Aaron Paquet-Smith
@ronpaq.bsky.social
🇬🇧 Maths teacher at a bilingual school in France. Nerdy about pedagogy and task design. Seeking discussions about what works (or not!) in our classrooms for continued professional development.
🇫🇷 Prof de maths à une école bilingue en France.
he/him
🇫🇷 Prof de maths à une école bilingue en France.
he/him
#MathsToday We did gradient of line segments in Year 9 by considering a rescaling of the overall countable change. No change in y over change in x, or rise over run.
January 23, 2026 at 8:04 PM
#MathsToday We did gradient of line segments in Year 9 by considering a rescaling of the overall countable change. No change in y over change in x, or rise over run.
Would anyone know where I might find a matching task for algebraic, trigonometric and exponential form of complex numbers? #Mathstoday #Alevelmaths
December 30, 2025 at 9:16 AM
Would anyone know where I might find a matching task for algebraic, trigonometric and exponential form of complex numbers? #Mathstoday #Alevelmaths
Adding some extra tasks for when I teach inverse trigonometric functions. When do arcsin, arccos and arctan behave, and when do we need to be careful? #mathstoday #Alevelmaths
December 29, 2025 at 12:24 PM
Adding some extra tasks for when I teach inverse trigonometric functions. When do arcsin, arccos and arctan behave, and when do we need to be careful? #mathstoday #Alevelmaths
Reposted by Aaron Paquet-Smith
My old friend the second derivative, we've been expecting you...
December 18, 2025 at 10:28 AM
My old friend the second derivative, we've been expecting you...
Question for #ALevelMaths teachers. When teaching the exponential form of a complex number, how do you motivate this intuitively? I will (soon) be teaching this and interested in the various ways of doing it. #MathsToday #UKMathsChat
December 15, 2025 at 9:54 AM
Question for #ALevelMaths teachers. When teaching the exponential form of a complex number, how do you motivate this intuitively? I will (soon) be teaching this and interested in the various ways of doing it. #MathsToday #UKMathsChat
Reposted by Aaron Paquet-Smith
You've heard of elf on the shelf but have you heard of
December 14, 2025 at 5:49 PM
You've heard of elf on the shelf but have you heard of
In Year 11 foundation #mathstoday we're doing just a past paper. Energy has waned and getting new content across so close to the holiday (we break up tomorrow) is really tough. Any tips for keeping new learning going before the holidays?
December 11, 2025 at 10:19 AM
In Year 11 foundation #mathstoday we're doing just a past paper. Energy has waned and getting new content across so close to the holiday (we break up tomorrow) is really tough. Any tips for keeping new learning going before the holidays?
A simple, but one of my favourite, worksheets from mathspad today. I like the way the jumbled answers are in terms of pi or written to two decimal places. It forces the learners to be conscious about the distinction between the two. #MathsToday
December 10, 2025 at 10:41 AM
A simple, but one of my favourite, worksheets from mathspad today. I like the way the jumbled answers are in terms of pi or written to two decimal places. It forces the learners to be conscious about the distinction between the two. #MathsToday
#MathsToday Same but different parametric equations to match to their graphs. We had a lovely 15 minute discussion based on this task, plus lots of Desmos animated particles to help us think about the x- and y-coordinates changing at different rates.
December 2, 2025 at 8:53 AM
#MathsToday Same but different parametric equations to match to their graphs. We had a lovely 15 minute discussion based on this task, plus lots of Desmos animated particles to help us think about the x- and y-coordinates changing at different rates.
Reposted by Aaron Paquet-Smith
I tried something different to help an #ALevelMaths student who was stuck with a question: instead of telling them what to do, I wrote down my thoughts about how I would solve a question (kind of like @davidkbutler.bsky.social does with #TryMathsLive, except I never actually did the question).
![I'm going to try and type you my thoughts live so you can see what I'm thinking. I hope this will be more useful to getting you started than a worked solution. I don't have a calculator on me so I haven't actually tried to work any of this out - it's possible that my approach to a particular part doesn't work! But the 'show that' in part (iii) is a nice way for you to check whether things are going well up to that point. I'd advise you to only read a bit at a time, then try what you can, and come back to read the next bit if you get stuck.
Before part (i), they've mentioned mass, speed, force and power. In particular, seeing speed and power mentioned together always makes me want to use the formula P=Fv. Given that this part is only 2 marks, I suspect I won't have to do much more than that.
Before part (ii), they've mentioned moving under gravity - given that I'm primed by part (i) that this is a Work/Energy/Power question [yes, I know this is a whole W/E/P assignment, but in an exam I wouldn't have that extra context - but even exam questions are often predominantly drawn from a single topic] that makes me think of GPE. They also mention moving against resistance, which makes me think of WD = Fd.
