacher, though I'm currently on maternity leave

[TeenTimesTwo]

1. Do you think that if parents didn't keep telling their children that maths was hard, we would be able to raise a generation of children who were more confident at maths and therefore more able?
   
   
2. How do pupils with less good / large handwriting have a hope of laying their maths out properly for GCSE when the amount of space per question seems so small?

[headfullofdreams]

Thanks for the advice, fuzzyball. Much appreciated.

[DodoApplet]

( @rubisco - the above reply was to your query about sums of cubes)

[DodoApplet]

Hi - it's Ramanujan's Number = 1729, which is 13 + 123 = 93 + 103. If you look up "1729" in Wikipedia, you'll find an anecdote by his fellow mathematician G. H. Hardy about it being the number of the taxi in which they were riding at the time, which Ramanujan recognized from memory as having the above property.

[Skatersbeskating]

Sorry its an advice one,

What should I be doing with a 5 year old at home in terms of learning maths?

Or do I butt out & leave it to the teachers?

They are fab teachers by the way & she shows no problems at the moment with her learning/understanding.

Thank you

[Bowchicawowow]

How many pupils have you identified as having dyscalculia?

[randomsabreuse]

Is it realistic to teach maths with a-level and s-level (a while ago) and subject knowledge enhancement?

Can't afford another degree since open uni got so pricey!

[whistl]

How would you organise the maths department, if you were head of maths?

[noblegiraffe]

Do you agree that statistics should be ditched from the maths curriculum to be taught by the social sciences instead?

Or do you see ‘data collection and presentation’ coming up on the SoL and think ‘Wooyeah!’?

[rubisco]

What's the smallest number expressible as the sum of two cubes in two distinct ways?

[MaidenMotherCrone]

I only ask as DS3 is studying Theoretical and Computational Physics.

[Fuzzyball]

@MaidenMotherCrone i always wanted to become a teacher from a young age. By the time I started university i hadn't thought about it in a long time and I'd decided to do a maths and physics degree simply because i liked the subjects. By the time I came round to thinking a career i couldn't find anything that i felt i would enjoy and felt passionate about besides from teaching and as I had always wanted to do it i decided to train as a teacher

[Buggeroffbingbunny]

Maths teacher here too.

[bsc]

Why can’t schools retain math teachers?

Because they earn 4 to 5 times what a teacher earns without as much stress?

[marcopront]

Another maths teacher here.
The best way to revise maths is to do it. Not reading but answering questions.

[Fuzzyball]

Start with pratice papers/past papers, then look an the mark schemes, see what they've found easiest and what they've struggled with. Start with revising what they find really hard. The good thing is there's usually plenty of methods that can be used, there'll be ones they find easier than others. Try breaking down the methods so that they're as simple as possible and building it up from there. Once they understand the method keep praticing it. I start my classes with sheets of core skills and things topics they've done recently so it's stuck in their head. There's websites with questions to practice on like
Corbettmaths
MyMaths
MathsWatch
MathsGenie

[MaidenMotherCrone]

Why did you become a teacher when,with a good degree, you could’ve done many things?

[Fuzzyball]

I have a Mathematics and Physics BSc from Bath university

[Fuzzyball]

@PristineCondition
I've seen multiple colleagues give up teaching or take long periods of time off due to the stress and pressure. Then there's the lack of people becoming teachers in the first place and many of those don't have degrees in maths. Most who do have degrees in maths don't choose to become teachers

[Newyearwhoohoo]

What's the best way for my y11 DS to revise between now and his maths GCSE in the summer?

Hi op, I would really like some advice here too please. My year 11 DS really struggles with maths particularly to retain facts. They suggested dyscalculia in primary school but never 'officially' diagnosed. He is getting extra time in exams and taking lower tier. He scored a 2 in his recent maths mock exams.

His revision has been a bit passive, eg glancing over maths books and revision cards interspersed with active learning, online tests etc. Also spending a lot of time going through key areas with my DH but sometimes resistant to this.

How do we help him to retain information and methods which he'll remember weeks later instead of forgetting it all. He sometimes still uses his fingers to count.

[headfullofdreams]

What's the best way for my y11 DS to revise between now and his maths GCSE in the summer?
I want to help him as I did Maths A level so wondering how I can best do that.

TIA.

[MaidenMotherCrone]

Which degree do you have and from which Uni?

[Jackshouse]

PristineCondition have a look on the thread below and in the staffroom section. Issues are more pronounced in maths and physics I suspect because of the higher number of male graduates when teaching attracts more women and the huge difference in wages between maths/physic graduate jobs compared to teaching.

OP - I hope you don’t mind jumping in.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/3456494-to-think-there-is-something-seriously-wrong-with-our-education-system

[PristineCondition]

Why can’t schools retain math teachers?
I know there’s s crisis across the profession but my son is in year 11 in a “good” school and the department has an alarming turnover, last year there was no maths teachers whatsoever. Looking at other local schools it’s the same.