MrFisherMaths

Maths Tutor

I have taught secondary maths for 32 years, retiring from the classroom in February 2023. I have taught all ages and ability including
KS3
KS4
A level Maths
A level Further Maths
At A level I teach all areas which includes pure, mechanics and statistics.

Contact details

Ledbury, Malvern and Worcester based

email  mrfishermaths@gmail.com
mobile  07939 576442







During my teaching career I have been a second in maths for 7 years and a head of maths for 11 years. Throughout my teaching career I have taught all secondary ages and ability, including A level maths and further maths. Most of my teaching experience has been with the Edexcel exam board. However the skills developed are common to all exam boards, subtle differences only in the style of questions, which become familiar through past paper questions. Further maths is the only area where syllabuses differ between exam boards. As a degree level mathematician I can quickly familiarise myself with any subtleties within syllabuses for different exam boards.

 
For me any learning, not just maths, is best achieved when a student is willing to make a mistake. Having the confidence to have a go and see where it takes them provides so many learning opportunities. For many students this is the hard part. Maths is black and white. Right or wrong. This creates a barrier to so many students. When I meet a challenging question the first thing I do is check have I got it right. I do make mistakes so I look at my working and identify what I did wrong and why. As a result I develop a much deeper understanding of the skills involved and and better prepared next time a similar question comes up. I want my students to be able to do the same.
So how do I achieve this willingness to make a mistake. It is hard in a classroom situation. If you aren't confident the last thing you want to do is make a mistake in front of the class, thus you don't get involved in discussions and dread being asked a question by the teacher. Thus in a class situation I would quickly identify those students that weren't confident and ensure I never put them on the spot in front of the class. I would ensure any questioning was done with them at their desk, on a one to one basis. Tutoring is perfect for overcoming these barriers.

Thus my strategy during a tutor session is to develop a skill slowly,increasing the challenge throughout the session as confidence is developed in the skill. We move from simple skills based questions to problem solving style questions. Thus a student will naturally be placed in situations where they have to question what to do next. They will start talking about the maths and rather than taking a passive role, led by me, they will start taking control and identify what they need to know. Thus the learning will continue when they are not in front of me as they will start acquiring the confidence to ask questions.

Lesson Structure

I use web based software called Bramble to deliver online lessons. Thus you don't need to download any software, just have access to a web browser. Chrome is recommended for a windows based system, Safari for an ipad. The best setup is to use a laptop and some way of writing easily on the shared classroom page. I use a writing tablet produced by XP-Pen. It is just like a mouse but you write with a pen. You can use an ipad or android tablet in the same way. The link below gives you detailed information on how best to use Bramble

https://help.bramble.io/hc/en-gb/articles/4404037184273-The-best-devices-and-browsers-to-use

I believe any online system must allow me and the tutee to write easily on the shared page. I learn much from seeing how someone develops an answer. Just the pauses for thought allow me to see where someone isn't fully confident and needs further explanation. 

Before committing to tutoring it would be best to discuss how this would work. You need to be confident online tutoring will be effective for your son or daughter.