So I have introduced you to ADAM, my SASSYLASS, and my magic triangles you can imagine what my walls are full of in my classroom along with my equality and diversity posters my safeguarding policy and my famous mathematicians through time. I only ever pick female mathematicians it provides an interesting discussion point for those that take notice of my boards. I recently walked past the pub with an a board outside it that said my manager told me to write something good on here to get customers to come in but nobody reads these anyway. This is true of my teaching boards I spend ages making them look wonderful and I really enjoy it when they ask questions about my famous female mathematicians.
Let me introduce you to Terry, famous Terry’s are also on my walls! I've just mentioned before about a teaching transformations and how the learner's missed me and my experience and what I say and do when I teach transformations. I think this may be something to do with Terry. Terry is one of those lessons where learner's leave laughing and I mean genuinely laughing about a maths lesson and then can apply it straight away into an exam style question. So nothing difficult nothing tricky and I can't remember where it came from, it may even have come from me but I've been using Terry for years now. As well as famous Adams who appear in my lessons famous Terry's, Terry Pratchett, Terry from The Word (if you are as old enough as I am to remember The Word) Terry Butcher... all sorts of Terry's randomly appearing my lessons when it is a transformation question to remind them that they need a Terry.
Terry applies to the “describe a single transformation” question that has been a mainstay throughout all the incarnations of GSCE specifications in my teaching career. How often do we see “it was flipped and then rotated”? (One of my favourite always incorrect answers!) No matter how I teach transformations someone always tells me a shape has been flipped!!!!! So to avoid the flipped and rotated or it was moved and turned or it was made bigger and turned round I decided to talk about Terry.
Terry is Translation Enlargement Rotation Reflection whY? you only need one Terry in your life.
Lessons have been completed on transformations. We are looking at completed transformations now so we have an understanding of the fundamentals of transformations. We look at a completed transformation and I will ask the class what has happened here?
I then follow it up with, pick a Terry and stick with a Terry, don’t ever change your Terry. It's the opposite of Bruce Forsyth's play your cards right, there’s no swapping your base card here! You can see how the students start to laugh. The learners enjoy the humour of talking about Terry and how you pick a Terry, you stick with a Terry and be loyal to your Terry. I have found this a useful way to ensure the correct language is used in answering these questions and thankfully the number of times I have read “it has been flipped” as been significantly reduced!
