Psychologists suggest that a distraction, using a different part of the brain perhaps, helps the problem solving process. Four sets, which you might not want to do all at once. Answer slides included.

I actually wrote this for the Teaching Agency numeracy skills test - I'm helping a few people to pass this hurdle, hopefully. However, it has equal application in the classroom for KS3 and KS4. I also used it with Functional Skills, having changed the context to make it more vocational. FS invloves only mean and range, it is good to seperate the different measures in the mind of the learner.

A handful of activities I did to get the topics started for my adult GCSE and re-sit classes, largely so I could introduce them whilst seated during my convalescence. At the same time they might be useful for younger learners and for quick revision.\nAfter years of laying out cards I realised it was just as easy to print PowerPoint slides as handouts, six to a page, and do that on card. So there are equations to match to solutions, and a few other PowerPoints. Enjoy.

Rainbow coloured circle timer - lasts about a minute, but don't rely on accuracy. Pretty!

I teach 16 plus learners in a thirty or so week programme for GCSE - some retake and some new learners. What I have done here is put the Edexcel Linear A new scheme into the weekly slots, and devided all the criteria/spec statements into Aims and Objectives. I wouldn't expect anyone to follow the same order, or keep my jokes, but please copy slides as you want. \nInspectors love to see the aims pasted up, so I use PowerPoint.

Two activities - use code to do calculations, and match symbols to definitions and meanings. Simple activities to reinforce connection between image and function.

An extremely useful resource that has almost unlimited application. I've taken the GCSE Maths specifications for 2015 and converted them into MS Word tables, landscape and portrait, mostly fitting on to one side for each area - number, algebra, etc. They can be used for planning lessons, schemes of work, cutting and pasting into lesson aims and objectives, or for recording pupil/learner achievement on each objective. In Word they are very adaptable, and columns can be added as required, for dates etc.

Specs Year 4'Read Roman numerals to 100 (I to C) and know that over time, the numeral system changed to include the concept of zero and place value.' Year 5 'Read Roman numerals to 1000 (M) and recognise years written in Roman numerals.' Thirty slides on an animated PowerPoint to introduce recognition of Roman numerals, and explore the advantage of Arabic numerals. Plus lots of activities/worksheets, including Emperors' reigns, Roman roads, Olympiads, Children's TV (years), and answers. All great fun, and could be cross-curricular.

Colourful and kinaesthetic resources for one or two lessons, bringing representation of shapes to life, with loads of examples and suggestions for learners to try themselves. Fully differentiated with examples from simple interpretation to Higher Tier GCSE, but accessible to all at some level. Matching activities, worksheets, quizzes and a recap. Huge potential for extension, co-operation and constructive and active learning. PowerPoint activities suitable for printing as hand-outs for all activities and especially extension questions. All images (c) 2015 Colin Billett

Five multiple choice quizzes on PowerPoint covering functional mathematics – area, volume, measure, data handling, ratio, proportion, scale, probability, average and range. Designed for use with Level 1 16+ learners but suitable for lower levels at any age, or bright youngsters! Plus nine sets of multiple-choice worksheets covering these topics, likewise originally for L1 16+ learners but equally suitable for younger age groups. In Word for self-editing and PDFs. These have been very popular for a long time. All images ©2015 Colin Billett

Maths. Descriptors and specifications for UK Key Stage 4, although equally adequate for KS3. All lovingly put into word clouds using Wordle. I made B/W versions some time ago, but now I've been asked for colour, so here they are. Copyright on final images (c)Colin Billett 2015 And all credit to Wordle, as cited on the website: 'May I make money off of Wordle images? Yes. You may take a Wordle, put it on your book cover, your t-shirt, your campaign poster, what have you. You may get rich off it. If you want to give credit to wordle.net, feel free!' So again, all credit to wordle.net, and many thanks! Any problems, please let me know and I can change the formats.

Six quizzes on PowerPoint covering aspects of number to introduce or round off a lesson on number – integers, directed numbers, decimals, fractions, and percentages. Designed for use with Level 1 16+ learners but suitable for lower levels at any age, or bright youngsters! Plus ten sets of multiple-choice worksheets also covering aspects of number, likewise originally for L1 16+ learners but equally suitable for younger age groups. These have been very popular for a long time. All images ©2015 Colin Billett

These have been enormously popular. I teach a number of people who are far more artistically minded than mathematical, so I produced some visual displays to illustrate equivalences. Run the PowerPoint, or print off some slides for display. I've also added a few posters by way of example of how you might use the individual slides. For classroom activities I’ve included five pages of shapes to color for fractions etc to keep or display. Everything included in editable format, so use as many slides as appropriate for your age group or grade, or change the shapes pages as required. All images ©2015 Colin Billett

Everything you need for one or two lessons on formulas. A quiz to review formulas and another to introduce and discuss the use of formulas. A PowerPoint presentation with lots of examples for the learners to try in a group setting. Three clearly differentiated worksheets of exam style questions to ensure learning. Common Core Math Standards: 'Rearrange formulas to highlight a quantity of interest, using the same reasoning as in solving equations. For example, rearrange Ohm’s law V = IR to highlight resistance R.' All images ©2015 Colin Billett.

Grade 8 – ‘Know and apply the properties of integer exponents to generate equivalent numerical expressions. For example, 32 × 3–5 = 3–3 = 1/33 = 1/27.’ PowerPoint to introduce the rules of integer exponents, using number and with lots for the learners to do, and which can be used as a prelude to algebraic manipulation of exponents and radicals. Refresher activity on Grade 6 powers and radicals, plus a worksheet on more complex examples for high schools. And a single page 'matching' activity in PowerPoint or PDF.

A PowerPoint presentation to explore the nature of Scientific notation, deriving the methods. Simple worksheet on conversions and another on calculations. Plus card matching activity and pair-matching activity. Everything to teach and explore the subject. Grade 8 – Multiple resources for teaching powers of 10 and scientific notation. Presentation, worksheets and activities. 3. Use numbers expressed in the form of a single digit times an integer power of 10 to estimate very large or very small quantities, and to express how many times as much one is than the other. 4. Perform operations with numbers expressed in scientific notation, including problems where both decimal and scientific notation are used. Use scientific notation and choose units of appropriate size for measurements of very large or very small quantities (e.g., use millimeters per year for seafloor spreading). Interpret scientific notation that has been generated by technology.

Finding the volume of right rectangular prisms (cuboids in the UK), with a big selection of worksheets, from simple counting of cubes to working backwards from the volume to find other dimensions. Plus harder questions in the style exams. (Worksheets call them cuboids, as in UK maths, but should not be a problem.)

Big bundle of 10 worksheets for telling the time and drawing hands on a clock face, meeting the curriculum for Grade 2, in units of five minutes. Precision drawn clock faces in Word and PDF for the learners to read the times, and draw missing hands on the clock faces – minutes, hours, and both minutes and hours.

‘Work interchangeably with terminating decimals and their corresponding fractions (such as 3.5 and 7/2 or 0.375 or 3/8); change repeating decimals into their corresponding fractions and vice versa.’ A simple investigation into which fractions terminate and which recur, on PowerPoint and in Word, with a big set of results in PowerPoint to encourage class discussion. A PowerPoint presentation of the method, with some examples to do as a class or individually, plus a worksheet of fourteen questions, with answers. A clear and fully supported lesson.