Mathematics teachers are very good at sharing teaching ideas and resources online. This blog post is about some of the best online resource locations for secondary mathematics teachers (in my opinion and as suggested by maths teachers on Twitter). I'm hoping this will be useful for new teachers and for teachers who generally don't use the wealth of resources that are available freely on the internet because, perhaps, they don't know about them.

Most of these are likely to be known about by experienced teachers, but some might not be. New teachers to the profession might be unaware of many of these.

There's only an order to these because I have to put them in some sort of order, but it really depends what you are looking for. Please read them all – even the ones near the bottom of the list are excellent. I’ve tried to keep my descriptions for each site fairly short, so that this full list is accessible.

I may miss something out that you really, really like and think should have made this list. If so, please feel free to let me know and I will add your suggestions to this list. You can tweet me or DM me or send me a message on Microsoft Teams or an email (I’m gw20allanmichael@glow.sch.uk).

Here’s the list:

Name of site: Resourceaholic

Address: https://www.resourceaholic.com

What it is: There's little need for any other websites in this list, because Jo Morgan (@mathsjem) actually collates the best freely available resources and links to them on her website. Jo's Topics In Depth Posts are tremendous, and a very useful way for teachers to increase their subject content knowledge (what to teach) and pedagogical content knowledge (how to teach it).

Name of site: Starting Points Maths: Tasks and Blog

Address: https://startingpointsmaths.com

What it is: Chris McGrane (@ChrisMcGrane84) has created a bank of excellent tasks predominantly with a focus on conceptual understanding, drawing from reading and reflecting widely on the subject of task design.

name of site: don steward's blog

address: https://donsteward.blogspot.com

what it is: this website is absolutely amazing. it is maybe my favourite of all of these. the standard of the questions and exercises is excellent and they should be part of every maths teacher's bookmarks. the website is extremely well organised, with resources listed by topic. sadly, don steward passed away in 2020. don doesn’t use capital letters, which is why this item has none.

Name of site: VariationTheory.com

Address: https://variationtheory.com

What it is: This is one of Craig Barton’s (@mrbartonmaths) websites. Variation Theory involves holding the key features of successive questions constant and varying one element of the question so that pupils can attend to the key mathematical idea. The website contains many examples of question sequences, including example/problem pairs. Most of these are given as PowerPoints, with the answers included on a separate slide. Teachers should work through the sequences of questions ahead of time, so that they can really appreciate where pupils are likely to make the biggest jumps in their appreciation of the underlying mathematics.

Name of site: SSDD (Same Surface, Different Deep Structure)

Address: https://ssddproblems.com

What it is: Another of Craig Barton’s (@mrbartonmaths) websites. SSDD problems provide 4 problems on one page that look on the surface very similar but actually have four different ways of solving them. These are excellent for getting pupils to practise method selection, a crucial exam technique. These can be used when pupils are revising content towards the end of a course and can also be used to provide practice of previously learned material.

Name of site: Increasingly Difficult Questions

Address: https://taylorda01.weebly.com/increasingly-difficult-questions.html

What it is: Dave Taylor (@taylorda01) has put together some really good exercises on increasingly difficult questions. Take a look at this one on fractions. These exercises work well as part of a lesson. I find that they help with discussion, because between every pair of questions you can ask "what makes this one more difficult than the previous one?"

Name of site: HSN

Address: HSN.uk.net

What it is: This simple website contains pdf notes for Higher Maths. There are also some paid features on the website. The pdf notes are excellent and can be used by teachers as a source for explanations and examples. The examples include full working, so these can help new teachers with ways of laying out their board work.

Name of site: CJ Maths

Address: http://cjmaths.com

What it is: Chris Gallagher (@cj_maths) has shared lots of great tasks on his website. Resources are arranged by course level i.e. BGE, N4, N5 and Higher. The Notes for N5 include example/problem pairs, which are well written and will help pupils to gain confidence and fluency with new skills.

Name of site: national5maths.co.uk

Address: national5maths.co.uk

What it is: This website contains lots of pdfs with a bank of practice questions. Answers are available for some of the exercises. There are loads of exercises on here, and this would be a good website to direct pupils to if they were wishing to do some extra studying at home. There are paid elements to the site as well.

Name of site: Maths 4 Everyone

Address: https://www.maths4everyone.com

What it is: This website is aimed at gcse, but contains resources broken down by topic. There are resources at different difficulty levels (First Steps, Strengthen and Extend) and answers are available too. The worksheets can be made full screen and can be projected to a board.

Name of site: Suffolk Maths

Address: http://www.suffolkmaths.co.uk

What it is: This website is an archive of the resources that Mark Greenaway (@suffolkmaths) had shared on his website previously. The resources available include schemes of work, homework booklets, parental support, numeracy across the curriculum, projects, displays, games and puzzles and more.

