Jo Morgan ( @mathsjem ) and I spent four days at the BCME conference in April of 2018, and decided to record a podcast each night - it sounded a good idea at the time. Hear our thoughts on all things from variation, manipulatives, A Level teaching, tough GCSE questions, pub quizzes and Hannah Fry... For more information about today’s guest, plus links to the websites, resources and ideas they mention, please visit the show notes page: http://www.mrbartonmaths.com/blog/conference-takeaways-bcme-d...
Apr 05, 2018•1 hr 13 min•Ep 46•Transcript available on Metacast Jo Morgan ( @mathsjem ) and I spent four days at the BCME conference in April of 2018, and decided to record a podcast each night - it sounded a good idea at the time. Hear our thoughts on all things from variation, manipulatives, A Level teaching, tough GCSE questions, pub quizzes and Hannah Fry... For more information about today’s guest, plus links to the websites, resources and ideas they mention, please visit the show notes page: http://www.mrbartonmaths.com/blog/conference-takeaways-bcme-d...
Apr 04, 2018•1 hr 4 min•Ep 45•Transcript available on Metacast Jo Morgan ( @mathsjem ) and I spent four days at the BCME conference in April of 2018, and decided to record a podcast each night - it sounded a good idea at the time. Hear our thoughts on all things from variation, manipulatives, A Level teaching, tough GCSE questions, pub quizzes and Hannah Fry... For more information about today’s guest, plus links to the websites, resources and ideas they mention, please visit the show notes page: http://www.mrbartonmaths.com/blog/conference-takeaways-bcme-d...
Apr 03, 2018•49 min•Ep 44•Transcript available on Metacast After the researchEd in Blackpool on 24th March 2018, Simon Cox ( @MathsMrCox ) and I sat down to share our thoughts and takeaways on the sessions we had seen, which included sessions from Tom Bennett, Carl Henrdick, Robin Macpherson, Mark Healy, Tom Sherrington and Harry Fletcher-Wood. Hopefully this will be of interest and use to anyone who was unable to make the conference. I even managed to keep the discussion to under an hour! For more information about today’s guest, plus links to the webs...
Mar 24, 2018•53 min•Ep 43•Transcript available on Metacast Ollie Lovell is a high school maths teacher from Australia. He is also an incredible thinker. Like me, he is a little obsessed with educational research and how he can apply it to the greatest effect in his classroom. In an epic 3+ hour interview we dig into how Ollie has planned out a new approach to teaching Year 12, how he runs a maths department, and his views (and questions!) about Cognitive Load Theory. I loved this interview! For more information about today’s guest, plus links to the web...
Mar 18, 2018•4 hr 34 min•Ep 42•Transcript available on Metacast After the LaSalle Maths Conference in Kettering on 10th March 2018, Jo Morgan ( @mathsjem ) and I sat down to share our thoughts and takeaways on the sessions we had seen, which included sessions by Naveen Rizvi, Dani Quinn and Hinal Bhudia, Kris Boulton and Bernie Westacott. Hopefully this will be of interest and use to anyone who was unable to make the conference. I even managed to keep the discussion to under an hour! For more information about today’s guest, plus links to the websites, resou...
Mar 10, 2018•43 min•Ep 41•Transcript available on Metacast Anne Watson and John Mason are two of the most influential people in the history of mathematics education. Their books, papers and workshops have influenced generations of maths teachers and this directly improved the experience of teaching and learning maths for hundreds of thousands of students. In this interview we look back over their careers, and then dive deep into the principles of Variation Theory, how to ask good questions and the importance of visualisation. For more information about ...
Mar 04, 2018•3 hr 54 min•Ep 40•Transcript available on Metacast Helen is an experienced maths teacher and head of department. She is also the organiser of the Mixed Attainment Maths Conference. Mixed attainment (or as I often mistakenly call it, mixed ability) teaching is an area I am woefully inexperienced in and clueless about, so it was incredible to speak to Helen to get to the bottom of why she believes in it so much, and how to make it as effective as possible. Along the way we also tackle the concept of a growth mindset, and how Helen tries to instil ...
Feb 20, 2018•2 hr 29 min•Ep 39•Transcript available on Metacast Amir is an experienced maths teacher, someone who has been head of maths in several schools, and who is now Vice Principal for Raising Achievement at Horizon Community College in Barnsley. Listeners have requested more interviews with experienced and successful teachers, so they can learn from their habits, processes and past mistakes, and Amir certainly delivers. We talk about running successful departments, planning lessons, creating opportunities for deep work, what makes a good scheme of wor...
Jan 26, 2018•3 hr 27 min•Ep 38•Transcript available on Metacast Jane is a former teacher and head of maths who is now the HMI National Lead for Mathematics - to me and you that means she is the most senior maths specialist in Ofsted. In this revealing interview Jane discusses everything from observation and marking, setting and reasoning, and a lot more besides. Whether you are due an Ofsted inspection, just had one, or simply curious about what Ofsted are looking for, this is the interview for you. For more information about today’s guest, plus links to the...
