I'm a Senior Mathematics Teacher in South East Melbourne.
I've been teaching for 3 years, this is my fourth year on the job, and I absolutely love it.
I teach primarily Year 11 and 12 VCE Maths Methods and Specialist Maths.
Fire away!
[AMA] I'm a High School Maths Teacher. Ask Me Anything!
MathNerd on 01/05/2018 - 08:52
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What is the diameter of Uranus?
The diameter of Uranus is 50,724,000 m.
The diameter of Uranus was 1 cm, but after last night, there are speculations it is now somewhere between 5-6 cm.
A man with his own horse stables. Impressive.
50,724 km - 51,118 km depending on the type of day I am having.
What's your views on the Gonski report for tailored education.
I don't concern myself with these politically based things, I just try and teach as best as I can.
Hehe, yeah I feel the same, imo politics is one of the fastest ways to lose friends and gain enemy's.
Well said.
Also:
enemies*
Do you have secret crushes on your hot female students?
Do you hook up with other teachers often?
No and no.
What an underwhelming response :(
Sorry if it's not what you wanted to hear.
Of course he has to say no, otherwise the authorities will try and track him down
So you're saying your crushes on your hot female students are public!
And that you only rarely hook up with other teachers.
cmon peoples, the guy clearly wants to keep his job.
If so, then why start AMA? AMA means ASK ME ANYTHING!!!!!! ANYTHING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11111oneoneeleven
He/she actually gave you an answer.
What would you change in terms of what is taught to students? eg more tax knowledge etc
Definitely.
I'd love to see more of these in the curriculum:
- How Credit Cards work
- How Mortgages work
- How Car/personal loans work
- How to calculate compounding discounts (such as buying an iTunes card at 15% off and paying with 5% off WISH eGift Card [with bonuses such as using staff discount on top])
- How to find out about Super
- How to use AmEx to its full advantage
Unfortunately, the majority of these topics are very "adult" topics and students just don't see the use for it, because they haven't actually reached the stage in life where this knowledge is useful. I agree that they are certainly more useful than, say, finding the area under a parabola, but no matter what, some students will always find a way to dismiss the usefulness of a concept (no matter how useful it is or might be later).
Let me share a different perspective on this. IMHO, if financial management is taught widely amongst students, it will have an impact on the economy given that people will be more conscious of their financials and associated impacts. In order to stimulate an economy (e.g. spending), I doubt it would be in the best interest of our politician to increase the financial literacy of the “general” population.
Teacher: What's 100 minus 46.95?
Student: No idea you idiot, now piss off.Teacher: If you gave me a $100 bill to buy a bottle of Monkey Shoulder Scotch Whisky at $46.95 per bottle, what change would you be due?
Student: $53.05 you idiot, now piss off.I tend to not think along those lines, because if I were to buy that product, I'd buy it using 5% off WISH eGift Cards, and using Cashrewards ;)
I'm a professional OzBargainer, after all!Good point - way too many assumptions i've made there.
But i have been told that to get students engaged sometimes it helps to liven the question up a little - make it more real life - make it about alcohol. I have no idea if it actually works as i'm no teacher.
@TheGhostWhoWalks: You're right about livening up the question/scenario/topic. However, alcohol - that's crossing the ethical/professional line. Maybe cordial or vegetables would be more appropriate.
Did you become a teacher because you had always wanted to or did you do a BSc and realised there's no job for you?
My justification is quite complex actually.
I went to uni to study maths, physics and astrophysics because I really enjoyed maths and physics while at school. Therefore it only made sense to do a uni degree in what I enjoyed. Hence the 3 year Bachelor of Science (Science Scholar Program), majoring in Mathematics, Physics and Astrophysics.
At the end of those 3 years, I still wanted to do more maths so signed up to the 1 year Honours degree of Bachelor of Science (Science Scholar Program), specialising in Partial Differential Equations (PDEs). This gave me a true idea of what research in Mathematics was like, and hence a glimpse into the life of a PhD. In short, I hated it. Couldn't stand it. I realised pretty quickly that "discovering" or "finding" 'new' mathematics wasn't what I'm cut out to do.
In the meantime, while I was a student at uni, I was tutoring students after school and on weekends because I loved high school maths. It quickly dawned on me that pursuing further mathematical studies wasn't my forte, it was actually teaching high school maths. Hence I enrolled in a teaching course and here I am, teaching at a school. In my 4th year, I'm still enjoying it!