Name of site: Numeracy Ninjas

Address: https://www.numeracyninjas.org

What it is: Numeracy Ninjas is a free Key Stage 3 numeracy intervention designed to fill gaps in students’ basic mental calculation strategies and also to empower them with the numeracy skills and fluency required to fully access GCSE Maths concepts when they move to Key Stage 4 study. This can also be used in Scotland. There are skills booklets which you can print or project on the board, and there’s a PowerPoint with all the answers. Check out the website for more information.

Name of site: Scholar

Address: Access via Glow or https://scholar.hw.ac.uk

What it is: Scholar is a website that provides students and teachers with a platform to access interactive questions. It's not something I personally have used a lot, but it's something I know lots of teachers use with their classes. Most local authorities and schools have access to Scholar. There should be a member of staff in your school who can set you up with your login details.

Name of site: Scottish Maths Teachers Team (Microsoft Teams)

Address: Tweet me or cj_maths for the join code

What it is: At the beginning of the school closure period in 2020, many schools moved all of their teaching to Microsoft Teams. The Scottish Maths Teachers Team was set up by Chris Gallacher to bring together all Scottish Maths Teachers so that we could share ideas and teaching resources. For the join code, get in touch with me on Twitter or Chirs Gallacher on Twitter.

Name of site: Higher Maths Teachers OneNote Notebook

Address: Follow this link (sign in to Glow required)

What it is: I’ve been using OneNote for a while and have put together some examples of how maths teachers can use it. The OneNote contains resources and notes for Higher Maths and N5 maths, as well as information and templates for how to use OneNote as a planner.

Name of site: Chris Smith's Weekly Maths Newsletter

Address: Email Chris (@aap03102) at aap03102@gmail.com

What it is: This man does so much more for mathematics education in Scotland than just writing this newsletter, but the newsletter is a great place to start. Every school week, Chris shares teaching tips, lesson ideas, a weekly puzzle and much more. With subscribers like the Dara O’Briain, Hannah Fry, Matt Parker, James Grime, Rachel Riley and Adam McBride (and 3500 more!) you will be in good company.

Name of site: Complete Maths

Address: https://completemaths.com/teaching-tools/digital-manipulatives/timestables, https://completemaths.com/autograph

What it is: There are some free resources on the site, such as the excellent Times Table app and tutorials for and access to Autograph 5, which now includes a web version. During the 2020 lockdown, La Salle Education hosted #MathsConf23 virtually, with over 3000 delegates in attendance. All of the sessions can be viewed here for free.

Name of site: YouTube

Address: youtube.com

What it is: This is mentioned because there are loads of tutorial videos freely available on YouTube, made by experienced Scottish Maths Teachers. Take a look at a few channels here: Lesmahagow Maths, Larbert Maths, Siōbhán McKenna, YouKenMaths, DLBMaths, StAnd Maths

Name of site: Mrs Hawthorne’s Linked Spreadsheet

Address: See this Tweet

What it is: Charlotte (@mrshawthorne7) has pulled together a spreadsheet which links every small step covered in the Year 7 to Year 9 (English system) to resources such as Hegarty Maths, don steward, Open Middle, Mathsbot and more.

Name of site: Desmos

Address: https://www.desmos.com/calculator

What it is: Desmos is, in my opinion, one of the best online graphics calculators available. It’s completely free, and you can set up a teacher account to share graphs with students. Lots of teachers have shared their own graphs on Desmos, which can be used as part of lessons. I recall teaching my higher class about the wave function and showing them what happens when we graph a sine curve and a cosine curve and then graph the sum of the two curves. Such a powerful way of helping kids to see the maths.

Name of site: UKMT

Address: https://www.ukmt.org.uk

What it is: The United Kingdom Mathematics Trust organises many different competitions promoting problem solving and team work and other mathematical enrichment activities across the UK. Their aim is to advance the education of young people in mathematics. This link takes you to the page with the past papers and solutions for the Junior Mathematical Challenge, which pupils up to S2 can take part in. It is likely that your school already takes part in these challenges, but if not you can sign up here.

Name of site: Underground Mathematics

Address: https://undergroundmathematics.org

What it is: This website is aimed at A level, but many of the tasks are appropriate for pupils studying Higher Maths or Advanced Higher Maths in Scotland. Give this one a go to see the type of tasks that are available. The support for teachers and pupils in the Solution page for each task is extremely clear and thorough. The level of difficulty is often fairly high, so this is most appropriate for pupils aiming for an A at Higher or looking to extend beyond Higher.

Name of site: Foster 77

Address: www.foster77.co.uk

What it is: Colin Foster (@colinfoster77) is a Reader in Mathematics Education in the Mathematics Education Centre at Loughborough University, England. Colin hosts lots of resources for teachers on his website, including Mathematical Etudes. These are tasks that involve creative, imaginative and thought-provoking ways to help learners of mathematics develop their fluency in important mathematical procedures.

There you have it. That was my list of 31 websites that maths teachers can use when planning their lessons. This list could easily have been longer. At times, I had to stop myself from including sites that don’t link to teaching resources for teachers. Hopefully this is a useful list for maths teachers.

Feedback, comments and suggestions appreciated. You can tweet me at @mrallanmaths or email me at gw20allanmichael@glow.sch.uk.