Comments on: The Beatles: their role in my downfall: or why maths is (or isn’t) so much fun. With help from John, Paul, George and Ringo and Dirk, Stig, Ron and Barry from The Rutles! /2014/01/the-beatles-their-role-in-my-downfall-or-why-maths-is-or-isnt-so-much-fun-with-help-from-john-paul-george-and-ringo-and-dirk-stig-ron-and-barry-from-the-prefab-four/ Supporting children's language, communication and learning Wed, 24 Sep 2014 08:01:24 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=5.3 By: Michael Jones /2014/01/the-beatles-their-role-in-my-downfall-or-why-maths-is-or-isnt-so-much-fun-with-help-from-john-paul-george-and-ringo-and-dirk-stig-ron-and-barry-from-the-prefab-four/#comment-7880 Sun, 26 Jan 2014 19:59:28 +0000 /?p=908#comment-7880 Hi Tim!
Some fantastic points there!
I believe you may have fallen victim to an adherent of Rosemary Sassoon. There was a statue dedicated to her in the lobby of the London Institute of Education. It was of a little girl writing in a handwriting book. I couldn’t be exactly sure if she was doing a double loop or not, but I guess not as there was no look of confusion/fear on the little girl’s face.

Everyone is capable of making music of some sort (why else would we believe in music therapy?) but maybe it’s not always music to everyone else’s ears.

Now your Steve McLaren comments are quite fascinating. I’ve watched the You Tube clip, and he is doing something very funny, but also very interesting. he may not realise what he is doing. It seems quite barmy, but there has been some research that suggests that if you are in a foreign country and talk to the locals in the same way that they would talk to you (accent, inflections, warped grammar and gestures) then they will understand you better.
I am not going to go round to my French neighbours and start talking like Rene from ‘Allo ‘Allo, but I know someone whose mother does this every time she visits France and she seems to do very well.

The big queshtion for Big Shteve is whether it makesh him more popular with the Dutch playersh and media than when he wash England manager?
All the best
Michael

]]> By: Tim Dunkerley /2014/01/the-beatles-their-role-in-my-downfall-or-why-maths-is-or-isnt-so-much-fun-with-help-from-john-paul-george-and-ringo-and-dirk-stig-ron-and-barry-from-the-prefab-four/#comment-7877 Thu, 23 Jan 2014 11:19:39 +0000 /?p=908#comment-7877 Note form sorry
“Michael your lack of Maths expertise is clearly linked to your feelings about your student teacher”.S Freud

Everybody is not musical but everybody has a (singing) voice somewhere in them….is something I almost 100% believe.

I hate to admit it but I am very probably dyscalculic but I am also a musician (of sorts) BUT I believe a lot of music is maths…patterns etc. I would be abetter musician if I understood maths concepts more, I am sure.

My handwriting is terrible and I cannot draw anything to look like anything at all and I have often wondered what part of that is inherited/innate or whatever. I do know however that in my infant class aged 6(maybe) me and Trevor Early were sat out the front specially to practice our letters on that funny lined paper (what was that method called? I keep wanting to say Elizabeth David but that’s not it) and told we would receive a smack if we did another “double loop.” The problem was, I didn’t know what a “double loop” was, consequently I was unaware if I was about to produce one or not. For the record, I still don’t know what a “double loop” is. Jah bless Mrs Taylor and Mrs Shaw, they weren’t nasty, just ill informed I think.

John Rice: YES! you are so right Maths tuition books should be written by people who find Maths difficult not by Maths experts unless said experts can pass some sort of empathy test

Bit late but re the post about Dutch speakers if you do nothing else today search youtube for Steve McClaren (English Mancunian football manager) managing a Dutch football team, being interviewed by Dutch Telly about his team’s chances in the champions league. Once you have stopped laughing and (frankly)mocking, try and fathom why some (English) people feel that they will be better understood by a non English speaking person by speaking to that person in English, but with the accent that the non English speaking person might be expected to speak English with( are you still with me?)It’s a classic variation on the speak loudly and slowly at foreigners trick. If you are ever with an English person who attempts either of these techniques, walk away rapidly they don’t seem to know they are doing it and it can only get worse.
Peace and love
Tim

