Aaron Paquet-Smith
@ronpaq.bsky.social
Maths teacher based in Paris. Nerdy about pedagogy and task design. Sharing what works (or not!) in my classroom
Professeur de mathématiques à Paris. Passionné par la pédagogie. Je partage ce qui fonctionne (ou ne fonctionne pas !) dans ma classe
he/him
Professeur de mathématiques à Paris. Passionné par la pédagogie. Je partage ce qui fonctionne (ou ne fonctionne pas !) dans ma classe
he/him
Reposted by Aaron Paquet-Smith
One of my favourite xkcd's
November 13, 2025 at 3:56 PM
One of my favourite xkcd's
Reposted by Aaron Paquet-Smith
I really do think that colour is helpful to identify steps in multi stage problems. But there is also scope to use it to link parts of a solution to the words in the question.
November 13, 2025 at 1:26 PM
I really do think that colour is helpful to identify steps in multi stage problems. But there is also scope to use it to link parts of a solution to the words in the question.
Are we doing students a disservice by showing them how they can do "reverse chain rule" questions using the method of substitution? Or, at least, showing them too early?
#mathstoday #mathschat #alevelmaths
#mathstoday #mathschat #alevelmaths
November 13, 2025 at 9:19 AM
Are we doing students a disservice by showing them how they can do "reverse chain rule" questions using the method of substitution? Or, at least, showing them too early?
#mathstoday #mathschat #alevelmaths
#mathstoday #mathschat #alevelmaths
This year, my year 12s have not taken to integration. Normally I find students can instinctively work backwards to find anti-derivatives of simple polynomials, but today I found myself needing to be very explicit about how to integrate. We spent a long time on this tarsia from Integral maths.
November 12, 2025 at 4:30 PM
This year, my year 12s have not taken to integration. Normally I find students can instinctively work backwards to find anti-derivatives of simple polynomials, but today I found myself needing to be very explicit about how to integrate. We spent a long time on this tarsia from Integral maths.
I'm not sure, but I believe I owe the credits for these lovely questions to @drfrostmaths.bsky.social. In any case, they led to an extremely nice discussion about integration and the limits of what we can and cannot (yet) do. #mathstoday #mathschat
November 10, 2025 at 10:44 AM
I'm not sure, but I believe I owe the credits for these lovely questions to @drfrostmaths.bsky.social. In any case, they led to an extremely nice discussion about integration and the limits of what we can and cannot (yet) do. #mathstoday #mathschat
Reposted by Aaron Paquet-Smith
If you wish you had questions you could ask your students to encourage them to use their intuition, then check out this ready to go list from Tracy Zager: tjzager.com/wp-content/uplo...
You can get her book here: amzn.to/4eSBiMY
You can get her book here: amzn.to/4eSBiMY
November 8, 2025 at 8:07 PM
If you wish you had questions you could ask your students to encourage them to use their intuition, then check out this ready to go list from Tracy Zager: tjzager.com/wp-content/uplo...
You can get her book here: amzn.to/4eSBiMY
You can get her book here: amzn.to/4eSBiMY
Reposted by Aaron Paquet-Smith
Are your students working on parallel and perpendicular lines? Try out these two Open Middle problems from Bryan Anderson:
www.openmiddle.com/equation...
www.openmiddle.com/equation...
www.openmiddle.com/equation...
www.openmiddle.com/equation...
November 7, 2025 at 12:00 AM
Are your students working on parallel and perpendicular lines? Try out these two Open Middle problems from Bryan Anderson:
www.openmiddle.com/equation...
www.openmiddle.com/equation...
www.openmiddle.com/equation...
www.openmiddle.com/equation...
Reposted by Aaron Paquet-Smith
The thinking required to do it by a rote method is easier than the thinking required to understand it properly - that's why Science teachers do it that way. If getting to the answer is all that matters, why wouldn't students do it this way? We need to set expectations that it is not all that matters
November 7, 2025 at 9:17 AM
The thinking required to do it by a rote method is easier than the thinking required to understand it properly - that's why Science teachers do it that way. If getting to the answer is all that matters, why wouldn't students do it this way? We need to set expectations that it is not all that matters
Reposted by Aaron Paquet-Smith
November 7, 2025 at 8:48 AM
More quadratics for Year 11 Fd. It was really interesting noticing how asking for the roots before asking for the factorised form prevented them from forgetting what a root actually is. They started by finding the roots by trial and error, noticing a pattern after a while... #mathschat #mathstoday
November 7, 2025 at 9:14 AM
More quadratics for Year 11 Fd. It was really interesting noticing how asking for the roots before asking for the factorised form prevented them from forgetting what a root actually is. They started by finding the roots by trial and error, noticing a pattern after a while... #mathschat #mathstoday
Reposted by Aaron Paquet-Smith
In #MathsToday a student called out 67 and then another year 9 said "for god's sake". It's even annoying the students who used to say skibidi.
