# Browsing category ranting

## How to put your problems right

One of the many people I look forward to seeing at big MathsJam is @pozorvlak, Miles in real life, whose name means 'beware of the trams' in Czech. When he's not coding, pursuing the horrors of category theory, or juggling, he enjoys making his way up icy mountains. That's not

## It’s the way they write the questions: a case study

The great @mathjem recently took advantage of snowy weather to post this question: I'll be using my favourite snowman-based maths question in my lesson on percentages tomorrow. #mathschat pic.twitter.com/EayP6KmaR3 — Jo Morgan (@mathsjem) January 29, 2015 On the one hand, it's quite nice: using the weather and a popular culture

## Three simple tricks I wish my GCSE students would use

Don't get me wrong: I love tutoring. As long as a student is putting in a genuine effort, I'm happy to forgive the odd "I don't know" or "We haven't been taught that." And my students do put in the effort. I thank them for it. But there are some

## How to ask for help

This post is a slight departure from the usual fare from Flying Colours HQ - more about personal development than about maths. But it's still useful for your maths: today, children, we'll be looking at effective ways of asking people to help you. In particular, if you're asking for my

## Prim vs Kruskal

A student asks: How do you remember the difference between Prim’s algorithm and Kruskal’s algorithm? In honesty, I don’t. This is one of the things that REALLY FRUSTRATES me about D1: it puts so much emphasis on remembering whose algorithm was whose1 ahead of figuring out how to program computers

## Radians (and why they are better than degrees)

The brilliant @dragon_dodo has written a cartoon to explain - as if explanation were needed - of why radians are the correct way to measure angles.

## The Mathematical Pirate and the Formula Triangle

The Mathematical Pirate took one look at the piece of paper attached to the dock. “They’re BANNING formula triangles?! By order of @srcav?!” He swished his sword around. “Let me figure out where he lives, I’ll show him.” “He lives… inshore, cap’n” said the $n$th mate. “It’s too dangerous.” “Can

## 277.42 reasons why we shouldn’t readopt the imperial system

“We do these things… not because they are easy, but because they are hard.” - John F. Kennedy I love a challenge. I go out of my way to do Hard Sums in my head, in the hope of one day matching the Mathematical Ninja’s prowess. I run long distances.

## The Mathematical Ninja and the Supposedly Funny Cat

The Mathematical Ninja didn't bother with a warning. The Mathematical Ninja didn't even do that impressive whirry thing he does with a sword in each hand. No. The Mathematical Ninja conjured up a pistol and pulled the trigger - BANG! It was a blank, of course, but the student wasn't

## Does attitude really equal 100%?

Every few weeks, this bit of motivational excrement does the rounds on twitter (I saw it here, but it comes around from all sorts of sources). For a start, what's with the per cents? Per cents of what? You can't just take a number that's close to a hundred and