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Paul Rowlandson

@drrowlandson.bsky.social

270 followers 240 following 34 posts

15 years teaching secondary school mathematics. Works across multiple roles in teacher development. Opinions expressed here are my own and do not represent any of my employers. Blog site: http://ponderingplanning.wordpress.com/contents

ponderingplanning.wordpress.com

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Paul Rowlandson @drrowlandson.bsky.social · Mar 22

Latest blog post
#ukmathschat #mtbos #MathsEd

Paul Rowlandson @drrowlandson.bsky.social · Mar 16

New blog post: Posing Problems with Paper-Folding

ponderingplanning.wordpress.com/2025/03/16/p...

It looks at how a single paper-folding activity can be used in various ways by supplementing it with different questions.

#mathschat #MathEdChat

Posing Problems with Paper-Folding

Like many teachers, my own teaching was influenced by excellent teachers from my own school-life. I also feel fortunate to have drawn lots of inspiration from a wonderful PGCE Maths Tutor, during m…

ponderingplanning.wordpress.com

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Paul Rowlandson @drrowlandson.bsky.social · 15h

Latest blog post: 'Thinking About Perpendicular Bisectors' looks at teaching compass and ruler constructions for undertanding by breaking it down into small steps.

🔗 wp.me/p9t8DE-r0

#EduSky #Mathschat #MathSky

A horizontal line with six perpendicular lines. There is a large arc made from placing a compass at the right edge of the horizontal line. There are six arcs of increasing size, made from placing a compass at the left edge of the horizontal line.

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Paul Rowlandson @drrowlandson.bsky.social · 2d

New blog post: 'Thinking About Perpendicular Bisectors'

Looks at an approach for teaching compass and ruler constructions by using GeoGebra to support understanding.

wp.me/p9t8DE-r0

#UKMathsChat #Mathsky

Thinking About Perpendicular Bisectors

This blog post explores how GeoGebra (or other dynamic geometry software) can support the teaching of compass and ruler constructions. In particular, I’ll be reflecting on how my approach to teachi…

wp.me

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Reposted by Paul Rowlandson

Dan Draper @dandraper.bsky.social · Sep 17

#MathsToday Teaching histograms to year 11 this week and returned to @drrowlandson.bsky.social’s amazing planning series to start. So much deep thought and insight in every post! 🙌 ponderingplanning.wordpress.com/2020/06/05/f...

Filling in the Gaps With Histograms

This blog posts focuses on the sorts of histograms that students see in GCSE Mathematics: histograms with unequal class intervals and where the heights of the bars represent frequency density.&nbsp…

ponderingplanning.wordpress.com

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Reposted by Paul Rowlandson

NCETM @ncetm.bsky.social · Sep 3

Non-specialist maths teachers!
🎥 See how the Non-specialist SKTM Programme could boost your confidence & improve your teaching!

💵 Schools joining the 2025/26 @theeef.bsky.social trial get £500–£1000!
💻 Online cohort available
⏰ Apply by 12 September
bit.ly/4lRxAoW
#Maths #EduSky #UKMathsChat

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Reposted by Paul Rowlandson

NCETM @ncetm.bsky.social · Jul 18

🎞️ They don’t seek the spotlight, but they shape the future of maths every day.

As another academic year ends, we want to celebrate EVERYONE across the 40 Maths Hubs who has worked tirelessly to make the programme a continuing success 👏

#Maths #EduSky #UKMathsChat

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Paul Rowlandson @drrowlandson.bsky.social · Jul 18

I made a little training booklet a few years ago, which I used for a couple of CPD sessions about GeoGebra. Feel free to switch out the front page and use.

drive.google.com/file/d/1a6PN...

Geogebra Training Booklet.pdf

drive.google.com

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Reposted by Paul Rowlandson

Jo Morgan @mathsjem.bsky.social · Jul 5

New post! 'Conferences and Catching Up'.

A write up of the events I've attended in the last couple of weeks and a summary of the current talking points in maths education.

www.resourceaholic.com/2025/07/conf...

#ukmathschat #mathstoday #meiconf2025

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Reposted by Paul Rowlandson

Nathan Day @nathanday.bsky.social · Jul 8

Calling all Maths teachers!

What are some of your all-time great tasks for secondary Maths?

Ones that could have their place in any curriculum, one that should be studied in PGCE courses, ones that started whole new genres of tasks...
... or just ones you really like.

(see some of mine below)

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Paul Rowlandson @drrowlandson.bsky.social · Jun 11

Any schools don't have a full maths department for September or have teachers from other subjects teaching maths might find the programme below helpful. 👇🏻

It's fully funded training for non-specialist teachers of maths, supporting them to teach maths confidently and in depth. #ukmathschat

NCETM @ncetm.bsky.social · Jun 5

With around 1 in 8 KS3 maths lessons being taught by non-specialists, it's vital we support them
📹 Step inside a real Work Group to hear how Maths Hubs are helping non-specialist teachers thrive
#Maths #EduSky #UKMathsChat
www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTk5...