We also did some nice expanding brackets.
We also did some nice expanding brackets.
November 6, 2025 at 8:50 PM
In #MathsToday a student called out 67 and then another year 9 said "for god's sake". It's even annoying the students who used to say skibidi.
We also did some nice expanding brackets.
We also did some nice expanding brackets.
Reposted by Aaron Paquet-Smith
In #MathsToday pupils vote which of these were equivalent to the original expression. 1 vote Mario, 15 votes Luigi, 1 vote Bowser and 20 votes Peaches. One pupil explained she voted for Peaches because she just knew you multiply. So we then looked at it expanded and why multiplying works.
November 6, 2025 at 7:36 PM
In #MathsToday pupils vote which of these were equivalent to the original expression. 1 vote Mario, 15 votes Luigi, 1 vote Bowser and 20 votes Peaches. One pupil explained she voted for Peaches because she just knew you multiply. So we then looked at it expanded and why multiplying works.
Year 11 Foundation were finding roots today by substituting into quadratics at random. Will they accidentally discover the relationship between a quadratic's roots and factorised form when I queue it up tomorrow? TBD.
#mathschat #mathstoday
#mathschat #mathstoday
November 6, 2025 at 2:00 PM
Year 11 Foundation were finding roots today by substituting into quadratics at random. Will they accidentally discover the relationship between a quadratic's roots and factorised form when I queue it up tomorrow? TBD.
#mathschat #mathstoday
#mathschat #mathstoday
Reposted by Aaron Paquet-Smith
I wrote a “best guess” paper this evening for GCSE Maths Paper 2 on Friday 7th Nov and filmed a video to go through it. Edexcel Foundation! Hope it’s helpful! static1.squarespace.com/static/67560...
static1.squarespace.com
November 6, 2025 at 1:26 AM
I wrote a “best guess” paper this evening for GCSE Maths Paper 2 on Friday 7th Nov and filmed a video to go through it. Edexcel Foundation! Hope it’s helpful! static1.squarespace.com/static/67560...
Reposted by Aaron Paquet-Smith
Here's the Maths (KS3/4) pages from the Curriculum Review
November 5, 2025 at 5:51 PM
Here's the Maths (KS3/4) pages from the Curriculum Review
Reposted by Aaron Paquet-Smith
Academy of Inquiry Based Learning is an organization focused on improving teaching and learning in higher education mathematics.
www.inquirybasedlearning.org
www.inquirybasedlearning.org
June 5, 2024 at 2:12 PM
Academy of Inquiry Based Learning is an organization focused on improving teaching and learning in higher education mathematics.
www.inquirybasedlearning.org
www.inquirybasedlearning.org
Our school is starting a project to grow student agency and bring more inquiry-based learning into lessons.
We want it to feel meaningful — helping students think deeply about how they learn, not just what they learn.
I'd love to learn from others doing similar work.
#education #teaching #EduSky
We want it to feel meaningful — helping students think deeply about how they learn, not just what they learn.
I'd love to learn from others doing similar work.
#education #teaching #EduSky
November 5, 2025 at 1:34 PM
Our school is starting a project to grow student agency and bring more inquiry-based learning into lessons.
We want it to feel meaningful — helping students think deeply about how they learn, not just what they learn.
I'd love to learn from others doing similar work.
#education #teaching #EduSky
We want it to feel meaningful — helping students think deeply about how they learn, not just what they learn.
I'd love to learn from others doing similar work.
#education #teaching #EduSky
I love teaching quadratics. I find there it makes a lovely closed universe to explore. And we start with factorising! Today, my favourite factorising task with some low-prior attaining Year 11s. They hate how the numbers are "the same", but it gets them thinking. #mathstoday
November 5, 2025 at 10:58 AM
I love teaching quadratics. I find there it makes a lovely closed universe to explore. And we start with factorising! Today, my favourite factorising task with some low-prior attaining Year 11s. They hate how the numbers are "the same", but it gets them thinking. #mathstoday
As my school embarks on a journey to embed more inquiry into our classrooms, it has been helpful to read and reflect on this paper, Inquiry-based learning in Grade 9 mathematics (Doz, Zaklej, Crotic, 2025), referenced by @inquirymaths.bsky.social
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
November 3, 2025 at 12:29 PM
As my school embarks on a journey to embed more inquiry into our classrooms, it has been helpful to read and reflect on this paper, Inquiry-based learning in Grade 9 mathematics (Doz, Zaklej, Crotic, 2025), referenced by @inquirymaths.bsky.social
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Reposted by Aaron Paquet-Smith
NEW on the #inquirymaths site for October:
* Implicit differentiation inquiry - devised by Zelimir Jovicic
* Latest peer-reviewed research suggesting inquiry enhances conceptual understanding and fosters deeper engagement.
