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martinnoon.bsky.social

@martinnoon

Lover of Maths, TV, pancakes, coffee and cold water therapy. Write maths and CPD resources for education publishers and exam boards. Home educator of teenage boy (send help!)

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29.01.2024
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Latest posts by martinnoon.bsky.social @martinnoon

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Monthly Q & A: Helping Parents Support Their Teens Through GCSE & A-Level Monthly Q&A for parents of teens. Calm guidance on GCSEs, A-levels, motivation, and planning a future that fits.

www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/monthly-q-...

05.03.2026 18:44 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Talking to people (andysmanclub et al), nice walks, cold dips, a hug from a friend or loved one.

04.03.2026 13:25 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

You also need to be a homeowner.

03.03.2026 16:43 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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Join UW Join UW and get a Β£50 welcome bonus

If anyone wants to get a good fixed energy deal asap before it all goes mental, use this code (and sign up to 2 services) and we both get an extra Β£50. uw.co.uk/ref/customer/YMF66CF

03.03.2026 16:41 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

I had every VHS and read all the books, which were awesome. Such sad news.

27.02.2026 08:02 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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A double-dip weekend. Hasn’t been this flat for a long time. #roker

22.02.2026 09:35 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

I’ve never understood why anyone would teach it with that formula. Equivalent fractions or ratios is always the way forward.

19.02.2026 17:02 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

That’s my point - anyway I’m off to a guitar lesson , where I will be using capo because I’m yet to learn all the chords! #seewhatididthere?

18.02.2026 17:42 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

I’m using as an argument to not never use it. I’ve had resit GCSE students never able to get trig, and then be able to get the right a month before the exam using a FT.

18.02.2026 17:34 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

The trick has been around for a while. I’ve even had a few tutees use it to my surprise. They also used that cross factorising method that I never liked.

18.02.2026 17:31 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

We just need to make sure that if they are using a RT that they haven’t seen a weird trick online and remember it wrong!!!

18.02.2026 17:22 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

I agree that it’s better, and it has its faults!

18.02.2026 17:16 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

See it’s the other way around for me, there are many that can remember the triangle because they remember the abstraction and the formula! And yes, as always there are some that can’t and get it all wrong!

18.02.2026 17:16 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

They may just succeed enough for them. And yes if they have the right understand they won’t need them but it might speed things up for them. I guarantee there are maths teachers, scientists and engineers in their 40s & 50s who were taught with them at school and still use them in their head.

18.02.2026 17:13 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

Feels like the good old days of Twitter #mathscpdchat, we should do a controversial take on things every month!!

18.02.2026 17:09 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

I’m pointing out that everything can be misused without proper instruction. And EVERYTHING can be used well WITH proper instruction.

18.02.2026 17:07 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

I’m being controversial on purpose. Trying to have a good debate like the old Twitter days!!

18.02.2026 17:05 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

But I’m still reluctant to throw formula triangles out of the window. There are some students that use them very well and succeed because of them.

18.02.2026 17:03 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

And yet if it was used alongside the understanding of the formula, and students were taught why it works alongside rearranging a formula, it could be seen as just a diagram that shows the relationships. I’m a huge fan or ratio tables and have used them pretty much since I stated teaching, ..

18.02.2026 17:03 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 0
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You make a U shape first you divide, then you times then you end up with the missing value. The process is not too dissimilar to β€œcover the one you need to find” it works and therefore you will have teachers doing it - they have been for many years, probably before 2012.

18.02.2026 16:55 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

I did say I was being controversial - there is a bit more you ca do with a RT, agreed. They are better to use - agreed, but can also be misused in the same way as a FT, and therefore has similar faults. Maybe we should all be less snobby about the poor FT.

18.02.2026 16:51 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

I saw the U method for a RT used in a mathshub meeting probably about 12-13 years ago, and it was been used with low set student for things like speed and higher set topics like trigonometry - the school were getting excellent grades.

18.02.2026 16:47 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

Both shouldn’t be used without full understanding of the processes and why they work, AND both can be used as a quick trick method to help those student in need of a grade 4.

18.02.2026 16:44 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

They require more understanding because of the extra term. But fundamentally they can both be misused and both be used to deepen understanding. The FT is just a simplified RT.

18.02.2026 16:41 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 0

It’s a formula triangle with an extra box making it a square. That’s all I’m saying. Both can be used deep understanding and both can be used as a quick trick method. It’s all about how they are used.

18.02.2026 14:47 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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Controversial view - A ratio table is basically a square version of a formula triangle. #runsaway

18.02.2026 13:57 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 3 πŸ“Œ 0
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Sunderland (or north east) based peeps - my daughter recently progressed to a 2 hour Tuesday lunchtime show on Spark Radio. Soon she’ll be adding to this show when she co-presents a Friday home-time show 3-6pm. Check it out live or listen again on the app!

17.02.2026 13:39 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Draw an XY table - show them the 7 jumps of 4 from -6 to 22, and then work backwards from 18. Basically that MathsConf presentation that you watched me do.

17.02.2026 10:41 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

And both councils we dealt with were really good and wanted to help. They have normally collated lots of local resources and can point you in the direction of home ed groups and educational trips.

15.02.2026 09:31 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

This looks great!

10.02.2026 08:09 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0