So already I'm thinking I'll start by trying to set up the energy buckets for the car at P and Q. I'm told the height and speed at each of them, which means I can calculate GPE and KE using the mass from the first part. I'm also told how far the car travels, which I can use as d in WD=Fd.
In fact, part (ii) only asks for GPE and KE, so I don't need to use WD=Fd at all.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:tdrrhbjupu4ddebjnqi57lck/bafkreic4xngzl7w5p7xu32s5iymtasz7vcstsze6lthsahdpkqif2faakm@jpeg)
December 1, 2025 at 3:38 PM
I tried something different to help an #ALevelMaths student who was stuck with a question: instead of telling them what to do, I wrote down my thoughts about how I would solve a question (kind of like @davidkbutler.bsky.social does with #TryMathsLive, except I never actually did the question).
#MathsToday "Slanty" shapes were turned into right shapes by imagining them as stacks of paper which needed a push. This helped us identify needed lengths and ignore distractions.
The aim was long-term learning, not short-term performance obtained by using formulae. Time will tell.
The aim was long-term learning, not short-term performance obtained by using formulae. Time will tell.
November 30, 2025 at 9:50 AM
#MathsToday "Slanty" shapes were turned into right shapes by imagining them as stacks of paper which needed a push. This helped us identify needed lengths and ignore distractions.
The aim was long-term learning, not short-term performance obtained by using formulae. Time will tell.
The aim was long-term learning, not short-term performance obtained by using formulae. Time will tell.
Reposted by Aaron Paquet-Smith
Two triangles with the same area.
Which has the greater perimeter?
How do you know?
No calculators.
Thanks to @studymaths.bsky.social for the geoboard software on mathsbot.com
Which has the greater perimeter?
How do you know?
No calculators.
Thanks to @studymaths.bsky.social for the geoboard software on mathsbot.com
November 27, 2025 at 7:38 PM
Two triangles with the same area.
Which has the greater perimeter?
How do you know?
No calculators.
Thanks to @studymaths.bsky.social for the geoboard software on mathsbot.com
Which has the greater perimeter?
How do you know?
No calculators.
Thanks to @studymaths.bsky.social for the geoboard software on mathsbot.com
Reposted by Aaron Paquet-Smith
The mathematician David Bessis believes that mathematical skill is not innate, but learned. “Genius is not an essence. It’s a state. It’s a state that you build by doing a certain job.”
Mathematical Thinking Isn’t What You Think It Is | Quanta Magazine
The mathematician David Bessis claims that everyone is capable of, and can benefit greatly from, mathematical thinking.
www.quantamagazine.org
November 27, 2025 at 4:46 PM
The mathematician David Bessis believes that mathematical skill is not innate, but learned. “Genius is not an essence. It’s a state. It’s a state that you build by doing a certain job.”
Reposted by Aaron Paquet-Smith
In #MathsToday I used stem sentences to support teaching of expanding brackets. I was pleasantly surprised to hear pupils respond to questions using the structure of the stem sentence without me prompting them to do so. Would love to hear others' experiences of stem sentences in secondary maths.
November 26, 2025 at 9:53 PM
In #MathsToday I used stem sentences to support teaching of expanding brackets. I was pleasantly surprised to hear pupils respond to questions using the structure of the stem sentence without me prompting them to do so. Would love to hear others' experiences of stem sentences in secondary maths.
In #mathstoday I was asked by a year 11 whether it could be possible that the perimeter is larger than the area (because this was the case in many problems). To him, this was impossible because the 'edge' is smaller than the 'inside'.
What else do students find hard conceptually in this topic?
What else do students find hard conceptually in this topic?
November 27, 2025 at 12:20 PM
In #mathstoday I was asked by a year 11 whether it could be possible that the perimeter is larger than the area (because this was the case in many problems). To him, this was impossible because the 'edge' is smaller than the 'inside'.
What else do students find hard conceptually in this topic?
What else do students find hard conceptually in this topic?
Reposted by Aaron Paquet-Smith
After #MathsToday I created a new fill in the blanks generator on Normal Distribution.
www.interactive-maths.com/normal-distr...
You can choose what is revealed / hidden for any randomly generated distribution by clicking. Easy to screenshot into a presentation, or use live.
www.interactive-maths.com/normal-distr...
You can choose what is revealed / hidden for any randomly generated distribution by clicking. Easy to screenshot into a presentation, or use live.
November 24, 2025 at 8:50 PM
After #MathsToday I created a new fill in the blanks generator on Normal Distribution.
www.interactive-maths.com/normal-distr...
