You’re a teacher in UK (I’m assuming based on a few posts from before). Rishi Sunak (the new prime minister) is making plans to make maths compulsary for kids upto 18 years old.
All over social media, british people have different opinions about it. Most are however against it. The most common reason is that they believe it kills creativity, and that the cirriculum could use some other useful subjects.
What is you opinion on the matter as a teacher?
(Sorry if you only take fandom related questions. You can totally ignore it if you don’t like non fandom related questions)
I think it is ridiculous. Long post so I'll put under a read more
If everybody studied maths to 18, it wouldn't make anybody more employable because all would have that qualification. The majority of jobs do not require you to use maths. So often my kids will ask me why they have to learn something and the honest answer is that the government told me I have to teach it.
The shift between GCSE to A Levels was hard. That was ten years ago for me, but it was hard. It's a big jump in terms of depth of learning. In order to study maths to 18, either students have to drop a subject they had wanted to take to fit it in (in the UK, you generally take 4 subjects for AS Level then drop one for the final year. I took biology, chemistry, psychology and philosophy & ethics then dropped the latter) or will have an extra subject wedged on top which gives them less time to focus on each class - or they won't actually care about taking maths so won't put effort into it.
I work in a primary school and how it works here is you teach the same 30 children every subject for a year. My role is slightly different as I am a cover teacher and cover all across the school so when a teacher has the afternoon to plan, I'll teach their class which means I can teach from 4-11 years old in the same week. We already have children who declare they hate maths and its hard. We have parents who when we ask them to support their children's learning will say that they were bad at maths so it doesn't matter if their children give up on it. I had a child last year who at 11 years old was greater depth for writing and reading (the highest level you can be) but wasn't secure in her number bonds to ten so massively struggled with all areas of maths. Number bonds to 10 should be secured at age 5. Our curriculum is so big that sometimes we run out of time to teach everything or children have absences and they have so many gaps. She was missed every year as somebody who should have been higher and I spent so much time trying to catch her up by filling in all of her gaps on number bonds and times table knowledge which filter into every strand of maths. We had 2 years of covid so maybe if that hadn't happened, the gaps would be apparent sooner, but she's not the only child like that.
Maths isn't valued here. Partly that comes down to the way it is taught. It's not a criticism of teachers, but the syllabus is so massive that you have to hit everything at pace and for those who can't keep up, they end up with massive gaps in their learning. If they've struggled with fractions for the 3 weeks they've studied it, too bad we're onto area and perimeter now, you'll do fractions next year!
In the mornings, I tutor a group of children who have fallen behind and I have to plug any gaps and try to catch them up to age related expectations. This past week, I taught them bus stop method for division because that was what I was told to teach by their regular teacher. I then found out what we aren't supposed to teach that method until next year.
But they had understood it, because they know how to exchange from subtraction because we ensured they really were secure and understood what exchanging means rather than "you add a 1 to the next number".
So then we had to go back a step because the government said they need to learn how to partition it into a whole part model... which is actually harder because they didn't know how many tens or ones they should be splitting it to. It's just so ridiculous. They completely understood the one on the left and will be taught that next year and will use that method forever. But the one on the right has confused them - and they won't need to do that ever again after this year - but we have to teach them like that because that's what the government says?
I didn't really enjoy maths. I never gelled with my teacher and I had the same one for 4 years and I knew I wasn't taking it beyond a compulsory level. I got a B at GCSE which was bad in my school so I had to go to a remedial math class at the start of year 12 because there was maths in biology/chemistry which I had chosen. But in the first lesson my teacher was like "why are you here?" because the small branch of maths that I needed for my science subjects was secure. I've not needed trigonometry or the quadratic equation ever in my life.
I've needed maths to teach maths but actually my understanding of fractions and place value has only become secure since I've had to teach it.
That time would be better spend in teaching young adults how to apply for jobs, for understanding taxes and insurance, for developing contacts in careers etc. The average grade for maths at GCSE level is around a low B/high C. At my school, if you received a B in a subject that you wanted to take for A Level, you would be warned that it would be difficult. If you had a C, they'd advise you against taking that subject because it would be too hard.
It would be better for the government to look at the national curriculum and see how many hoops educators have to jump through and how many boxes we have to tick to please them first. It's so stupid!!!
15 notes
·
View notes
3021:Starless
-(1)-
Warnings: Nothing much for this chapter. Scenes of mild violence. Future smut. Please view the teasers before reading this part.
Word Count: 2.9k
Hyunjin x fem! Reader, Minho x fem! Reader, Jisung x fem! Reader
A rainy summer’s day.
Oxymoronic, yes...but what was Neos, if not a city of oxymorons?
The larger part of the city was crammed with skyscrapers, packed atop each other. The streets were filled with rich cyborgs and their androids, chatting away on their neodisks and living their glamorous, expensive lives.
