The 64th in Mr Barton's Autograph Video tutorial series. Should you find yourself needing to teach the transformation of matrices, it would be nice to have some dynamic geometry package to help you along the way through this very visual topic. This is where Autograph steps in! In this video we look at carrying out simple transformations, and then a few twists: using the animation controller to repeat the transformation, using a constant controller to change elements of the matrix, and finally combining two matrix transformations together.

A cube in 3D. This could be used to introduce 3D Pythagoras or trigonometry. You can use this activity on the interactive whiteboard, or for your students to investigate on their own. Autograph does not need to be installed to use this activity (so your students can even use it at home), but you will need to install the free Autograph Player add-on (instructions given after clicking the link). For a full list of Autograph Activities, please click on the other web-link.

Over the last couple of months I have asked my TES Maths Panel to compile a series of Topic Specials on the major area of maths teaching. They were challenged to find 10 outstanding resources from the thousands freely available on TES to assemble into themed collections. These collections are now live on the website, and they are simply phenomenal. The range and quality of the resources kindly shared by TES users always amazes me, and these collections should help you dive straight in to the very best that TES has to offer. Thank you to the Panel for all their hard work!

The 52nd in Mr Barton's Autograph Video tutorial series. Just a quickie here about how you can use Autograph to add that finishing touch to your perfect worksheet. Whether you want a lovely set of axes, some square paper, or some old fashioned graph paper, Autograph can satisfy your needs. We also look at a handy way of getting the size of the grid and the number range just right! Clicking on the web-link you can see all the videos in this series.

Census at School provides a gold mine full of rich, interesting, relevant data that can spice up any statistics based lessons. Don’t worry if you haven’t had chance to register your students, you can still access ten years’ worth of questionnaires and data. In this video we take a look at how you can easily grab a sample of 100 students’ responses to the question: what superpower would you most desire? This can then be instantly changed into a pie chart, bar chart or whatever you want to compare to your own students results. Amazing stuff!

The 67th in Mr Barton's Autograph Video tutorial series. The final part of the Autograph Puzzle Trilogy! This week we take a look at the “Pizza Problem” – what is the maximum number of pieces you can cut a pizza up into making straight line slices? This is something I have always investigated using good old-fashioned pencils and rulers, but Autograph just adds that extra dimension, allowing students to move the cuts around without the need for lots of rubbings out. Can you and your students spot the pattern? Can you explain why? Click on the link to see all my Autograph videos

The 65th in Mr Barton's Autograph Video tutorial series. The first of the Autograph Puzzle Trilogy! Here we look at a lovely pencil and paper puzzle inspired by Don Steward’s amazing Median Maths Blog. Place any 3 points on a page and start leap-frogging over them. After a few leaps, do you notice anything? More importantly, can you explain/prove it? We look at how Autograph may be able to help us get to grips with what is going on. Click on the link to see all my Autograph videos

The first of the Trigonometric Trilogy! In this week’s video we take a look at a clever way of using Autograph to practice working out the length of missing sides using Trigonometry (sin, cos and tan) and Pythagoras. We begin by constructing a right-angled triangle, and then use a sneaky technique to cover up a measurement. The finished article can then be used in class or at home for infinite trigonometry practice! More on this next week!

This website may well be unfamiliar to some of you, but it needs to go right to the top of your favourites list, because it is brilliant! There is a wealth of high-quality resources, covering all the important topics, beautifully organised. There are videos, random question generators, and embedded Geogebra and Autograph activities that run straight from page. An excellent website that you and your students will get a lot out of. Congratulations and many thanks to Dan Clark for creating it!

A free online Autograph Player activity designed to allow your students to practise solving trigonometry problems (missing sides and angles) involving isosceles triangles. You can use this activity on the interactive whiteboard, or for your students to investigate on their own. Autograph does not need to be installed to use this activity (so your students can even use it at home), but you will need to install the free Autograph Player add-on (instructions given after clicking the link). For a full list of Autograph Activities, please click on the other web-link.

The 63rd in Mr Barton's Autograph Video tutorial series. This is the much-anticipated(!) sequel to last week’s Line Symmetry in Rectangles. Here we look at how we might create an Autograph page to look at line symmetry more generally by allowing us to alter the original shape. This requires a sneaky use of vectors, and this technique may have applications in other Autograph activities that you may wish to create. Clicking on the web-link you can see all the videos in this series.

Douglas Butler, the creator of Autograph, has produced 7 high quality tutorial videos to help you get the most out of the software. This tutorial video looks at using Autograph to introduce the straight line and its gradient (slope), and the quadratic and its various transformations. Also available on TES are my own weekly set of Autograph videos, and lots of Autograph Player Activities that don’t even require Autograph to be installed!

MEI has kindly shared the following resources to support the use of ICT in A/AS Level maths. These are practical activities that look at how we can use Autograph to enhance the study of co-ordinate geometry, predominantly at AS level. These are ideal for use in a computer room or for students to investigate at home. The pdf file contains full instructions and challenges, and the attached Autograph files can be used to demonstrate and consolidate understanding back in the classroom. Please click on the web-link to find out more about the work of MEI.

A Collective Memory activity on Vectors for KS3/KS4. For more information and ideas about how to use this resource, and links to my full index of Collective Memory resources, please visit http://www.mrbartonmaths.com/collectivememory.htm

A Tarsia activity on doubling numbers. These type of activities can be used to consolidate understanding of a given topic, and foster positive group work and co-operative learning. For more ideas on how to use these types of activities (including twists!) and to download the latest version of the wonderful free software to open this resource (and create your own), just click on the web-link. If you have any comments, or spot any (non deliberate!) mistakes, please share them below. Many thanks to all the teachers who have helped me assemble these Tarsias over the years.

A Tarsia activity on simplifying surds. These type of activities can be used to consolidate understanding of a given topic, and foster positive group work and co-operative learning. For more ideas on how to use these types of activities (including twists!) and to download the latest version of the wonderful free software to open this resource (and create your own), just click on the web-link. If you have any comments, or spot any (non deliberate!) mistakes, please share them below. Many thanks to all the teachers who have helped me assemble these Tarsias over the years.

A Tarsia activity on matching multiplications. These type of activities can be used to consolidate understanding of a given topic, and foster positive group work and co-operative learning. For more ideas on how to use these types of activities (including twists!) and to download the latest version of the wonderful free software to open this resource (and create your own), just click on the web-link. If you have any comments, or spot any (non deliberate!) mistakes, please share them below. Many thanks to all the teachers who have helped me assemble these Tarsias over the years.

A brilliant Tarsia activity by Gill Hillitt on factorising negative quadratics. These type of activities can be used to consolidate understanding of a given topic, and foster positive group work and co-operative learning. For more ideas on how to use these types of activities (including twists!) and to download the latest version of the wonderful free software to open this resource (and create your own), just click on the web-link. If you have any comments or feedback for Gill, please share them below.

A brilliant Tarsia activity by Gill Hillitt on quadratic the simple algebra from Core 1. These type of activities can be used to consolidate understanding of a given topic, and foster positive group work and co-operative learning. For more ideas on how to use these types of activities (including twists!) and to download the latest version of the wonderful free software to open this resource (and create your own), just click on the web-link. If you have any comments or feedback for Gill, please share them below.

A brilliant Tarsia activity by Gill Hillitt on Transformations of Graphs f(x). These type of activities can be used to consolidate understanding of a given topic, and foster positive group work and co-operative learning. For more ideas on how to use these types of activities (including twists!) and to download the latest version of the wonderful free software to open this resource (and create your own), just click on the web-link. If you have any comments or feedback for Gill, please share them below.