Thanks for the reply MathNerd! It's good to see we have teachers who are truly passionate about teaching. I know too many people (including me) considered or took up teaching as they've ran out of options.
Cheers :)
It's hard to become a teacher without being passionate, you have to face a classroom of students everyday, if you are not passionate and know your stuff, they will drive you crazy.
Kudos for letting go of ego and focusing on what you enjoy and are good at. There is no substitute for passion in science, math or teaching.
There is no substitute for passion in science, math or teaching.
Agreed wholeheartedly.
Wow you really are a maths nerd . Good for you
Do you think there should be allowance for more technology in maths and less reliance on memorizing things for exams? For example I can apply the equations and formulae fine, but I have trouble remembering them correctly (I remember enough to know which one to use)
Yes, for sure. As I've stated, technology can actually be a brilliant tool to showcase the maths that's being discussed, especially when it can be made dynamic.
For example, I've just finished teaching my Year 12 Maths Methods class the Introduction to Trigonometry using the Unit Circle (see samples of handouts here), and I used my TI-Nspire™ CX Navigator™ System to help students understand the way the Unit Circle works, the Symmetry embedded in it and how the graphs of y=sin(x) and y=cos(x) are generated.Technology can be a massive help to the understanding of maths, when used appropriately.
sometimes i forget my algebra, can i pm you lol when im in a pickle haha??? no really…
and have you watched a beautiful mind with russel crowe?
cheersYes sure, I'm always happy to help.
Yes I've watched the movie, but a long time ago. I need to refresh my memory!
Russell Crowe pretends to be really intelligent and schizophrenic. One of those 2 is believable.
that is why he is a very good actor, he can be a hero like a gladiator or a complete nerd. I like his movies.
Great discussions, appreciate your efforts and your dedication towards teaching
Thanks, appreciate the kind words.
what type of teacher are you? easy going? or very strict?
I loved my science teacher he was very nice, everyone had a good time during his classes, but of course sometimes the class does get carried away. The methods teacher was scary, no one dared to not do homework and had to focus in class as he will call out anyone to answer questions (it worked well). How do you balance making kids enjoy learning but also focus to do wellMy teaching philosophy is really just to be as energetic as possible, and help the students enjoy the mathematical concepts being taught. I do devote a lot of my energy into teaching my classes, and I'm always willing to help students understand the topics as deep as they need to. I think just enjoying being at the front of the classroom and being energetic helps a long way in helping students enjoy their learning.
I complement my teaching with technology and dynamic visualisation too, so that helps a long way as well.Do you think the (large?) focus on class room management has hindered teaching?
Do you think you will burn out in x number of years?
Do you think the (large?) focus on class room management has hindered teaching?
To an extent. If you spend all of your class time doing classroom management, you're not actually teaching anything.
Do you think you will burn out in x number of years?
I don't believe so. I really like what I do, and my workplace is a positive environment. Awesome staff, awesome students. I don't see myself burning out after how many ever years, as long as I enjoy doing the mathematics I'll enjoy my job. And I've never stopped enjoying doing the mathematics.
You don't need to look into them to have an opinion:
How do you allocate your limited resources between fostering the best and brightest versus struggling students?
@Scrooge McDuck: If the students are self selecting advanced mathematics then they are probably there to learn (and the lowest classes - focus is less on math ability).
I think this is an issues more in comprehensive schools/classrooms where people are all learning abilities are all grouped together. Then you need (very) strong classroom management.
If I have a bag of green beans with an average length of 8cm and standard deviation of 1cm following a normal curve, then I take the beans out two at a time and chop the longer one in half and put them in a new bag, continuing until I run out of beans in the first bag. What will the distribution of bean lengths in the new bag look like after I do this?
Such a quantum question, username definitely checks out.
Without doing any working, I reckon the distribution of bean lengths in the new bag will be normal with a mean of 4cm and standard deviation of 1cm.
Long beans are 7 to 9 cm, new will be 3.5 to 4.5, so deviation is not going to be 1 cm
I guess the length will be 4 with deviation 0.5, however not sure about distribution as we always pick longer, thus pushing the distribution to the longer range.
