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What is it?
At the start of each of La Salle’s Maths Conferences, there is a round of Speed Dating, where teachers get together for two minutes to share an idea they have. At the MathsConf in Kettering I came across this lovely idea which I am delighted to say has been shared on TES. The premise is dead simple: take a topic such as the area of a triangle, and then do it, deepen it, twist it. “Do it” involves developing fluency, “deepen it” is all about reasoning, and “twist it” requires problem solving. This resource, which comes complete with a really well structured PowerPoint, shows exactly how this works on the context of area of a triangle.

How can it be used?
Since I interviewed Doug Lemov for my Mr Barton Maths Podcast, I have become increasingly aware of giving a memorable name to things. Doug’s book, Teach Like a Champion, is full of names such as show-call, culture of error, and so on. One thing I love about this resource is it puts a name on the journey of mathematical thinking that we all want our students to go on. We want them to develop the basics, then to think deeper, and then be able to apply these skills in different contexts. I have found that by saying to my students “right, let’s twist it”, they are much more aware where in that stage of development they are than if I say something like “okay, so now we need to apply the mathematical skills we have learned to different contexts, interleaving other skills simultaneously”. This is a lovely concept that can be used with any topic.

Thanks so much for sharing
Craig Barton

Download: Do it, twist it, deepen it: area of a triangle
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