Boost your confidence teaching maths | Secondary Non-specialist SKTM Programme

YouTube video by NCETM

www.youtube.com

Reposted by Paul Rowlandson

Dr. Jen Shearman @jenshearman.bsky.social · Jun 10

Over the last couple of months I have been watching
- Expertly designed and led PD
- With out-of-field maths teachers 'growing' their identity as mathematician,
- Become even better at teaching students who need maths teachers the most.

So important that these programmes externally evaluated. (1/n)

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Reposted by Paul Rowlandson

Catriona Agg @catrionaagg.bsky.social · Jun 9

Properties of quadrilaterals with Y8. They sort of know this all already but it still always seems like a bit of a slog!

Today we did everything on this hierarchical diagram rather than as a list, which I hope made it seem more logical. #MathsToday

A diagram with the names of quadrilaterals and arrows showing which are special cases of the others.
Red annotations show properties relating to parallel sides.

The same basic diagram, with annotations in purple to show properties relating to equal length sides.

The same basic diagram, with annotations in blue to show properties relating to angles.

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Reposted by Paul Rowlandson

NCETM @ncetm.bsky.social · Jun 5

Boost your confidence teaching maths | Secondary Non-specialist SKTM Programme

YouTube video by NCETM

www.youtube.com

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Reposted by Paul Rowlandson

Dr. Jen Shearman @jenshearman.bsky.social · Jun 4

The @ncetm.bsky.social has a fabulous #SKTMSecondaryNonSpecialistTeacherProgramme for anyone teaching mathematics outside of their specialism. This video featuring @kandmmathshub.bsky.social captures it perfectly. @j9allen.bsky.social @garethshadick.bsky.social www.ncetm.org.uk/news/inside-...

Inside the Secondary Non-specialist Teachers SKTM Programme

A fully-funded CPD opportunity designed to support non-specialist teachers of maths

www.ncetm.org.uk

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Reposted by Paul Rowlandson

NCETM @ncetm.bsky.social · Jun 3

Teaching maths without a specialist background? You’re not alone.
🎥 In our new video, teachers explain how the Secondary Non-specialist Teachers SKTM Programme has boosted their classroom confidence (and more!)
#Maths #EduSky #UKMathsChat

Boost your confidence teaching maths | Secondary Non-specialist SKTM Programme

YouTube video by NCETM

www.youtube.com

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Paul Rowlandson @drrowlandson.bsky.social · May 31

That's wonderful news! Best of luck!

Reposted by Paul Rowlandson

Claire Clay @cclay8.bsky.social · May 28

Last year I made this power point it shows the key calculator buttons on the two Casio’s new and old next to each other. Might be useful in the coming week.

docs.google.com/presentation...

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Reposted by Paul Rowlandson

Catriona Agg @catrionaagg.bsky.social · May 21

More Y9 trig #MathsToday: we ditched the tables in favour of drawing multipliers directly onto the triangles. This lesson went pretty well! Still just using sin and cos, and today I kept everything in one orientation as well.

Three triangles, with working in a ratio table to find a missing length.

The same three triangles and answers with the tables removed, and the title How might we skip the table?

The reference triangle with multipliers drawn on: x sin(a) goes from the hypotenuse of 1 to the opposite of sin(a), and x cos(a) goes from the hypotenuse of 1 to the adjacent of cos(a).

Four questions that have been solved by drawing multipliers onto the triangles

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Reposted by Paul Rowlandson

MathsCity Leeds @mathscityleeds.bsky.social · May 21

We’re celebrating National Numeracy Day in style with the installation of new exhibits in our Code Breaking and Our Chaotic Earth collections!

Be the first to see them this May half term alongside our curve stitching activities!

#NationalNumeracyDay

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Paul Rowlandson @drrowlandson.bsky.social · May 17

I hope people find these papers interesting and useful! 🙂 (n/n)

Paul Rowlandson @drrowlandson.bsky.social · May 17

This paper is behind a paywall, so you might not be able to access it without a university account (sorry). But the first paper in this thread (which is open access) summarises the research and discusses its findings. (13/n)

Paul Rowlandson @drrowlandson.bsky.social · May 17

The 'exposition' group was also similar to the others for most measures, however one result suggests that these participants seem more likely to have categorised the images by identifying defining features rather than based on visual impressions. (12/n)

Paul Rowlandson @drrowlandson.bsky.social · May 17

In all measures, no significant difference was found between results for the 'blocking' group and 'interleaving' group. (11/n)

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Paul Rowlandson @drrowlandson.bsky.social · May 17

One group of participants saw a set of examples for each category presented in a blocked sequence, another group saw the same examples in an interleaved sequence. A third group was also included, who only saw a single example of each category, accompanied by exposition. (10/n)

Paul Rowlandson @drrowlandson.bsky.social · May 17

During the experiment, participants learned to recognise relationships between pairs of angles on parallel lines (corresponding, alternate, co-interior). They were assessed on their ability to categorise diagrams, complete diagrams and describe 'co-interior' angles in words. (9/n)

Paul Rowlandson @drrowlandson.bsky.social · May 17

The paper reports on a pair of experiments that attempted to replicate the direct interleaving effects found in lab research, but with secondary school pupils and using mathematical categories. (8/n)