Category Archives: General

101. Stick ’em up

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I get just a tad frustrated when I spend time in lessons discussing targets and getting pupils to write them somewhere safe, only for the same pupils to tell SLT, when they drop in, that they don’t know what their targets are!

So I’ve re-found these stickers which we had in school a couple of years ago, but lapsed in using.

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I bought these ‘GCSE Assessment stickers’ and ‘KS3 Assessment stickers’ from School Stickers on Amazon UK for £1.96 per pack. I’ve already started using them and my classes seem receptive to brightly coloured targets.

98. All sewn up

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It’s not often you have to get a sewing machine out to mount display work:

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These are the dragon curves stitched by Year 5 pupils as part of a Community Gifted and Talented programme I run. I thought that by making them out of fabric and thread they would last longer – hopefully long enough that the Year 5 can see them up in the Maths Department when they join in Year 7. It’s also different to a ‘normal’ display and a bit of a talking point.

The cross stitch fabric makes rather good squared paper. Imagine what you could do with fabric, thread, a bit of creativity and a friendly sewing machine owner.

97. The Dancing Cipher (part two)

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If you look back to one of my early blog posts called ‘The Dancing Cipher’ on code breaking, I explained how to use the ‘Dancing Men’ code as an extended homework project.

You can now download the instructions/task, self assessment sheet and solution below:

Self-assessment sheet

Letter frequency analysis project

Letter frequency analysis project answer

96. Free (editable) Flashcards

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I was looking for some Maths paper when I was on Printablepaper.net, when I came across a ‘sister’ site: Printableflashcards.net. This website has free flashcards covering many different subjects/topics and is worth a browse.
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The biggest selling point to me was you can create flashcards without requiring a double sided printer or cursing the photocopier for misaligning your originals. You don’t have to glue them (unless you want to) as they will stand nicely on the desk once they are folded, with the answer face down on the table. You can use the Flash Card Generator to create your own set of 4/6 (or multiples of 4/6) flashcards.

94. Help with no hands up

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I recently discovered two rather handy classroom assessment tools on Pinterest:

Rectangular cards

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Circular cards
These double-sided cards are from Ateacherswonderland blog

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I liked the design and wording of both. On one side pupils rate themselves on a scale of 1 to 4 (from Novice to Expert). On the other side they can tell you where they are, without causing a fuss. I incorporated the circular wording with the rectangular shape, reinforcing the punched edge with tape.

Example:
“I’m okay but may need help in a minute”.
I particularly like the fact that you don’t have to interupt or draw attention to a child to find out how they are.

These are my cards. I’m going to use them with my new classes this half term.
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Thank you to Ronnie for sharing her idea.
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92. Snapdragon Fun

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After creating the trigonometry snapdragon template, I decided to create a blank version for anyone to use.

There are two versions available to download. The Publisher file contains text boxes which you edit, while the PDF can be printed off and written on.

Snapdragon_template (PPTX)

Snapdragon_template2 (pdf)

Enjoy!

PS: If you don’t know how to make a snapdragon/fortune teller (also known as a cootie catcher in USA), have a look at this tutorial by Doanie

snapdragon_instructions