Tom Bowler
@ridermeister.bsky.social
Dad, Husband, Maths Teacher & Tutor, UKMT Trustee/Volunteer, STEP Marking Supervisor, Lego Collector, Twisty Puzzler and Switch 2 Gamer! 🧮
This is simply amazing! To have all the problems and solutions in one easily accessible place is fantatsic. I will enjoy sharing this with eager pupils.
November 18, 2025 at 8:02 AM
This is simply amazing! To have all the problems and solutions in one easily accessible place is fantatsic. I will enjoy sharing this with eager pupils.
Incredible! Thank you for your time on this.
November 18, 2025 at 7:54 AM
Incredible! Thank you for your time on this.
They look quite sketchy.
November 15, 2025 at 8:03 AM
They look quite sketchy.
It's arc for trig and ar for hyperbolic functions because the first set give arc lengths and the second set give areas.
November 5, 2025 at 7:29 PM
It's arc for trig and ar for hyperbolic functions because the first set give arc lengths and the second set give areas.
Initially I was surprised but now I've taught it a few times in Year 8, I rather like it.
November 5, 2025 at 6:24 PM
Initially I was surprised but now I've taught it a few times in Year 8, I rather like it.
This is great, I'm recapping Trigonometry with Year 9 on Friday (we introduce it in Year 8) 😁
November 5, 2025 at 6:14 PM
This is great, I'm recapping Trigonometry with Year 9 on Friday (we introduce it in Year 8) 😁
I think that describes a large proportion of teenagers studying A-Levels. To some extent, you can't blame them when they are in school for 30-40 hours a week already!
October 14, 2025 at 6:31 PM
I think that describes a large proportion of teenagers studying A-Levels. To some extent, you can't blame them when they are in school for 30-40 hours a week already!
Stop marking it. Tell the pupils you will set a class test after each topic and tell them what they should do to prepare. I found when I did this a few years ago, overall they did more independent practice because they wanted a good test result. You can't cheat if I'm watching you do the work!
October 14, 2025 at 6:30 PM
Stop marking it. Tell the pupils you will set a class test after each topic and tell them what they should do to prepare. I found when I did this a few years ago, overall they did more independent practice because they wanted a good test result. You can't cheat if I'm watching you do the work!
I love this question, perfect for Year 7 to Year 13!
October 8, 2025 at 10:25 AM
I love this question, perfect for Year 7 to Year 13!
Hard for the little people to get justice against the big machine that is Pearson! How much are they worth again? Bizarre that other exam boards are charities.
October 7, 2025 at 7:20 AM
Hard for the little people to get justice against the big machine that is Pearson! How much are they worth again? Bizarre that other exam boards are charities.
I'd love to know how they dodged that particular bullet! I'm hoping Ofqual did take action but it isn't yet published. Surely there was at least another hefty fine for Pearson (as there was last year).
October 7, 2025 at 7:19 AM
I'd love to know how they dodged that particular bullet! I'm hoping Ofqual did take action but it isn't yet published. Surely there was at least another hefty fine for Pearson (as there was last year).
I like the link with Geometric series and these factirisations. Amazing how many students don't realise they can already factorise 1-x^n.
September 20, 2025 at 4:52 PM
I like the link with Geometric series and these factirisations. Amazing how many students don't realise they can already factorise 1-x^n.
We were happy to stop at 2x2, but appreciate we could go further!
September 18, 2025 at 4:23 PM
We were happy to stop at 2x2, but appreciate we could go further!
I posted the below yesterday and derived the unique 2x2 determinant from these properties.
September 18, 2025 at 1:09 PM
I posted the below yesterday and derived the unique 2x2 determinant from these properties.
Mostly my experience on Bluesky has been very positive and people have engaged well. Character limit means I often don't flesh out a context, but also I like people to ask. It's like starting up a conversation in the maths office.
September 18, 2025 at 7:08 AM
Mostly my experience on Bluesky has been very positive and people have engaged well. Character limit means I often don't flesh out a context, but also I like people to ask. It's like starting up a conversation in the maths office.
I think the 3x3 expansion looks ugly.
September 17, 2025 at 5:04 PM
I think the 3x3 expansion looks ugly.
You may prefer my #MathsToday post from today.
September 17, 2025 at 3:57 PM
You may prefer my #MathsToday post from today.
I'm coming at this an educator of young people likely to embark on university degrees in the UK. Many will be presented with ugly notation and I want to give them the skills to decode it. I can also discuss the drawbacks of such notation at the same time. My description to the class was 'hideous'.
September 17, 2025 at 3:55 PM
I'm coming at this an educator of young people likely to embark on university degrees in the UK. Many will be presented with ugly notation and I want to give them the skills to decode it. I can also discuss the drawbacks of such notation at the same time. My description to the class was 'hideous'.
That was my second approach after I realised that finding the gradient in terms of x and y was ugly! I did as an aside find another point, where the gradient was unique in terms of x (I could do that much more easily as dx/dt is at the point in question).
September 17, 2025 at 12:14 PM
That was my second approach after I realised that finding the gradient in terms of x and y was ugly! I did as an aside find another point, where the gradient was unique in terms of x (I could do that much more easily as dx/dt is at the point in question).
My approach for S would be to note that the gradient is multi-valued.
September 17, 2025 at 9:50 AM
My approach for S would be to note that the gradient is multi-valued.