Monthly Archives: June 2017

My first maths Conference #mathsconf10

Cake, workshops, ideas from examination boards, new connections, free books and so much more. Here’s some thoughts on my first maths conference.

Maths and cake. A yummy combination.

Saturday morning on a London bus in Dagenham and all alone I was wondering if I am even supposed to be going to this conference as a private tutor. It was after all a classroom teachers’ event and I was feeling like a fish out of water on my way there. Luckily the active maths teaching community on twitter and teachers I know on the Maths Tutors UK Facebook group had encouraged me to go (with cake promised nonetheless). So I booked my ticket without knowing anyone else in person who was going. And what a superb decision that turned out to be!

I arrived into a huge hall of teachers and met someone I knew through the Facebook group, we had chatted before online so it was easy to get chatting in person. Even if I had known no one at all the maths conference had the perfect ice breaker with the “mathematical speed dating” later on. More on that in a bit.

Meeting up for the first time, the Maths Tutors UK gang.

The opening introductory talk was by Mark McCourt of La Salle education who organised this event. He mentioned that these conferences have only been going for 3 years, and are sponsored by AQA so they can be very cheap (my ticket was £26.87 with VAT). The idea being that it is the teachers who know best how to tackle education in this country and this is a platform to bring everyone together. One big thing he said at the start stuck with me all day:

Education is UK’s 5th largest export.

I have first hand experience of this and my tutoring business is now part of that statistic. Last year I decided to tutor all online to cut out my commute and be able to reach my Yorkshire clients without the long train journeys. To my surprise I started getting enquiries from parents in the US, India, Singapore, Malaysia, UAE and Bahrain. Some were British families abroad sending their children to British schools but many others simply chose British schools. My clients have such respect for the British education system, they equate it to a certain level of sophistication and elegance that we often don’t realise it being here in the U.K., which is also a point Mark McCourt made. My dad worked in the Indian embassy and he persuaded his senior officers to have me entered me into Braeburn primary school in Nairobi, Kenya when I was 5 years old.

The mathematical speed dating was a 2 mins session with another teacher/educator in the room. On the date you had to discuss your favourite teaching ideas and there were 4 such dates. I learnt about a puzzles book a teacher has written, the Irish education system (a teacher had travelled from Ireland to be at that conference) and a teacher who had recently been to schools in China. I exchanged ideas on how I tutor online, Dyscalculia and my “meaning of pi” experiment. The teachers had such great enthusiasm for what they do and new things they wanted to learn and share. The speed dating got me socially relaxed and ready for a full day’s worth of workshops and socialising.

Lunch time at mathsconf10.

There were 5 workshops to choose from out of 22 that were running on the day. I wish I could have chosen all 22 so going down to just 5 was a tough choice.

My first workshop was run by the chief of examiners for the AQA board for A Level on mathematical proof and notation. I was truly surprised when he pulled out a SURD rationalising the denominator question. It could be legitimately all done by typing it on the calculator and hitting the answer button to score all the marks as it was not a “show that” question. There is an increased emphasis on the use of calculators for the new A Level AQA spec. Unless of course questions explicitly ask for “show that” type proof which requires full rigour of explaining. As it happens there was a discussion going on the use of calculators on the Maths Tutors UK group on the same day. In that moment I realised the value of being right in front of a chief examiner for a board to discuss this. This was coming straight from the horse’s mouth. And it was an open discussion too so if there was anywhere I could best learn about this or let my thoughts known to the board, this was the only place to be.

Concrete material to play with.

My second workshop was run on bar models for algebra and number work. This was Christmas to me as I’ve been tutoring Dyscalculia students for a year and I’m hungry for ideas on this. There were concrete materials like numicon, cubes, counters and strips of paper. I was amazed on how differently you can approach algebra in the earlier years before introducing it an abstract manner later on. This type of bridging material is exactly what I need for my Dyscalculia teenage students. I will be attending another workshop by the same speaker in London later in July again.

My third workshop was on a new qualification by AQA called Core maths. I had taken a punt on this one as I had no idea what this workshop was going to be. This turned out to be about a ton of real world maths, calculations on loans, taxes, inflation etc., Stuff that could be taught on the actual GCSE. The presenter showed a number of student responses on a task called “Why Santa Claus is not real?” with some creative calculations by students. This seems like a very useful practical maths qualification.

My fourth workshop was all about tech in the classroom and digital resources. An enigmatic retired teacher was totally down with the tech. He took us to Melbourne airport on Google maps and showed us that you can actually see cross-sectional views of the runway with gradient data. We traveled to the pentagon building as well. I was so happy to see him use the Wacom graphics tablet that I use in my own tutoring. He also had some very cool graphing software and some very clever uses of spreadsheets. His workshop alone has filled my head with numerous ideas and I’ll slowly be implementing these with my students.

