Last newsletter of 2020

Dear Maths @ Sharp friend,

 

The end of the year is fast approaching, and I’m sure you are feeling just as tired and ready for a break as I am. But hang in there, there are only 3 weeks of school officially left in the year 😊

 

What a crazy year it has been. I keep holding onto all the normal things in life – getting coffee from my favourite spot, chatting to colleagues in the office, getting stuck in traffic when it rains. There have definitely been some benefits to all of this too – traffic is definitely better, working at home is great and people are washing their hands more (always a good thing 😉) What has been your favourite change over the last couple of months?

 

We have something exciting in the works for you so please watch out for our email coming in January. We want to make sure you as the teacher are rewarded for all of the effort and hard work you put into your teaching and classrooms.

While we are crazy busy marking exams,

setting exams and hoping that our students are not some of those that were part of the matric maths paper 2 leak and now the physical sciences paper as well (latest news from News 24), don’t forget to take a moment or two, to drink your coffee hot and appreciate that the end of the year is nearly here. We have all been under lots of pressure this year and, if you are wondering how to deal with some of this anxiety there is a helpful article that you can read on mathsatsharp.

 

Speaking of anxiety and marking exams, don’t forget the short cut that you can do on any Sharp calculator. Here is the formula to convert marks to a percentage:

100 ÷ total for the test 

Press equals

Then press x first and then the student’s mark

Press equals

Then just press mark equals, mark equals and so on until your list is complete.

 

Primary school teachers with students who will be there until the very last day –

why don’t you make an advent calendar out of paper houses? There are a couple of free resources that you can use and print from (like Lia Griffith or Mr Printables.) The image below is from Lia Griffith (and will be something I am going to spend time doing this weekend 😉 Remember this helps with space and shape, measurement and fine motor skills. I am going to be filling my little houses with surprises for the mini me (and the hubby 😊)

I am very excited to tell you that we have started revamping the Study guide chapters. The first one for grade 10 Algebra (including topics on Numbers, surds, exponents, factorising, algebraic fractions and solving for x) has been done. The guide includes easy to follow notes and examples, activities after each section and fully worked out answers at the end of the guide. You can download it from Maths @ Sharp.

It will fall under the chapters heading on the student’s page. Keep an eye out for any new additions!

 

Remember that you can still get your calculators directly from SMD at the special pricing until the end of January.

 

We hope you have a wonderful end of year, stay strong and safe, and remember that you are appreciated for everything that you do,

Yours in maths education,

Tal and the Sharp team

 

Ps, because we all need to know that we are appreciated: