This year I have started an exciting new role as STEM Faculty Lead Practitioner and KS5 teacher of maths at a stand-alone sixth form campus. This has meant a whole new classroom to decorate (and how I love a display challenge!). However, it being an A Level only classroom, I have had to completely rethink what displays might be suitable, and ditch some old favourites - alas, 'squares and cubes' is no more!
Over the summer I kept an eye out on Twitter for ideas and resources, and spent a couple of enjoyable afternoons in the last week of the holiday putting it all together. With a big thank you to those who share their wonderful resources and ideas for free, here are some photos of the end result:
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I thought it might be useful to provide links to all the displays that I collated from Twitter. I'll take it wall by wall, from left to right...
The side wall:
The Greek Alphabet display is by Sarah Carter (@mathequalslove) and is one of a host of fantastic display resources on her website. I think it adds a note of historical interest and background to some of the new mathematical symbols my students will encounter over the course of their sixth form studies.
The A Level Notation Periodic Table is a lovely twist on the well-known original by Mel Muldowney (@Just_Maths) and is by Clare Mazurkiewicz (@MrsMazzy). It's an absolute must in an A Level classroom! I've referred to it so many times already, and love the fact that it whets the appetite of those students new to A Level: look at all that exciting stuff ahead! I used pre-cut display lettering to make the title underneath.
The 'Wall of Death' is a set of those 'Everytime you do this: ... an ... dies' (insert horrific-yet-alarmingly-common misconception and cute animal of choice) posters that you will have come across before. Helpfully, @MathCurmudgeon has collated the full set on his blog, and, I think, added a few of his own. Unfortunately I seem to be referring to these posters rather a lot at the moment (those poor, poor kittens!)!
Finally, above the whiteboard there's my version of the 'How to Learn Maths' flow chart which is available for download on my Classroom Display Ideas page.
The back wall:
This wall is dominated by large whiteboards, a resource that's new to me, and which I'm really enjoying seeing the students use. Great for on the spot assessment, discussion and feedback. However, there's still space above and below them for some bright displays...
Above the whiteboards I've put up my quotes from famous mathematicians and thinkers, which are available for download on my Classroom Display Ideas page.
Along the bottom I've used the wonderfully creative 'Maths Mr. Men' from Ed Southall (@solvemymaths), a poster set that's clever, fun and informative - ideal for an A Level classroom. There are two lots of posters available, downloadable from Ed's excellent website.
The window wall:
| The 'Challenge Wall' is something I tried last year with limited success - I kept forgetting to remind students to use it! This year my A Level version is proving much more well-used, especially by those Y12 students who completed the AQA Level 2 Further Maths qualification last year and who are now racing through Core 1. It includes three different packs of problems: currently the bottom rung, and most accessible, are the FMSP's 20 Problems for GCSE Mathematics; the next set up are their Y12 Problem Solving booklets (you may need to be registered to access these fantastic resources); and finally, the top row are the IMOK Key Fob problems. |  |
I haven't had a classroom with a view for a while, so I decided I needed to frame my beautiful new view with some maths bunting. Most of the bunting out there is GCSE-focused (see the links on my display page) but this lovely bunting from K Pitchford (@Ms_Kmp) is perfect and lends a note of cultural and artistic interest.
And the windowsill provides the perfect surface on which to display all my modular origami (in an attempt to entice more students along to my club!) If you are interested in finding out more about this highly geometric form of origami, see my earlier blog post on the subject.
The front, teaching wall:
On the far left is my version of @mathequalslove's Growth Mindset display, available for download on my Classroom Display Ideas page. I felt the message of this display was just as relevant at A Level, and have already referred to it a few times this term.
In the centre, at the top, I've put up my old 'mistakes quotes', also still relevant and also available for download on my Classroom Display Ideas page.
Underneath these there's a number line. I ummed and ahhed at first about whether or not to put this up; it felt a bit too 'lower school'. But then I thought back to how often I'd referred to my number line in sixth form lessons previously, and realised it was still important for teaching at this level. I use it when talking about limits to infinity, domains of functions, the modulus function, solution sets for inequalities and so on.
| However, I was keen to add something to it, to make it that little bit more 'high brow'. So, inspired by Ed Southall's alternative number line, I came up with a set of cards to add to it. I used these very successfully as a matching and ordering activity with a class first, before we placed them on the number line together, and I will blog about this separately. For now the file is available here: Number Line Additions. |  |
 | On the left hand side of the IWB are two fab posters by Jo Morgan (@mathsjem) available for download on her website. I printed them as A3 for maximum impact. What a great pair of quotes! I refer to this one by Matt Parker (@standupmaths), a great deal: "Mathematicians aren't people who find maths easy, they're people who enjoy how hard it is". So true, and so important for students to realise. |
On the right of the IWB is a giant graphics calculator poster which was already in the classroom when I arrived. Billy Adamson, (@Billyads_47) my head of department, and major 'GC' fan, had these printed for the team a while ago. If you're interested in where he got these done, do contact him on Twitter. I have to confess I've never mastered my GC, but will be teaching Stats 1 for the first time this year, so it'll soon be time to face my fears!
Above the right hand whiteboard I've put the 1-9 number facts poster set by Ed Southall. These are very intriguing. For example, why is the number 1 'narcissistic'? Why on earth is 5 'hungry'? And why is 7 'odious'?!
| Above these is my F🕒CUS clock display with my geeky maths clock :) I first saw this clever idea in a photo that Mike Corbett (@Corbettmaths) posted of his classroom a couple of years ago. Then, under all this, at the right hand side of the whiteboard, is my Geek of the Week poster, along with giant purple geek glasses, which all Geeks of the Week get the honour of wearing in recognition of their truly geeky accomplishments! The poster is available for download on my Classroom Display Ideas page. Finally, there's the Math-y Welcome Banner on the door, another great resource by the wonderfully creative Sarah Carter. And if you fancy saying a bit more, Kim McKee (@MrsKimMcKee), inspired by Sarah, has made an entire maths symbolic alphabet! |  |
With all the great display resources out there, there's no reason at all why A Level maths classrooms can't be bright, colourful and informative learning environments. Feedback from my students has been really positive.
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