Maths And Other Subjects

[tiggerblue10]

I went to a maths parental engagement session at sons school earlier. The head of maths gave a presentation about how maths is portrayed and that many people say they hate the subject. She said she loves maths and would like parents/guardians to not be negative about it when talking about homework to their children as it may put them off and to encourage them instead.

Son is doing algebra at the moment and is finding it difficult however, at the session, we were told that students can email teachers if they are having problems with any subjects and/or homework. Students are so lucky to be able to communicate with teachers on Teams on their tablets and get help. He's also been signed up for Leadership Skills run by a company called Reaching Higher and I really hope this will boost his confidence given the problems he faced last year with bullying. It's still occurring but not as much now. He had an incident on Tuesday where one of the main bully's tried to trip him up on the stairs. This could have had serious consequences so I have raised it with the school.

Anyway.....what subjects did you like and what didn't you like at school?

[jourdain2]

Miss Terious - I was useless at D.S. too (somehow managed to grow up and feed a healthy family and understand energy pathways) but fortunately they let me do extra art. I already knew how to sew and in later years made all our clothes, including men's jackets and trousers.

[MissTerious]

Same here Jourdain. Learned how to cook well by just being in the kitchen with a mum, grandmother etc. Taught to knit and crochet by grandmother made an my own clothes teaching myself. Taught myself how to made a tailored suit. An school they taught me how to make an apron!

[tiggerblue10]

I was useless at school and only came away with a few O levels, and a few years later, a history GCSE. I never went on to further education and started working at 17.

I want better things for little Tigs and I'm trying to encourage him although he's more interested in Roblox than homework.....queue the arguments!

[tiggerblue10]

I learnt to cook through my mum and nan. My nan taught me how to knit and my mum taught me how to crochet. Weirdly, neither of them learnt how to do the other.

[novalis]

Captain2, I remember A-Level General Studies and also S-Levels which I passed in German and French. There is a very good point made above about parental influence, especially when it comes to Maths. Fortunately my dad had a degree in the subject and my mum helped both my brother and me by encouraging us to play number games. In my last two years at junior school every day started with ten spelling and ten mental arithmetic questions. That was a big help. What jumps out from the responses on this thread is the role played by teachers and that is so true. In our final year at junior school our teacher was Mr Moss. No matter what our strengths and weaknesses were he was unstinting in his efforts to get us all to enjoy what we were doing and to develop our knowledge and skills. I was a country lad (and still am at heart) and was a keen birdwatcher. He told me that an ornithologist was a person who studies birds and then suggested I should try to find other words ending -ologist and what they meant. Mr Moss died suddenly a year after we left, aged just 42. I still see a couple of people who were in that class with me and even over 60 years later we remember him with great affection.

[1ozzy]

I didn't like some teachers.
I didn't like some students, I'm sure they didn't like me.
But I enjoyed learning.
And still do.

[davebro]

I enjoyed most academic school subjects. Hated gym & games afternoon - forced to play rugby in the cold & wet!
History was more boring than it should have been due the teacher we had & I was useless at music. Enjoy the results but had no idea about the theory & practice - and still don't!

[10ClarionSt]

"to not be negative"

Don't you mean "not to be negative"?

I liked Maths and History. And, like most on here probably, teachers were only available during school hours. No extra classes or tablets or emails. Teachers taught and you learnt. End of, as someone on this site would say.

There was no bullying that I knew of. Not amongst our circle. Me nor my friends had to deal with that. Where there was bullying, if a pupil went to a teacher complaining of being bullied, they were told in no uncertain terms to "stop being soft and go stick up for yourself. Don't bother me about it"
Tis true folks. I think the increase in bullying is no doubt down to the rise of technology and the ability to communicate more or less indiscreetly.

[Cloverjo]

I always found history incredibly boring at school. Every teacher I had in that subject would rather bore on about their Welsh upbringing than teach us anything useful.

I liked maths, but stupidly ‘studied’ English and Drama post-O levels

[Peter Pedant]

In my last two years at junior school every day started with ten spelling and ten mental arithmetic questions. That was a big help.

we did as well - the maff master wd yell as he entered the room
TEN QQ! - it wasnt 1962-4 by any chance? I often wondered why he had done it, and if it was a vogue. We did long exam papers ( double maths) and I cant remember him ever going frooda right answers altho he marked the papers....
and so when you went to big school - you joined boys who had done a two year formal maths course..... and the lack really showed !

[davebro]

How do you process 10 mental arithmetic questions with a class of 30?

I think novalis' questions were posed by his ma or pa before he/she went off for their school day.

[Peter Pedant]

I went to a maths parental engagement session at sons school earlier.

it is very very variable and not evidence based. Having as vainly boasted in other threads, taught a nine year old girl "fractions" , she was the only one in the class to be able to "do fractions" when examined when the schools re-opened.
So clearly my teaching worked and the other parents stuff didnt.
I offered to go in and do the grinding stuff - - 1/3 + 1/3 -and then 2/6 and 3/6 and then .... because the kids need practice....
and the Head said - no - no thanks - she "had to decline my kind offer as the kids may give me COVID." !

Incredz. so there is a whole final year of a school out there , of which one kid alone can do fractions....

( I think she thought - we need proppa teachers and not walk-in substitutes no matter how well intentioned = this walk in porter is taking food from maths graduates' mouths)

[Peter Pedant]

no we had smaller classes in Roman times Davebro
my A level maff class was nine. (two passed)

[jourdain2]

PP Until March 2020 I had been going into a local Academy on a voluntary basis for 2 and a half hours every Monday and using my experience to improve reading ages with a small group of 11/12 yr -olds who had reading ages of between 7 & 9 years. In a year, I could get them up to give them a chance at coping with secondary school.
Covid hit - and everything stopped. When vaccinations came along I got mine, waited the appropriate couple of weeks and telephoned the school to say I was happy to come back volunteering - to be told that no-one from outside was now allowed in the school. I've still not been back.
It almost broke my heart to think of some of those kids just left to drift. I'm willing to risk catching covid.

[Peter Pedant]

thx Jourdain - merci bowkoo
Until March 2020 I had been going into a local Academy on a voluntary basis for 2 and a half hours every Monday

My sista - retd teacher - was doing that. which is where I got the idea from. She was going in 'to hear the children read'. Current thought was that if you hear the kids read and correct them, ( no comprehension, just the flow of words) they improve their reading skills. 2:1 in English deffo not reqd for that....

Engineering at uni. Examples classes. You lock 50 undergrads in a room with two grads and a question paper with 100 q which they work thro silently. When a student can't do a q - he puts up his hand and a supervisor give him a jog.

[zebo]

//my A level maff class was nine. (two passed)//

My weary eyes read that as 'maff glass was wine, (two ***)' and thought we must have gone to the same school and done A level Maths together.