Ps oh, we put both chopped and not chopped in the new bag… more thinking required
If beans of equal length are taken from the bag each time, it will be the sum of two normal distributions; one for the uncut beans and one for the two cut halves. The uncut bean distribution will have half the height of the original but the same mean and standard deviation. The cut bean distribution will have the same height as the original but half the mean and standard deviation.
If the beans are taken from the bag randomly, the uncut peak will skew longer and the cut peak will skew shorter.
it will be a bimodal distribution , with the short uncut beans at around 7cm mean , and the cut beans with around 4.5cm mean
Don't you work at Woolworths?
Thanks for letting us know.
Over in the Woolworths EFTPOS thread you mentioned several times that you have a staff discount card.
Yes.
@MathNerd: Is it a hard question? You either work/worked there, have a friend/relative who does or obtained it by other means.
@JIMB0: I obtained it by other means.
Now, do you have a maths teacher related question that I can delightfully answer?
@JIMB0: I don't think so. The checks (Working with Children Check, Police Check, VIT check, etc) make it very hard to cover up a criminal record.
In saying that, I have a clean record so don't have any first-hand experience with this.Maybe - depends what the conviction was for, and how long ago it was.
If you're serious, and from Victoria, check this out.
@JIMB0: I don't know more than is set out in the link. But i do know in some jurisdictions you are not required to disclose so-called 'spent' convictions - convictions that are of a certain vintage. I imagine each employer will have their own policies - State Dept Education will have theirs, Catholic church will have theirs, etc. Call them, and ask - you shouldn't have to give your name, especially when dealing with a State entity.
Do you teach at a private school or government school?
- How long have you been at that respective school?I've had teachers who taught VCE poached by private schools for a sizeable $$ because they were good but also taught in a way that focused on what would be tested for exams. Do you teach the curriculum with a focus on what is being tested or do you balance it to what is more important in real life?
Do you feel that you are fairly remunerated? And what are your key performance indicators at your school? Pass rate or # of high scorers? (Do you get a bonus for either?)
Thanks for the insight!
With the many questions, I'll answer them individually:
Do you teach at a private school or government school?
- How long have you been at that respective school?I teach at a government school in the Mornington Peninsula region of Melbourne.
As stated in the OP, "I've been teaching for 3 years, this is my fourth year on the job".Do you teach the curriculum with a focus on what is being tested or do you balance it to what is more important in real life?
With the subjects that I teach (Year 12 Methods and Specialist), there's no real importance to real life. I supplement my teaching notes with past exam questions (I have a folder on my laptop with past exams dating back to 1999). With the way things are assessed at the end of the year, it is crucial that students get real exam question experience as much as possible, everyday.
Do you feel that you are fairly remunerated? And what are your key performance indicators at your school? Pass rate or # of high scorers? (Do you get a bonus for either?)
I think I paid enough for what I do, but if I did count the number of hours that I actually put into doing school-related stuff (I'm doing school stuff almost 24/7), then I might re-think my answer! We don't have KPIs per se, we have reviews twice a year so that our teaching strategies can be checked upon and feedback given. Pass rate or # of high scorers don't really affect this.
Thanks for the insight!
I hope this answers your questions.
Do you use other teachers resources (such as videos) or other online resources, either in the classroom or preparation?
I am thinking here of wootube, mathsonline etc.Do you have other hobbies? I find many maths afficionados are also musical.
I try my best to be as original as possible. If I'm really stuck for ideas, then I'll jump onto YouTube or one of the many maths websites out there to get ideas for explaining things. Some concepts tend to be quite dry and while I understand them, I don't feel 100% in my ability to explain it well. It is these cases where I go looking for inspiration. This is a very seldom occurrence though, fortunately!
In terms of other resources, I've seen a few WooTube videos and he's an absolute champ. His energy and enthusiasm is to be marvelled at, and I hope my students see the same (or similar) in me. I wish I could meet him one day and talk in length about mathematics and being an effective teacher!
Do I have any other hobbies? Yes, my hobby is being a professional OzBargainer, especially with stacking multiple discounts and utilising my AmEx cards to their maximum. If I had another career, it'd definitely be in AmEx.
I'm unfortunately not musical, I don't have the coordination to do so!Just imagined a singer that sings the song he/she wrote, the singer will sing much fluently if he/she compose the song. Same with teaching, if you develop your own resources, it will help you with your teaching, of course looking at other resources will give you more ideas, but you still have to integrate them to your program and think about how you will use it and when to use it.