Jan 03, 2018•3 hr 15 min•Ep 37•Transcript available on Metacast Carl and Robin are the authors of the exceptional book: What does this look like in the classroom? The book collects together a quite ridiculously impressive line-up of contributors, including Dylan Wiliam, Doug Lemov, David Didau, Daisy Christodoulou, and more, to summarise and clarify key research findings and how teachers can use them directly in the classroom. In this interview I dig into the key things the authors themselves took away from their book, and what listeners could change tomorro...
Dec 10, 2017•2 hr 2 min•Ep 36•Transcript available on Metacast Colin Foster is a former maths teacher who is now an Assistant Professor at the Centre for Research in Mathematics Education in the School of Education at the University of Nottingham. We talked about Mathematical Etudes, or what I term Purposeful Practice. I believe this is one of the most important types of practice we can give our students, allowing them to become fluent in key skills, whilst also developing problem solving capabilities. We also discuss the role of confidence in learning, and...
Nov 26, 2017•2 hr 55 min•Ep 35•Transcript available on Metacast Doug Lemov is a legend. As the author of Teach Like a Champion, he has had a major impact on my teaching and thinking over the last two years. I this interview we discuss several key strategies from the book, looking at the practical ways we can implement them in the maths classroom. We then turn our attention to teacher training, and Doug shares some wonderful advice for anyone delivering a training session to their colleagues. This is a cracker. For more information about today’s guest, plus l...
Nov 13, 2017•1 hr 22 min•Ep 34•Transcript available on Metacast Peps has done it all. He is a former Fasttrack maths teacher and Senior Lecturer in mathematics education. He has been a National Curriculum Advisor for the DfE, External Examiner at the OU, and is the author of Lean Lesson Planning and Memorable Teaching. He now leads on the Institute for Teaching’s Masters in Expert Teaching course. We had a great time digging into three areas that really interest me: lean, effective lesson planning; making our teaching memorable; and helping teachers determin...
Nov 03, 2017•3 hr 46 min•Ep 33•Transcript available on Metacast Lucy is the Research and Communications Officer at Cambridge Mathematics. I base my interview around five key questions from Lucy's espresso research series: What are the effects of attainment grouping on mathematics learning? What are the issues in learning and assessing times tables? How does maths anxiety affect mathematics learning? How does assessing confidence affect learning and testing in mathematics? How can mathematics teaching be measured? But we cover a lot more besides! For more inf...
Oct 17, 2017•3 hr 39 min•Ep 32•Transcript available on Metacast Kris returns to the podcast for another epic. This time we cover Kris' concerns with minimal guided approaches to teaching, such a discovery and inquiry based learning. We also delve into what it actually means to understand something in maths, and whether we as teachers can ever truly assess that understanding. Finally, how do you decide if you should teach the How before the Why? For more information about today’s guest, plus links to the websites, resources and ideas they mention, please visi...
Oct 04, 2017•3 hr 33 min•Ep 31•Transcript available on Metacast My first interview with Andrew caused something of a stir (in a good way!), so I thought it would be useful to release an interview I did with Andrew back in 2014 for my TES Maths Podcast. Here Andrew describes a completely open-ended inquiry lesson, as well as sharing some excellent advice on being a Head of Department. For more information about today’s guest, plus links to the websites, resources and ideas they mention, please visit the show notes page: http://www.mrbartonmaths.com/blog/andre...
Sep 16, 2017•1 hr 9 min•Ep 30•Transcript available on Metacast Andrew is a head of maths at the creator of inquirymaths.org. We spoke about planning and delivering inquires in mathematics, explicit instruction, developing fluency, problem solving, and evaluated evidence related to memory, motivation and purpose. For more information about today’s guest, plus links to the websites, resources and ideas they mention, please visit the show notes page: http://www.mrbartonmaths.com/blog/andrew-blair-inquiry-maths/ ...
Sep 07, 2017•3 hr 3 min•Ep 29•Transcript available on Metacast Rachel is an experienced primary maths teacher. We spoke about what primary maths lessons look like, what topics they have covered, their problem solving skills, their use of manipulatives, what students might be expecting maths lessons to look like at secondary school, and much more. For more information about today’s guest, plus links to the websites, resources and ideas they mention, please visit the show notes page: http://www.mrbartonmaths.com/blog/primary-school-teacher-rachel-webster-how-...
Aug 30, 2017•2 hr 47 min•Ep 28•Transcript available on Metacast Trevor is AQA’s Chief Examiner for the Maths GCSE. We spoke about when the GCSE maths writing process starts, who is involved, what makes a good question and what makes a bad question, what are the difficulties, how exams are marked, and much more. This is a great listen now we have finally made it through the first new specification GCSE cohort, and essential listening as we prepare for the next! For more information about today’s guest, plus links to the websites, resources and ideas they ment...
