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 It is not too bad, scentless_apprentice.

It is pretty miserable outside, but I am in Switzerland, so they know how to cope. I am off to do some Christmas shopping in Geneva tomorrow and then next Monday we are all off on holiday for a couple of weeks until school starts again.

No, this is how you argue folks ....

weebecka:

So to abridge my need to work with them all, could I perhaps instead suggest that you celebrate Christmas by having an anal encounter with your festive tree, which I hope has a nice sharp pointy star on top.

I see our resident SuperHero has managed to fail yet again in her primary task without any intervention from her fan club.

"As far as I can see most of this facilitation involves saying something that amounts to "Very interesting. And what do others think ?" but taking three paragraphs over it."

Ya know, I was thinking of the old 'weebles' commercial as well but you beat me to it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U45lggf2OkM&NR=1

weebecka:

  I'm not covering anything up - I think in the first thread here I was very clear that I'd been HOD in a small school.  I've not been misrepresenting things. 

I'm not suggesting you're covering anything up, merely that your experiences to date would appear to be at odds with the grandoise claims you have been making on many threads.

The teaching of "your classes" and your experiences with them have been the cornerstone of many of your arguments on here and yet it would appear that you haven't been in a position of any longevity (bar your initial school) for that to be a credible standpoint.

Additionally, combining the very small nature of the cohort about whom you wax lyrically would with the lack of longevity means I am rather dubious of your tales and that they should be held up as some sort of panacea.

(That said, your profile error/omissions relating to your last three roles - see below - and your reluctance to divulge your relationship with MMU does make we wonder!). 

weebecka:

If you don't want to meet me, stop having a go because I can't give the level of detail you want here, so it's pointless.  Yes my CV is slighty fragmented, but there are sensible and appropriate reasons for that.

I'm not having a go, merely asking for justification/evidence of your teaching career against which it would be possible to place your grandoise claims and judging by your replies to date, I'm afraid I think none has been forthcoming.

weebecka:

Heaven knows why on earth you think my profile is incorrect.  It's far more detailed and open than anyone else here and it's just as it is.  Again, it's just totally inappropriate to write things like that.  If there's one specific thing that doesn't seem right then mention it, or better still PM me so that it doesn't spam up the thread and I can reassure you.

On your profile your last three roles (Southfield to West lakes) span from Sept 06 to July 09, a period of 35 months, yet the total months noted by yourself for these three roles total 47 months.

Any explanation for this?

weebecka:

I'm not looking to win an argument with you based on my back-record MathsMA or to overwhelm you with my credibility.  My resume isn't there to do that, just give people an idea of my range of experience so I don't have to start from scratch whenever someone new joins the discussion.  On most forums you're required to provide this sort of stuff because discussion is so much easier if you just click on a poster to get a good idea of 'where they're coming from'. 

I don't think there is any argument to be won, this forum is for sharing ideas and expressing opinions, to which everyone has a right to hold and espouse. I personally just don't find you a credible advocate, particularly when viewed against your very high opinion of yourself and your experiences, along with your rather poor image you portray on here (along with espousing a number of poor strategies in these threads).

Of course it may all be down to your inability to communicate with your peers on this medium (or the majority of us who find you tiresome and somewhat outlandish could be the real villains!!), but that really is no excuse given your current role and sector within which you work.

Just wanted to bring this forward from an earlier post for two reasons:

1. a few people have been asking for clear examples of the kind of thing I do which they could use.  This is a starter which goes right through secondary school.  If it does nothing else it gives students a clear picture of what reciprocals are very early.  

It should fit with anyone's teaching, but I would ask you to try and create a challenging environment around the answers - why?  are you sure? and allow no 'because I used the trick' answers.

 2. Because I'm going to refer to it when I try and answer another post.

weebecka:

I write two things on the board (they could be quantities, algebraic expressions, pictures, functions, whatever) and tell them to sum, difference, product and quotient them.  1 mark for each correct answer if they can picture/explain how they got it.  Half a mark if they get it right but have used a mathematical trick they can't explain.  But, crucially, a whole mark if they get very close but can't quite get there but can explain what they did. Also a whole mark if it's just undoable and they can explain why.

One of the first hurdles is - are their 5 potential marks or 6?  What does difference actually mean?  We lean into the confusion here to become aware of the 'haziness' and arbitrary nature of language.  Then we get on with trying to picture our maths.  And the students begin to invent, to be creative.  The come up with new and original ways of picturing and explaining things, which they have to teach to each other (use a snowballing structure at least some of the time). This is one activity I use regularly to help create a climate where students are always challenging mathematical explanations so that they deeply understand them.