I was really excited about my first maths TeachMeet that was very well organised by Sheena and Nicola! As I had hoped, I got loads of brilliant takeaways. Mo Ladak presented the keynote speech and spoke about how once you’re a mentor for someone, you are always that person’s mentor! I definitely agree with this. Mo set us a challenge too: teach a lesson with only four things: A planned outcome; A pen; Our subject knowledge; and Our personality. It’s very easy to become depend

I’ve written a couple of times already this year about MEI’s Teaching Advance Mathematics course. Someone on Twitter recommended it to me last year and it’s definitely the best course I’ve been on for professional development. I had my second (and final) observation today and I was thrilled with how well it went. I was worried that the observation would have to be rearranged at the start of the lesson, as five sevenths of my class were out on a trip that I didn’t know about.

Every TAM experience I have makes me further question the way in which I teach A Level maths. I’m not saying all my lessons lower down the school are fun, but they’re definitely more engaging and interactive than what I usually do with year 12. In Birmingham earlier this week, I was stretched, challenged, questioned and questioned myself too, on approaches, teaching styles, course content and how best to support students to make progress. On Monday we focused largely on i

I have been known to doubt my own maths ability, but after Day 1 of the TAM course I feel reassured that I know much more than I thought. I was pleased that I was able to get involved with discussions and even lead the way with some tricky problem-solving questions. Moving forward I look forward to implementing what I have learned with my own A Level class. When teaching KS3/4 I use games, puzzles, mini whiteboards and discussion, but my lessons are decidedly “dry” when teach