Mathematics Teaching 204 - September 2007
Mathematics Teaching is the journal of the Association of Teachers of Mathematics. It is a professional journal sent to all members of the Association. It is not a refereed journal. Submissions are reviewed by the editorial team. Many articles have additional information or associated files placed on the journal website. To make your views known go to the ATM forum add your views, ideas and comments.
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MT204 Contents
Addition and subtraction, and algorithms in general - David Fielker
The most striking consequence of not teaching standard algorithms was that pupils were always free to use whatever aids were at their disposal in order to invent their own.
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Deconstructing calculation methods: Part 2 - Ian Thompson
In the second of a series of four articles, Ian Thompson deconstructs the primary national strategy?s approach to written subtraction. The first in the series, on addition, was published in MT202.
Letter in response to this article
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More than ladders - Mark Leadbetter
Mark Leadbetter describes a 200-year-old ladder problem that can carry learners to high levels of mathematical thinking and activity.
Ladder Problem GSP file to accompany this article
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Volume proofs without calculus - Burkard Polster
How do you convince learners up to GCSE level of formulæ like V=4/3πr³ and S=4πr² if they don't know calculus? Here are some suggestions...
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Functioning mathematically: 2 - David Cain
The closing address to the 2007 ATM Easter conference at Loughborough was given by David Cain. He has rewritten it slightly for publication in MT. The first part appeared in MT203. In this second part he looks at ways of creating conditions to bring about learning.
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Conference report - Ray Sutton
Although I had learned such a lot already this year by working alongside other teachers, nothing could prepare me for this smorgasbord of mathematical and pedagogical delights.
Mathematics is a spectator sport - Colin Foster and Helen Williams
Why is mathematics not a spectator sport when it seems to me that many other human endeavours have an essential ‘spectator’ element to them?
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Subjective mathematics - Derek Ball
As usual, I found MT202 full of interest and was fascinated by the number of threads I found running through it. Here are some of them.
Polyhedra in Poland - Piotr Pawlikowski
Polish students learn about Platonic solids in the final year of secondary grammar school, but in such a way that few perceive the beauty of this branch of mathematics.
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Using structured apparatus - Dorothy Latham
Dorothy Latham describes how the Stern apparatus can help to achieve the goals of the renewed primary mathematics framework.
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Mathematics and Lego robots - Janus Halkier Hansen and Rune Traeholt
Janus Halkier Hansen and Rune Træholt describe their pupils’ mathematical participation in an international Lego-robot contest in Atlanta.
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Reflecting on pace - Margaret Sangster
Margaret Sangster describes her research into the whole-class teaching section of student teachers? primary school mathematics lessons.
Dyscalculia in Harrow - Chris Messenger, Jane Emerson and Ronit Bird
Chris Messenger, Jane Emerson and Ronit Bird describe the background to and initial progress of the Harrow Dyscalculia Project.
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A salutary tale - Caroline Rickard
For me it’s about letting the children be in charge for more of the time and accepting what they have to offer...
Conditions for learning: a footnote on pedagogy and didactics - Paul Andrews
An interesting English tradition is the almost complete avoidance of words like pedagogy and didactics in educational discourse.
A smart LCD - Dietmar Kuchemann
A video camera LCD screen acts rather like a window when in the conventional position but like a mirror when flipped over.
Reflections - Barbara Ball
When I was teaching for 40 weeks of the year, I had to believe in what I was doing ? and to some extent in the system within which I had to work – or otherwise I would not have survived.
12 Correlation Street - Jonny Griffiths
It doesn’t matter who wrote the book, as long as students learn better as a result. This is not about being a celebrity.
Webwatch - Peter Shatwell
It will help children learn much more easily, it covers a very wide range of maths and it is a perfect example of a children’s maths site.
News from ATM
This year we will continue to campaign actively on your behalf and contribute to the debates in mathematics education.
Hod-Lines
I have very strongly-held beliefs about the teaching of maths. How do I best support them to do the job that I wish I still had?
Puzzle page
Four of these puzzles were devised by Kevin Stone, www.brainbashers.com, and used with his kind permission.