Congrats on your profession and it is really good to hear a person that loves their job!
Are you buried in Admin which is very common for Teaching today?
What would be the teaching to admin ratio?
Cheers
Thanks!
I try my best not to bury myself in admin work, it's the last thing I want to be doing. Of course there are times when it's absolutely necessary, legally required or is being asked to be done. I really do focus my time on teaching and teaching-related things, otherwise I don't think I'd be effective at all. Therefore, my teaching to admin ratio is probably about 80%:20%, as a rough guesstimate.
Do you find that ratio has gone up over the past years? My wife teaches (NSW Catholic school) and both her and work colleagues have felt the ratio has gone more towards admin work - naturally could be the system they are in.
I am in the Vocational Sector as a Teacher and I can honestly say that the ratio is the other away around for me 80:20 Admin:Teaching respectively.
It is becoming ridiculous.
CheersYeah, it certainly seems that it increases with time passing. Admin work is just another part of the job.
It's getting worse lol. Especially when the government is your customer.
I have also worked in Tertiary Teaching and I can say that the VET sector is the worse offenders for Admin.Cheers
Thanks however I guess it's a job.
As you will obviously agree and understand is that if you have made a difference to augment/improve the learning experience of a student, it is worth it :-)
Cheers
Regarding students 'gifted' at mathematics, and I guess it applies to all subject areas also…. Is there anything new and interesting that schools do to allow extremely gifted students to move forward at an accelerated rate ? Ie. Things that are done now, that you wish were around when you were a school student.
As a student 'gifted' with mathematics, I remember the teachers were aware, but there was not reallt much in place to facilitate accelerated learning. In year 6, me and 1 other student would always finish the class maths first, there was then some laminated sheets at back of room that we could go get and start on.
In high school, having 3 older siblings already through the school, the teachers would see my name and expect me to be great at math (which I was). Although I was in advanced math class always, I still felt held back, the only thing I remember happening was at was time a math teacher gave me the next years text book to borrow, and I learnt the work 1 year ahead in about 1 month. There was a math comp test at school, which covered like year 7&8 , and I wanted to know everything for the text (I was in yr 7) …
I also remember being taught some year 9 math in kindergarten (by brother 10 years older) and I grasped negative numbers back then. Was funny looking back, every time in primary school when they do maths on chalk board and they would say "5 minus 7 CANT DO" I would be like "negative **" lol. Also my brother 5 years older taught me some year 12 math and had a sample paper from previous exams.
I really wish there had been more in place with educational systems to allow for accelerated learning, where appropriate. I believe there is some more in place these days ? (I Was an 80's baby).Thanks for the insight Pete, I'm a lot younger so there's a few things you've touched on that I haven't experienced yet.
In terms of gifted students, there's certainly schools that have started up with one of their main purposes being to cater to the advanced learner (think John Monash Science School, Nossal High School, Suzanne Cory, etc).
At the school I'm at, we have an Accelerated Maths program, where students in Year 8 can sit an exam, and the top 26 get chosen for the Year 9 Accelerated Maths class the following year, in which they learn Year 10 Mathematics. The same teacher then takes this class through 4 years of maths. In Year 10 Accelerated Maths, they do Year 11 Specialist Maths. In Year 11 Accelerated Maths, they do Year 11 Maths Methods (at a faster pace and with harder questions). Same goes for Year 12 Accelerated Maths. What a lot of gifted students really need is one-on-one time with real 'mathematicians' to explore very deep concepts relating to the axioms of mathematics, as this is the area which really challenges the mind. Things like Zeno's Paradox, the Tower of Hanoi, etc come to mind. I, unfortunately, am not a 'mathematician', so my knowledge with these paradoxes etc is basically nil. Schools don't have the resources to employ mathematicians unfortunately (unless of course a teacher already teaching there is a mathematician!).
Mad respect for ya Mate. Good on you. Best wishes :)
Thanks for the kind words mate!
Have you used MathPathways to teach your students before? My daughter's school is using it and I find that the content (videos, lessons) are very poor in quality. My daughter actually gets confused not because the topic is hard but because of how the lesson in MathPathways is written. What is your experience on MathPathways? Will you recommend it?
To be honest, this is the first time I've heard of MathPathways, so I don't have any insight into the program.
Sorry!
Username checks out, haha.
To answer your question, no.