]]> By: Michael Jones /2014/01/the-beatles-their-role-in-my-downfall-or-why-maths-is-or-isnt-so-much-fun-with-help-from-john-paul-george-and-ringo-and-dirk-stig-ron-and-barry-from-the-prefab-four/#comment-7876 Sat, 18 Jan 2014 08:35:54 +0000 /?p=908#comment-7876 Hello Carol
You are so right… the number one thing all subject teachers need to do is introduce the vocabulary of the subject. I worked with a brilliant art teacher who had all the key words of the subject hung up from the ceiling, so that everyone visiting the department (including support teachers like me) would know what we were talking about. This had a big impact on the students, who were able to talk with confidence about art, as well as try to paint and draw using the same techniques.
There is a big debate amongst music and dance teachers about ‘tone deafness’ and lack of rhythm. I think its an area worth exploring.
More soon!
Michael

]]> By: Carol Adams /2014/01/the-beatles-their-role-in-my-downfall-or-why-maths-is-or-isnt-so-much-fun-with-help-from-john-paul-george-and-ringo-and-dirk-stig-ron-and-barry-from-the-prefab-four/#comment-7875 Fri, 17 Jan 2014 23:22:33 +0000 /?p=908#comment-7875 If maths is a second language is it possible to apply the same criteria to chemistry. I don’t know how many chemistry lessons I sat through in the 60’s but the teacher might as well have been communicating in a foreign language. What on earth did all those symbols mean? And why, after spending hours in a smelly lab messing about with bunson burners did those symbols change? However, I do believe it is possible for a person to be tone deaf and have no sense of rhythm as I have been married to him for over 30 years.

]]> By: John Rice /2014/01/the-beatles-their-role-in-my-downfall-or-why-maths-is-or-isnt-so-much-fun-with-help-from-john-paul-george-and-ringo-and-dirk-stig-ron-and-barry-from-the-prefab-four/#comment-7874 Fri, 17 Jan 2014 21:36:32 +0000 /?p=908#comment-7874 Maths Sharpener Books – trying to add some fun to the new curriculum. Tada:

http://www.badgerlearning.co.uk/ecommerce/primary-resources/maths/

]]> By: Michael Jones /2014/01/the-beatles-their-role-in-my-downfall-or-why-maths-is-or-isnt-so-much-fun-with-help-from-john-paul-george-and-ringo-and-dirk-stig-ron-and-barry-from-the-prefab-four/#comment-7873 Fri, 17 Jan 2014 21:04:50 +0000 /?p=908#comment-7873 Thanks John! I’m looking forward to finding out more about what you have written!
Very best wishes
Michael

]]> By: John Rice /2014/01/the-beatles-their-role-in-my-downfall-or-why-maths-is-or-isnt-so-much-fun-with-help-from-john-paul-george-and-ringo-and-dirk-stig-ron-and-barry-from-the-prefab-four/#comment-7872 Fri, 17 Jan 2014 20:42:00 +0000 /?p=908#comment-7872 Snap. I’ve also just written a maths book – well, two actually! Most maths books are written by people who are good at maths and have little idea about what it feels like to languish in the lower sets. Good teaching should inspire but we also get ourselves horribly wound up nowadays about ‘understanding’. Understanding a process can be much more difficult than doing it: driving is an excellent example of this.

My goodness Michael, you certainly went through the mill as a child. I made a promise when I was about eight that I would never, ever forget what it felt like to be a child. I hope I’ve clung onto that promise half as well as you have.

Thanks for another entertaining blog.

]]> By: Michael Jones /2014/01/the-beatles-their-role-in-my-downfall-or-why-maths-is-or-isnt-so-much-fun-with-help-from-john-paul-george-and-ringo-and-dirk-stig-ron-and-barry-from-the-prefab-four/#comment-7871 Fri, 17 Jan 2014 11:54:17 +0000 /?p=908#comment-7871 Thank you Eileen! I think that any small kindness goes a long way to wiping out the impact of unpleasant experiences. We had a teacher who used to say, “Hello everyone, it’s nice to see you all again” at the beginning of every lesson. I think he meant it, because we all thought it was a nice thing to do. When I was a teacher that was how I started every day with my classes.
Very best wishes
Michael

]]> By: Eileen /2014/01/the-beatles-their-role-in-my-downfall-or-why-maths-is-or-isnt-so-much-fun-with-help-from-john-paul-george-and-ringo-and-dirk-stig-ron-and-barry-from-the-prefab-four/#comment-7870 Fri, 17 Jan 2014 11:01:59 +0000 /?p=908#comment-7870 I was laughing out loud, and also empathised with a lot of what was said, your young memory is fantastic and helps put things into context for you…and for us, thank you once again for an insightful blog, which I will pass on.

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