Fun With Double Sided Counters - By Tabitha Lewis

In September, the Maths Scholarships Team hosted the first Scholars’ event of the new academic year. With titles and a short paragraph of information to go from, I was eagerly awaiting the day to not only meet fellow scholars, but also to start building a collection of mathematical resources to use in the classroom. On the day, no other talks provided me with as many uses as that of ‘Fun with Double Sided Counters’ by Christine Watson.

With a bag of counters in hand, I was unsure how this common primary school resource could be used in a secondary school setting beyond simple operations. However, through the course of the talk, my perspective was broadened as I was able to try several problems firsthand. From algebra to sequences, proportion to fractions, all of which can be illustrated with a tool with which many have experience within their early years of learning. 

The variety of ways counters can be used, either through stacking, laying them out flat, or using or creating a double-sided counter, allows for freedom in a classroom. Although students could be asked to represent the same problem, counters allow for multiple possibilities across the classroom. This not only allows for students’ creativity to flourish, but it also develops their communication through the reasoning behind their choices. 

For myself, one quote stuck out from the talk, “mathematicians try to be tidy”. This is true: when faced with problems, we simplify things down, we label equations for substitution, and we ensure all steps of our work are written and clear to follow. Mathematics is a very abstract subject, and this is one of the challenges children face when it is taught. So, any assistance to bring it down to reality, to make it something students can move and adapt with their own hands, helps massively.

Overall, my main takeaway from the talk was that we as teachers must not resist methods taught in primary school. We can find ourselves scouring online for  new and innovative activities or worksheets to use in a classroom. However, by viewing known resources in a new light, the possibilities could be endless.  A simple resource that once led to many a tiddlywink can hold greater meaning if we just take a step back and, like students, consider things that are outside the box.

By Tabitha Lewis 

Images provided by author & Maths Scholarships 

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