Equation Clocks and More

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Wow we just love this clock and I was delighted to receive my very own for my Birthday! Readily available from I want one of those and from amazon.
Now we do love this clock, however our eagle eyes did notice a few inaccuracies. For example there are two answers to the quadratic equation in the place of the 7, and how accurate is the sum in place of the 9? So I have turned this into a learning experience in a number of ways.

1) Make and laminate equations with solutions from 1-12, pupils then place in position on a clock drawn in chalk on the floor (or blue tak to wall), the only clue we gave were a minute and hour hand. We did this as part of Crystal Maze event (to be blogged soon).
2) I have asked pupils to make their own equation clock. This was great as it resulted in many differentiated levels of puzzles. Off course this can be for any topic that gives the answers 1-12, example BIDMAS. Why not have pupils do this on the windows, see our previous blog about using windows.
3) Spot the mistake and correct it; ask pupils to examine the equation clock carefully to see if they can be as eagled eyed as their numberloving teachers!

My all time favourite the backwards clock! A leaving present from my first school and it has baffled pupils ever since!

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Great for reflections too! Don’t forget the square root clock, the Pi clock and the fraction clock! Why not have a different one in each of your mathematics classrooms! I have two and plan to keep building on my collection!

Hope you enjoy the ideas here, we are loving sharing our ideas and it would be great to hear back from our readers!

Too late to blog?

Is it too late to blog? Has blogging lost its cool? Am I year’s behind everyone else? Yes maybe but does that mean it’s too late to start?

Can I blog a blogger? Is that cool?

So I have recently caught onto the existence of blogs about teaching.

Yes it is embarrassing to admit that the thought hadn’t entered my mind until a colleague discovered Colleen Young’s blog Mathematics, Learning and Web 2.0 about Midd Spots. Wow, a whole new world appeared. Soon after I discovered Larry Ferlazzo’s blog Websites of the Day, and the rest is history!

No it’s not too late, of course not. Does it matter if its cool? No. Am I year’s behind? Yes some but no it’s not too late to start. After all I wouldn’t be a teacher if I answered any differently.

Thank you to those bloggers, Colleen and Larry who have been an inspiration and brought sparkle to my teaching.

Now I hope to spread the word and share good practice. Wish me luck!