Dan Lewis
4301maths.bsky.social
Dan Lewis
@4301maths.bsky.social
Maths teacher/HoD in East Surrey.
Looking for and sharing resources.
Thank you, v grateful
December 18, 2025 at 6:32 PM
These are lovely. Mind if I use them with my dept. in a meeting? I like to start the meeting with a question or problem, something thought-provoking, and these look great.
December 18, 2025 at 5:31 PM
Nice. I’d love to see some of those at some point as a bit of inspiration myself.
December 14, 2025 at 11:20 AM
No, not really. They know they need to get it right to achieve the grade they want, so that’s motivation enough. And I also think it shows them that I’ve really thought about their performance as a class and have put some effort in myself to reviewing it. Which may or may not help.
December 14, 2025 at 11:20 AM
Yeah, it’s a nice problem! Almost like backward fading, but also, again, not quite the same thing?
How did students find it?
December 13, 2025 at 9:46 AM
Looks like an “open middle” type problem? openmiddle.com that had some similar maybe?
Open Middle - Challenging math problems worth solving
Open Middle offers interactive math problems designed to foster critical thinking. Explore unique challenges that boost problem-solving skills and creativity.
openmiddle.com
December 12, 2025 at 6:52 PM
I don’t do anything new but look over some key bits from their autumn mock exams. Usually keep some questions back and don’t go through them when reviewing the paper. Use them to structure a full feedback lesson around that question. Seems to keep them motivated enough through to Xmas.
December 11, 2025 at 6:12 PM
Just looking for a little trial and error: substitution practice, calculating using a power, checking for equality (all very recent work for them). Trial & error always seems to be a “tarnished” approach.
December 10, 2025 at 7:09 AM
I do. But I have to do that verbally. As you can see, my margin is not big enough. But I can also safely assume they’d ask me whether they’re different or not.
December 9, 2025 at 10:15 PM
Afraid not: they’re all 12 years old! 😃
December 9, 2025 at 9:40 PM
Oh yes, def with task 5. *But* I would say with this group of students, I would like them to play about with a little trial and error. And for task 4, it’s absolutely contrived, but practices a little ratio for them.
I’m always on the lookout for improvements/better questions to ask them though 😃
December 9, 2025 at 9:39 PM
Must say, moved to a book and a visualiser and can’t move back: even just modelling “this is how it should look in your book” has made my life much easier.
December 9, 2025 at 6:41 PM
Yeah, like that!
December 9, 2025 at 6:35 AM
Presume you have some sort of programme like sims or Bromcom? Usually quite easy to run attendance vs grade and share with your cohort. Impactful too because it’s about as context-specific as possible. Sharing with parents too is important.
December 8, 2025 at 9:26 PM
I've been through so many whole-school reading strategies now I'm wondering to what extent any of them are actually "effective" at improving fluency in reading. Or is this one of those things we'll always be striving for but will never reach?
December 8, 2025 at 7:28 PM
I've been wondering if circle theorems are really just examining the interplay between circles and various arrangements of chords. Must confess, first time I've ever really thought deeply about it in any way.
December 8, 2025 at 7:26 PM
Have you shown them the formula sheet? There’s a lot of “power” in showing them what they do and don’t need to remember.
December 7, 2025 at 9:58 PM
Indeed. But these students were 80ish at KS2. We didn’t have that many. We found our issue was more with the independent practice: there’s real skill in making a resource that helps students through from basics to real extension. That was far more hit-and-miss.
December 7, 2025 at 11:11 AM
When I was at a school that ran it, we had groupings of students with a "strong" one, a "weak" one and two "in-between". However, if there were students who were considered *much* weaker, e.g. required TA support, we had them right at the front with the TA near us. Worked well in our context.
December 7, 2025 at 8:54 AM