The weekend of 19th June 2015 saw the fourth National Maths Teachers Conference, organised by La Salle Education. This time the event was held in London at the Grand Connaught Rooms which provided a stunning backdrop to the event.
Now, I may be biased since I'm part of the La Salle team, and I know first hand the effort and energy that goes into creating these events, but I have to give our team an A* for effort and an A* for attainment for once again triumphing in producing an excellent event. The buzz around the building on the day, the constant chatter on Twitter, the feedback we have received since, and the fact that we are still talking about it, all prove this beyond any doubt.
I thought I'd share some of my event highlights with you as my first blog post, so here goes!
The weekend started for me with a trip down to our London office on Friday to join the team in preparation for the event. Before I knew it I was part of the production line doing the job we all look forwards to most before any conference...............filling the delegate bags! Have any of you ever wondered how the leaflets get in those bags? Between us we counted, compiled, and bagged thousands of them. We found that the rate of change in bags filled per minute rapidly increased when accompanied by music, Absolute 60s provided the tunes and we concluded that Elvis had the greatest positive influence on the rate of change.
Fun aside, one thing this task does provide is the opportunity to see what is out there, to see what is on offer to teachers. I particularly liked reading the leaflets from Oxfam; Everyone Counts and Maths and Global Citizenship.
Everyone Counts is a free resource where teachers can access genuine statistics and charts for use when teaching data, bringing a global aspect to Maths teaching, enabling students to see how data skills can be used in a very meaningful context. Great for cross curricular work, assemblies, class projects, theme days, and so forth. The Global Citizenship leaflet is a cracker of a document, with a host of suggestions of how to bring global matters into the Maths classroom. It also lists 23 useful websites for teachers, golden nuggets, which are out there for teachers to find. My liking of these leaflets probably stems from the fact that I've taught Geography for many years and one look at them made instant Mathography lesson ideas come flooding to mind. So, I urge all of you, don't just chuck your leaflets into the nearest recycling receptacle, read them first!
Fun aside, one thing this task does provide is the opportunity to see what is out there, to see what is on offer to teachers. I particularly liked reading the leaflets from Oxfam; Everyone Counts and Maths and Global Citizenship.
It would be entirely remiss of me not to mention the pre conference frolics on Friday night, especially since one colleague told me on Saturday "Jenny you were practically trending on Twitter last night"! I headed out into the capital with my wonderful colleague Debbi aka @lloydydee to see some sights, well we were in London after all. Covent Garden was a hive of activity and it was a lovely warm evening so we were able to sit outside to eat. I suggested comically after posting a couple of pics that we'd have Geek Club out on a London Treasure hunt, well what do you know.........not long later, after comparing maps and landmarks to photograph clues, the fab Emma aka @El_Timbre bounced up to our table with hubby in tow! The night went from there with plenty of fun and giggles, and we managed to resist the urge to hail a rickshaw, although their neon flashing lights were very tempting!
Saturday came with an early start, eager to see what the day would bring. Early mornings at the conference are akin to the school exit routes on Friday afternoon, everyone rushing to get somewhere first! Exhibitors arrive and begin setting up stalls, we manage to get everyone hooked up to wifi, set up the workshop rooms, put up signs, and "hide" the treasure hunt clues. The highlight of the set up for us though is always the building of the Complete Maths Mug Pyramid, which technically really is never a pyramid. With the final mug at the top of the "pyramid", the sound of the footsteps of delegates began to echo and it was time to welcome everyone and get the day started. Delegates arrived from far and wide, north and south, and even from overseas for this conference. It's always a pleasure meeting and greeting, putting faces to names, and of course seeing the maths cakes arrive having survived journeys in one piece!
Workshops began with the usual first day in year seven "can't find my classroom" confusions as people tried to find their way around the venue. Once everyone was safely in the correct rooms I was able to sneak in to a workshop, "From Euclid to You" by Emma Bell. Emma had put a lot of time and effort into her presentation, and her enthusiasm for her subject shone throughout. I think what most of us in the room found most interesting was the fact that throughout history, mathematics education has faced the same problems, and this has been documented in one form or another over time, yet still we face these same problems in an almost cyclical fashion. Strikes me that we have literally been reinventing the same wheel for decades. With some intriguing excerpts from historical, as well as more recent, texts coupled with quirky facts and some fantastic musical interludes this workshop was thoroughly enjoyed by all participants. I've gone away with a reading list and a real yearning to delve into mathematical literature so that perhaps I can help to develop my future by looking into the past.
Hopefully over lunch time most delegates were able to visit the exhibits, particularly of course the Complete Maths stand, manned by our very own casanova Stephen. I know am speaking as an insider, and no I've not been told to write this, but if you don't already know about Complete Maths, and if you've never seen what it can do, then you should! I have to mention the wonderful content, which, for the large part, I have personally written and / or edited the work of our dedicated authors. Did you know all of the authors are jobbing teachers or maths education consultants, several of whom were there at the conference sharing their expertise as well? Complete Maths is what enables these conferences to take place, it is a system that embodies the conference ethos of the power of collaboration, which manifests itself in one of the most powerful tools for teaching, learning and assessing that any teacher could get their hands on. Yes, it is a new system, yes it seems big and daunting at first, but my grandmother used to think the Sky remote could control the oven, and she can now quite happily bake and watch Coronation Street simultaneously! Without Complete Mathematics, and all that we at La Salle stand for, these conferences simply wouldn't exist. I'm sure that everyone who attended the conference is thankful, as am I, for what we have been able to achieve.
After lunch I went to the Robert Wilne aka @NCETMSecondary workshop on Developing Reasoning, and it was here that we all learnt one important message.....BODMAS / BIDMAS / PEDMAS, however you phrase it, it is a "waste of oxygen", and actually hinders reasoning rather than encourages it amongst students. Interesting example questions, and the chance for us to consider and discuss them with others made this an excellent, thought provoking workshop which everyone has genuinely walked away from with something new to inform their own practice.
(Photo pinched from @TessMaths)
My final workshop of the day was with Amir Arezoo aka @WorkEdgeChaos, The Art of Leading a Maths Department. I am full of praise for what Amir did with this workshop, it was a bluntly honest description of life steering one of the toughest subject departments. Amir kept touching on the fact that a lot of what he was saying was "negative", but Amir, what you didn't get was that it wasn't negative at all, it was truthful. Every person in that room could relate, and was finally given permission to breathe a sigh of relief knowing that other people feel the same way too! Amir had advice for those new to the position as well as those already doing the job, and those thinking of taking on the challenge. He looked at the qualities needed for the role and reflected on his own experiences, good and bad, throughout the presentation. For me it was like a strong, warm cuppa; comforting and refreshing. If you ask me, any HoD or potential HoD in that room should have gone away with a renewed sense of faith in themselves and their ability to run a Maths Department whilst remaining a human being at the same time! I especially liked the choice of picture when Amir was discussing the importance of having character.......
Winners of the competitions were announced during the closing remarks, well done Dawn aka @MrsDenyer on winning the cake competition with your amazing Pi cake! And so ended another wonderful conference, hundreds of teachers energised and eager to get back to their classrooms.
Quod Erat Demonstrandum
There is a need for a professional network of Maths Teachers.
Collaboration is the key to improvement, success, and change.
Teachers have the answers and the power to make change is in their hands.
Collaboration is the key to improvement, success, and change.
Teachers have the answers and the power to make change is in their hands.
Quod Erat Faciendum.
Thanks for reading my first blog post, feel free to give me a follow @jennypeek, the door may be locked but I open it happily for members of the education profession.