You can choose what is revealed / hidden for any randomly generated distribution by clicking. Easy to screenshot into a presentation, or use live.
www.interactive-maths.com/normal-distr...
You can choose what is revealed / hidden for any randomly generated distribution by clicking. Easy to screenshot into a presentation, or use live.
Reposted by Aaron Paquet-Smith
This is an issue at my new school. Students want a formula for every shape, but they then forget those formulae and need to ask for the same formulae next lesson.
Teaching them like you have above hasn't seemed to solve that problem like it usually does. So I'm interested to see the responses here
Teaching them like you have above hasn't seemed to solve that problem like it usually does. So I'm interested to see the responses here
November 25, 2025 at 8:07 AM
This is an issue at my new school. Students want a formula for every shape, but they then forget those formulae and need to ask for the same formulae next lesson.
Teaching them like you have above hasn't seemed to solve that problem like it usually does. So I'm interested to see the responses here
Teaching them like you have above hasn't seemed to solve that problem like it usually does. So I'm interested to see the responses here
Advice sought:
I am about to teach Year 11 Foundation area, perimeter, volume, surface area of 2D/3D shapes. In theory, they have done all this before but every time they are asked to calculate the area of a triangle it is like seeing it again for the first time.
#MathsToday #MathsTeaching
I am about to teach Year 11 Foundation area, perimeter, volume, surface area of 2D/3D shapes. In theory, they have done all this before but every time they are asked to calculate the area of a triangle it is like seeing it again for the first time.
#MathsToday #MathsTeaching
November 24, 2025 at 12:45 PM
Advice sought:
I am about to teach Year 11 Foundation area, perimeter, volume, surface area of 2D/3D shapes. In theory, they have done all this before but every time they are asked to calculate the area of a triangle it is like seeing it again for the first time.
#MathsToday #MathsTeaching
I am about to teach Year 11 Foundation area, perimeter, volume, surface area of 2D/3D shapes. In theory, they have done all this before but every time they are asked to calculate the area of a triangle it is like seeing it again for the first time.
#MathsToday #MathsTeaching
With Year 12 today we were looking at remainder theorem and we did the very lovely true or false task from Integral maths. See also here my mini-whiteboard check before letting them get on which was nice as it forced them to think about the positions of the numbers.
#Alevelmaths #mathstoday
#Alevelmaths #mathstoday
November 24, 2025 at 9:54 AM
With Year 12 today we were looking at remainder theorem and we did the very lovely true or false task from Integral maths. See also here my mini-whiteboard check before letting them get on which was nice as it forced them to think about the positions of the numbers.
#Alevelmaths #mathstoday
#Alevelmaths #mathstoday
Reposted by Aaron Paquet-Smith
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)
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)
July 8, 2025 at 4:26 PM
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)
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)
Reposted by Aaron Paquet-Smith
what is ironing if not differential topology
November 22, 2025 at 11:22 PM
what is ironing if not differential topology
With Year 11 F today we are beginning to revisit nth term rules of arithmetic sequences. First, a task I made deducing the hundredth term of sequences constructed with dots and "describing" the nth term. #mathstoday
November 21, 2025 at 9:32 AM
With Year 11 F today we are beginning to revisit nth term rules of arithmetic sequences. First, a task I made deducing the hundredth term of sequences constructed with dots and "describing" the nth term. #mathstoday
Reposted by Aaron Paquet-Smith
In lieu of grade boundaries, I showed them these histograms, of previous students grouped by the grade they ended up with. Took a bit of explaining, but I hope it helped them see what they were on track for, without me having to give them an explicit grade. #MathsToday
November 19, 2025 at 4:43 PM
In lieu of grade boundaries, I showed them these histograms, of previous students grouped by the grade they ended up with. Took a bit of explaining, but I hope it helped them see what they were on track for, without me having to give them an explicit grade. #MathsToday
Reposted by Aaron Paquet-Smith
In #mathstoday I came up with a new tool on solving quadratic equations using factorising.
www.interactive-maths.com/solving-quad...
You can choose what you reveal or hide giving lots of flexibility.
www.interactive-maths.com/solving-quad...
You can choose what you reveal or hide giving lots of flexibility.
November 20, 2025 at 1:48 PM
In #mathstoday I came up with a new tool on solving quadratic equations using factorising.
www.interactive-maths.com/solving-quad...
You can choose what you reveal or hide giving lots of flexibility.
www.interactive-maths.com/solving-quad...
You can choose what you reveal or hide giving lots of flexibility.
In #mathstoday, apparently 41 -- in addition to 67 -- is a funny number...
November 20, 2025 at 10:59 AM
In #mathstoday, apparently 41 -- in addition to 67 -- is a funny number...