My fifth and final workshop was about reasoning and problem solving. The teacher showed some innovative ideas on the correct use of language and the idea of problem solving through creative brainstorming and questioning. By applying those techniques she had improved the scores of her set of students very well. What a skill to be able to influence so many students so effectively. By my fifth workshop my brain was overloaded already and I took as much note as I could for teaching KS3 and KS4 material.

Free books. Thank you CGP 🙂

Between the five sessions there was lunch and the odd short break. The highlight of lunch has to be the cake competition with a whole array of wonderful maths themed cakes. I knew two teachers from the Facebook group so I had two large slices of their cakes. I was buzzing on sugar now too.

There were also several stands from suppliers and publishers. As if the day didn’t have enough value already, I then got hold of the brand new A Level maths textbooks from CGP for the new syllabus for free! The books are absolutely invaluable to me and I am one happy bunny now.

The day closed with Mark McCourt on the main stage again and some drinks outside. Working as a tutor can be a lonely affair and no matter how good you think you are doing with your tutoring it is impossible to shake that feeling off that you know you need CPD and could be doing a better job. After 11 years of tutoring, 9 of them without knowing any other tutors I was so relieved to have gotten CPD at this conference. I have attended short training courses before but this was truly on another scale and level. I met many teachers and exchanged ideas from my world of 1-on-1 work with their inspiring work in the classroom. As a tutor one can often feel in the periphery of the education system. I now truly feel connected to the heart of the teaching ecosystem.

It was an intense roller coaster of a day which went very fast and there was so much to absorb. I have returned with tons of goodies, subscriptions, contacts and I’m still processing many things from the day. I now genuinely feel like a better, more rounded tutor and am raring to try new ideas with my students. I’ve also got the maths conference bug, so I will be going to a few more of these now 🙂 I urge all my maths tutor friends to attend future events like these. Thank you La Salle.

Terminal Velocity Skydiving Video – GCSE Physics

As part of GCSE Physics students learn the idea of an object that reaches terminal velocity when it is moving in a fluid. A great demonstration of this idea is through the example of objects in free fall. And what better object to think this idea through than a skydiver!

The embedded video bring this idea to life. Velocity values of an actual skydiver are given through the different phases of the journey. Right at the very start when the diver jumps off, the weight is the only force acting on the vertical plane. By using Newton’s 2nd law you can work out that the acceleration is all due to gravity at that point. As the diver gains speed due to this acceleration, the air resistance (or drag) also increases. Now the resultant force downwards is smaller and so is the acceleration. Nonetheless there is acceleration downwards and the velocity is still increasing. Eventually the drag increases so much that it is enough to counteract the weight. At this point the forces are balanced and the acceleration is zero. But by this point the diver has a substantial velocity. As such the diver will continue in free fall at a constant velocity. This is what is known as the terminal velocity.

Once the parachute is deployed, the drag increases and the resultant force is now upwards as the drag is more than the weight. This causes deceleration. At the same time the reduced velocity decreases the drag. But there is still deceleration so the diver keeps slowing down. Until the point when the drag is once again equal to the weight. The diver then reaches a second terminal velocity.

This is all explained in the video as well. So hit play on the video and be taken on a skydiving ride joined up with Physics revision. Good luck to all the Physics students taking their exams tomorrow.

Independent Tutors Meetup – 8 July 2017 London

After a break we are back for another meet-up! The independent tutors community in the UK is slowly growing to become a force in its own right and gaining recognition. Working for yourself as an independent tutor can be a lonely job and even if you put all your effort into providing the best possible service, it is always invaluable to know how others manage the teaching and business part of their tutoring.

Tutors meetup Hyde Park London

Tutors meetup Hyde Park London

This is open to all tutors, independent or tutoring for an agency. The Serpentine Cafe is in a great location inside the vast expanse of green in Hyde Park next to a lake. There’s food, drinks and snacks available at the cafe. We usually sit on the grass or at one of the benches on the outdoor area of the cafe. Nearest tube stations are Hyde Park Corner, Knightsbridge and Marble Arch.

Looking forward to meeting you and feel free to contact me if you want more info or to let me know you are coming 🙂

National Grid – Live Data

During my online GCSE Physics tutoring sessions I mention how Electricity is made. And a key extension to that is also how electricity is distributed. The system is called the National Grid and is Great Britain’s electrical transmission and distribution system. In my 2nd year Summer Engineering placement I worked for an electrical distribution company and visited substations.