Aug 24, 2017•1 hr 29 min•Ep 27•Transcript available on Metacast Nick is a former science teacher who now works as a researcher for TeachFirst. He is also the co-author of the outstanding book What Every Teacher needs to know about Psychology . We spoke about inducing cognitive conflict, the dangers of differentiation, whether growth mindset is really a thing, and much more! For more information about today’s guest, plus links to the websites, resources and ideas they mention, please visit the show notes page: http://www.mrbartonmaths.com/blog/nick-rose-minds...
Aug 06, 2017•2 hr 20 min•Ep 26•Transcript available on Metacast Ed returns to the show following the launch of his book Yes, but why? Teaching for Understanding in Maths . This time around we spoke about why maths puzzles are important, what makes a good puzzle, how maths lessons are taught in Japan, what we can learn from this approach, and how much student discussion should happen during examples. For more information about today’s guest, plus links to the websites, resources and ideas they mention, please visit the show notes page: http://www.mrbartonmath...
Jul 27, 2017•2 hr 50 min•Ep 25•Transcript available on Metacast Kris is, quite possibly, the cleverest person I know. Will Emney describes him as "cerebral". Kris is a former maths teacher who was second in department at King Solomon Academy, where he worked alongside fellow podcast guest Bruno Reddy , achieving incredible GCSE results in challenging circumstances. Kris now works for TeachFirst, where he is Associate Director of Participant Development. We spoke in depth about how Kris plan his lessons, focusing on sequences not individual lessons, the influ...
Jul 17, 2017•2 hr 18 min•Ep 24•Transcript available on Metacast Robert and Elizabeth Bjork are my heroes. The Godfather and Godmother of memory (my name for them, not theirs!), and they have transformed my teaching. It was an honour to talk to them. We spoke about how memory works, why forgetting is so important, why tests are far more than tools of assessment, when and why to make learning difficult, optimal spacing schedules, how to interleave successfully, and a whole lot more. For more information about today’s guest, plus links to the websites, resource...
Jun 29, 2017•2 hr 8 min•Ep 23•Transcript available on Metacast Dani Quinn, the Head of Maths at Michaela Community School, returns! In the follow-up to the controversial first interview we spoke about the behaviour policy at Michaela, the practice of drilling, teaching for understanding and the staff culture. I wonder if I will get told to "go to hell" as a result of this one. For more information about today’s guest, plus links to the websites, resources and ideas they mention, please visit the show notes page: http://www.mrbartonmaths.com/blog/dani-quinn-...
May 12, 2017•3 hr 59 min•Ep 22•Transcript available on Metacast Daisy is one of the leading assessment figures in education in the UK. Her two books - Seven Myths about Education and Making good progress? - have transformed my teaching practice. We spoke about what makes a good assessment, the importance of planning examples, the power of multiple choice questions, the dangers of an over-reliance on past papers, comparative judgement and more! For more information about today’s guest, plus links to the websites, resources and ideas they mention, please visit...
Apr 24, 2017•2 hr 6 min•Ep 21•Transcript available on Metacast Greg is a head of maths in Australia and a prolific and influential blogger at Filling the Pail. We spoke about the implications of Cognitive Load Theory for planning and teaching mathematics (although the lessons are applicable to all subjects), and why Greg prefers direct instruction as opposed to inquiry based approaches to learning. For more information about today’s guest, plus links to the websites, resources and ideas they mention, please visit the show notes page: http://www.mrbartonmath...
Mar 01, 2017•3 hr 33 min•Ep 20•Transcript available on Metacast Paul is a maths teacher and a leading expert on bar modelling. We spoke about planning for understanding, bar modelling, advice on questioning, what Paul learned from his trips to Shanghai and Tokyo, advice for teacher training and much more. For more information about today’s guest, plus links to the websites, resources and ideas they mention, please visit the show notes page: http://www.mrbartonmaths.com/blog/paul-rowlandson-bar-modelling-questioning-shanghai-tokyo-training-teachers/ ...
Feb 01, 2017•3 hr 34 min•Ep 19•Transcript available on Metacast Tom is the UK's leading figure on behaviour in schools, and the founder of ResearchEd. We spoke about in depth about managing behaviour in the classroom, including addressing some common myths. We also spoke about how best to tackle teacher workload, and what Tom considers to be the most important pieces of educational research. For more information about today’s guest, plus links to the websites, resources and ideas they mention, please visit the show notes page: http://www.mrbartonmaths.com/bl...
Jan 06, 2017•1 hr 29 min•Ep 18•Transcript available on Metacast John is an experienced maths teacher and the legend behind the ridiculously good Corbett Maths. We spoke about planning and delivering lessons using a flipped learning approach, the process that goes into creating maths videos, writing good maths questions, and advice for new teachers. For more information about today’s guest, plus links to the websites, resources and ideas they mention, please visit the show notes page: http://www.mrbartonmaths.com/blog/john-corbett-flipped-learning-videos-and-...
Dec 14, 2016•3 hr 59 min•Ep 17•Transcript available on Metacast 
