Over the years the technology behind displaying the image of the unit circle has changed, but the defining features remain constant. The key question for the author as a teacher is this: are the relationships embodied in the image simple, memorable and rich enough to be grasped by any KS3 student at his school? It needs to be simple enough to…

In this article, the authors talk about transformation geometry being treated as little more than a set of tricks rather than as a mathematically rigorous topic. This appears to lead to pupils seeing little point in studying "reflections, rotations and translations" as other than examinable items in some future test. Following the argument…

Last year, the author worked with a group of Key Stage 3 (KS3) consultants at a regional roadshow devoted to the topic of information and communications technology (ICT), "Embedding ICT in mathematics teaching." The roadshow was organized by the Association of Teachers of Mathematics (ATM) and the Mathematical Association (MA), and the…

In this article, the author discusses the use of stories from the classroom to promote development in learning and teaching through inquiry communities and the "Develop your Teaching" (Dyt) approach. Sharing classroom stories, or "anecdoting," leads to a synthesizing of issues, providing starting points for professional development activity. One…

In this article, the author shares some of the activities for the classroom invented by Gill Hatch. One of those activities is the activity for older students, which is for the five-year-olds through to post-graduates. Card-sorting game, geometry games, algebra games, and loop games are also some of those activities for the classroom invented by…

In this article, the author believes that a visual image of the number system is helpful to everyone, especially children, in understanding what is, after all, an abstract idea. The simplest model is the number line, a row of equally spaced numbers, starting at zero. This illustrates the continuous progression of the natural numbers, moving to the…