www.inquirymaths.org
#inquirymath #mathsinquiry
* Implicit differentiation inquiry - devised by Zelimir Jovicic
* Latest peer-reviewed research suggesting inquiry enhances conceptual understanding and fosters deeper engagement.
www.inquirymaths.org
#inquirymath #mathsinquiry
September 30, 2025 at 6:22 PM
NEW on the #inquirymaths site for October:
* Implicit differentiation inquiry - devised by Zelimir Jovicic
* Latest peer-reviewed research suggesting inquiry enhances conceptual understanding and fosters deeper engagement.
www.inquirymaths.org
#inquirymath #mathsinquiry
* Implicit differentiation inquiry - devised by Zelimir Jovicic
* Latest peer-reviewed research suggesting inquiry enhances conceptual understanding and fosters deeper engagement.
www.inquirymaths.org
#inquirymath #mathsinquiry
Starter for AS level class before moving on to transformations of graphs. Sketch a quadratic and mark its turning points. Extension: are all quadratics a translation of y = x²? It made a nice discussion which led us nicely into why f(x *+* 3) is a translation by (3 0), to the *left*.
#mathstoday
#mathstoday
October 31, 2025 at 6:41 PM
Starter for AS level class before moving on to transformations of graphs. Sketch a quadratic and mark its turning points. Extension: are all quadratics a translation of y = x²? It made a nice discussion which led us nicely into why f(x *+* 3) is a translation by (3 0), to the *left*.
#mathstoday
#mathstoday
Reposted by Aaron Paquet-Smith
What is a good student? Does it mean you know everything exactly when you're supposed to know it because that's when everyone else knows it?
Or
Is it being open to learning new things?? Join "lucky 10,000 club", learned a new thing today, it's your time to shine!!
@themathguru.bsky.social #ATMNE25
Or
Is it being open to learning new things?? Join "lucky 10,000 club", learned a new thing today, it's your time to shine!!
@themathguru.bsky.social #ATMNE25
October 30, 2025 at 7:32 PM
What is a good student? Does it mean you know everything exactly when you're supposed to know it because that's when everyone else knows it?
Or
Is it being open to learning new things?? Join "lucky 10,000 club", learned a new thing today, it's your time to shine!!
@themathguru.bsky.social #ATMNE25
Or
Is it being open to learning new things?? Join "lucky 10,000 club", learned a new thing today, it's your time to shine!!
@themathguru.bsky.social #ATMNE25
Reposted by Aaron Paquet-Smith
I love breaking the unspoken rule about fraction diagrams (all pieces congruent, not just equal in area). Here are a few of my favourite non-standard representations. A one radian sector fills half the unit square, the curves y = x² and y = √x enclose 1/3 of the square. Can you come up with more?
October 30, 2025 at 8:14 AM
I love breaking the unspoken rule about fraction diagrams (all pieces congruent, not just equal in area). Here are a few of my favourite non-standard representations. A one radian sector fills half the unit square, the curves y = x² and y = √x enclose 1/3 of the square. Can you come up with more?
Spending time 'guessing' the solutions to simultaneous equations so that students learn what finding the solution means before moving on to more formal methods. It's amazing how complex an equation they manage to 'guess' the answer to without a formal method when left the time to puzzle #mathstoday
October 28, 2025 at 6:53 PM
Spending time 'guessing' the solutions to simultaneous equations so that students learn what finding the solution means before moving on to more formal methods. It's amazing how complex an equation they manage to 'guess' the answer to without a formal method when left the time to puzzle #mathstoday
That's really nice. Did you do it purely thinking about substitution or by looking at graphs? It can lead to a rabbit hole of "continuous functions are one-to-one iff strictly monotonic" etc etc which can be fun! And potentially their first sight of what university maths will look like.
Nice little activity with further today, give them a function, eg f(x)=x²+1, {x:x<3}, and they have to say whether it is many to one or one to one, and if it is many to one a reason why (eg in this case f(-2)=f(2)), & if it is one to one to give the inverse function #alevelmaths #mathstoday
October 27, 2025 at 8:20 PM
That's really nice. Did you do it purely thinking about substitution or by looking at graphs? It can lead to a rabbit hole of "continuous functions are one-to-one iff strictly monotonic" etc etc which can be fun! And potentially their first sight of what university maths will look like.