I was delighted to have Ted Graham (AMSP Associate and Mechanics Maestro) run a series of four practical sessions on mechanics for A level Mathematics teachers at Hardenhuish School in Chippenham. The practical activities that Ted used to teach mechanics ideas were simple but effective – many needing little more than a mass and stopwatch!
The sessions ran from 15:30 to 18:00 to enable teachers to attend without needing to take a whole day out of school. By having at least a week between sessions, it enabled teachers, especially those unfamiliar with the content, to reflect on what they had learnt (and complete the homework that Ted set) before building upon that knowledge next time. This is the third time we have put on the series in the north of the South West and, with nearly 15 teachers at each session, they are very much still in demand. The ‘series of twilights’ model seemed popular, so we will be exploring running other courses in this style.
The best way to sum up these events would be with the feedback from one of the teachers who attended, who said, “I think I love mechanics now!”