The National Grid and pumped storage are both part of GCSE Physics, albeit module P1 for AQA Physics, for which the exams have already been and gone in 2017.

Nonetheless the following website is absoltuely amazing in giving you a live up date on nationwide electrical production. It gives you a live pie chart on the different sources of energy, and the distribution of renewable vs non renewable. Not only that but it also gives you an indication on how much pumped storage electricity is available. Pumped storage is in the Physics syllabus as well.

Some other pretty cool things you can see are that there are direct electricity lines between the UK, France and Holland. That way electricity can both be imported and exported.

So click on this link here and check out what’s happening in terms of the National Grid right now.

National Grid : Live Status

Mendel and his peas – GCSE Biology

It is the GCSE Biology exam for my AQA students tomorrow. And one of the key topics in the B2 part of the syllabus is on Genetics and the work of Gregor Mendel. Mendel was an Austrian monk and Biologist in the 19th century. Mendel was very systematic and methodical in his experiments with peas. He was able to work out that traits can be inherited by future generations. And that there are dominant and recessive characteristics. We know these as alleles now.

This short 3 minute video is a great introduction into Punnett squares and the basics of genetic inheritance. Mendel was a pioneer of his time as we didn’t know about DNA or Chromosomes in the 19th century. The animations of the peas in this video are also very engaging and funny.

Rutherford’s Gold Scattering Experiment for GCSE Science

It was quite the most incredible event that has ever happened to me in my life. It was almost as incredible as if you fired a 15-inch shell at a piece of tissue paper and it came back and hit you.

– Ernest Rutherford

Being able to write out the key results of Rutherford, Marsden and Muller’s famous gold leaf scattering experiment is one of the requirements of the GCSE Physics syllabus. It comes up both in AQA and iGCSE Edexcel that I regularly tutor every year. This is usually accompanied by a comparison with the older “Plum Pudding” model of the atom. On this particular post I have embedded an invaluable video that I use for my online Physics tutoring sessions. A must watch for a deeper understanding of Rutherford’s experimental set up and his findings.

Gold leaf nucleus

Writing out the correct answer on a test is one thing, and understanding the human story of ingenuity, perseverance and scientific intuition is another. We tend to learn things better when they are presented as stories and great breakthroughs often challenge the status quo of the time. What he found was mind boggling at the time, and even today it is hard to imagine how empty an atom actually is.

In this BBC documentary Professor Jim Al Khalili visits the actual laboratory in Manchester where Rutherford got his two assistants to explore the atom in detail. He shows the actual equipment used and the story of how one seemingly random decision by Rutherford ended up unraveling the mystery of the atom. The video is part of a BBC series called Atom. A must watch for all GCSE students with the key part being from 17:30 to 25:07. The video auto-starts at this point on this link. So press play and be taken on a journey of the most important chapter in the discovery of the inner workings of the atom.

Extraction of metals and the Bronze Age

The reactivity of the metals determines how abundantly they are found on the earth. And an appreciation of their reactivity gives us a timeline of our own development as a species. A study of the reactivity of metals is also a study of very own history. This part of AQA and Edexcel GCSE is one I go through with students all the time. How the Bronze age started and then the Iron Age. All linked to the reactivity series.

An image of Bronze age axes.

Early Bronze age tools (from Natural History Museum Scotland)

Pre-historic humans used stone tools and items in their day to day lives. Tool making was a big deal indeed. But we couldn’t have known of metals besides silver and gold as they were all locked away in unrecognisable oxide form.

A most remarkable discovery moved us from the Stone Age period into the Bronze age. Bronze is an alloy (mixture of metals) of Copper and Tin. And copper would have been found as copper ore in nature. An accidental hot fire near a copper ore in the presence of coal (which contains Carbon, which is more reactive than Copper) would have revealed copper’s true existence. The Carbon reduced the Copper Oxide into Copper. A beautiful gold like substance, soft and malleable. It must have been an extraordinary discovery of its time and it changed the game for humans. We were now able to make much more sophisticated tooling, ornaments and jewellery. It was the first metal we discovered and set us on a path to more discoveries later.

Here are a couple of great videos that show how a green ore of copper called Malachite can easily be reduced into copper. The implications of discovering Copper, and how it was a prime trade item are shown on the videos.

This is a superb resource for GCSE AQA Chemistry students studying the C2 module, or the iGCSE Edexcel 1C modules, both of which I tutor. And if as a student you are feeling bogged down by learning cold facts, then these videos will bring it all to life again.

Do you have any thoughts on the magic of copper? Feel free to comment 🙂