A little bit of logic

At the start of this term I have been working on Logic and Reasoning with my S1 class. The aim is to focus on strategies, thinking, discussion, problem solving and perseverance.

As a class we have looked at two way tables, Venn diagrams and logic problems. But I also wanted to throw in a few strategy games and puzzles.

Firstly, we played the Traffic Light Game, which I wrote about previously. It was so much fun. I still love that it is a game that everyone can play no matter of mathematical ability and can develop strategies to win.

Then we looked at how to solve Futoshiki puzzles. Futoshiki puzzles are from Japan and the name means “inequality”.

0 to 49 Cards

Here is a little task that the new S1 pupils will be completing in their Numeracy lessons this week. There will be three different sets of these cards so pupils will not be able to see the answers at another table.

The concept is simple – the statements on the cards all give an answer from 0 to 49. The task of each group is to put the statements in numerical order from 0 to 49.

Here are some of the statements:

My Classroom

I spent a few days last week trying to sort out my classroom so it was ready for the new term. It is not perfect but it is so much better than it was before the holidays and it is a good starting point for the coming year.

I’m sure you will recognise many of the decorations as I have acquired them from many people across the Internet – mostly @mathequalslove – no surprises there. Apologies for the poor pictures – the Sun was actually shining today!

My Goals

I have a few goals that I want to achieve this year. Some are very small and hopefully manageable while others will take longer and more time. I’m sure that as the year progresses my goals will likely change but as I start back at school tomorrow these are the things that are on my mind.

Questions Board

New Idea (sort of): I saw this in a classroom somewhere a long time ago and it stuck in my head. It is a board for display in my classroom that will look a little like this.

When I put it up in my room I will use some nice brightly coloured paper.

My dilemma is how to use this effectively. I have a few ideas.

More About Me

I wrote a post a little while ago stating some facts about me (it’s here). As one of the #MTBoSBlaugust prompts was to write 20 facts about yourself I thought I would have another go, maybe adding in a bit more detail. I’ve only given 10 facts though.

1. I have spent more time on airplanes under the age of 2 than I have since.

My dad got the opportunity to work in Australia at the Sliding Springs Observatory. Once there, I was added to the family. I travelled to many different places around Australia and New Zealand, travelled to Ireland and back, travelled around Malaysia and Indonesia all before heading to Scotland at the young age of 2.

2. I was home-schooled for 2 months when I was 5

Plenary Tasks

There has been much written about on Twitter lately about Plenaries or Lesson Close and it has got my brain ticking over. This is an area where I feel I am not on top of yet. I have tried exit tickets, summaries, and much more but often I stick with them for a week or so then they drop off. Why? Often I get caught up in the main part of the lesson and find there is no time. But if I’m being honest, I don’t think I have developed a system good enough yet that is actually proving beneficial to my students. I could continue to hand out exit tickets or some of the other strategies I’ve tried and it would tick a box. Yes, my students evaluate themselves at the end of each lesson. But unless it is meaningful and moves their learning forward, what is the point?

The Fridge

A few days ago on Twitter I saw this:

My classroom "fridge" is finally ready for student work! @ScaffoldedMath pic.twitter.com/cgijsKcOld

— Mickie Gibbs, NBCT (@MickieGibbs2) August 5, 2016

Curiosity got to me and I asked what the “fridge” was. @MickieGibbs2 sent me this link to Scaffolded Math and Science website. It describes exactly what the fridge is.

A Little Memory Game

Here’s a little game that I like to use at the start or the end of a lesson – or even in the middle of a double period.

It is very simple and needs very little preparation which is always a bonus.

I don’t have a name for it so I am just going to call it “Memory Blast”.

Start by displaying this on the board:

Powers and Roots (Part 2)

In a previous post I was sharing my ideas for teaching squares, square roots and cube numbers, now I want to consider Powers and Scientific Notation.

The concept of powers should lead on nicely from squares and cubes. I am interested to see the different ways my students come up with to calculate a power such as 3^4.