The rain definitely wasn’t affecting them too much. Water-resistant metal plating and advanced technology made it possible for them to live their lives as usual, despite the heavy downpour.
However, things were different out here. The outskirts of the city were a lot quieter, the streets empty and deserted. There were no skyscrapers here, just sad-looking buildings and dilapidated abodes. Here, nearly everyone was made of junk and scrap metal dating back to 2032- the rain was a huge inconvenience for most.
As you walked down the street, you made sure to wrap your cloak around you tighter. You couldn’t afford any repairs at the moment.
Though that would change soon, once you finally manage to earn your Phantom license. You smiled as you thought about the crescents you’d win with each bounty. You’d finally be able to buy a new arm...
Two fingers in your right arm had stopped working years ago- you’d made do with it till now, but being a Phantom meant that you would need your bionic arm to be fully functional, since it was your dominant one. You’d learnt to use your left hand to carry out most tasks- though it was flesh and bone, and weaker than your right, it was definitely more reliable. It never glitched out on you.
Sometimes, you wished you were entirely human. Being one of the 98% of Xaliens who were technologically advanced definitely had its perks- but it was also expensive. You were glad for Mr. Han’s discounts.
You continued walking, the icy cold air biting at your skin, and making you shiver. It was supposed to be summer. You sighed, humming a tune to yourself as you made your way to the shop.
Beep.
Fuck.
That sound could only mean one thing. You paused, the low beeping resonating in your head as you inhaled deeply.
1...2...3-
You swivelled around, slipping your dagger out from your waistband in the process and swinging it at the spindly-legged automaton that had been creeping up on you. As soon as the knife made contact with its large, blue eye, it started glitching, convulsing for a few seconds before dying.
Your chest heaved, eyes wide as you stared at the dead machine. Inching closer, you ripped your knife out of its metal, tucking it back into your pants as you crouched to inspect it closely.
Your suspicions were correct. You pulled your neodisk out of your pocket, scrolling through the news. It only confirmed what you already knew.
It was a Zenx, though it seemed to be a newer model...it looked a lot more advanced than the ones you'd seen photos of. The arrival of the mysterious, hostile androids had been all the news were filled with, recently. Nobody knew where they came from, who was controlling them or what their purpose was. The royal family had offered the people in the poorer areas of the city a generous amount of crescents if they caught the Zenx and sent them along to the palace for observation. The ones who would sign up were to be called the Phantoms.
It was the very reason you were walking down the street to the workshop, despite it being past curfew. Tomorrow, the applications to be a Phantom would have to be filled and submitted. If you wanted to be a cyber-assassin, you’d have to have two fully functioning arms.
You flipped the machine over onto its side. Unlike most androids, these weren’t humanoid. They were strangely creature-like. You took note of the numbers and symbols on its plated metal belly, mentally jotting them down. Wrenching the plate off of it, you pocketed it with a groan. Maybe Jisung could take a look at it, tell you what you needed to know.
You stood up, sighing as you turned around- only to be met with a dark figure standing right in front of you.
Your eyes narrowed, tilting your head at the hooded man and rolling your eyes.
"I know it's you, Minho."
He let out a grunt of frustration, whipping the hood of his cloak off. "Its unfair, really. You're literally scared of nothing...you sure you're a cyborg and not an android?"
"Hmm...You had your hood on. Maybe I would have been scared if you'd shown me your face."
"Har di har." Minho chuckled. "You know you like my face, baby."
You wrinkled your nose. "Don't call me that. And I don't...like your face-" You stammered a little as he came closer, nose almost brushing against yours.
"Yeah? Why are you blushing, then?"
Your eyes widened as you tried to keep your composure. "I am not blushing." You put your hands on his chest and pushed him away slightly.
He shrugged, looking past you at the upturned machine.
"Woah. Is that a Zenx?"
"Maybe."
"You killed it? Alone? Without any government issued weapons?" He asked incredulously.
You glared at him. "Why is that so hard to believe?"
"It's just a little surprising, that's all." He smirks at you. "You're a bit of a badass, hm? But all I have to do to get you flustered is lean a little closer."
You frowned at him. "That's not true."
Your watch suddenly let out a beep, and you grunted, standing up and scowling at him.
"I have somewhere to go. Leave me alone." You started walking away from him, sighing as you heard his footsteps follow you. Whipping around, you crossed your arms.
"Honestly, do you have nothing better to do? Are you stalking me or something?"
"You wish, princess. I just happen to be in the same places you are."
You pressed your lips together, rolling your eyes and turning away again, walking a little faster...but he was still right next to you, strolling along beside you as he hummed under his breath.
You stopped, making him stop as well.
"Fucking leave."
"No can do. You think I'm just going to leave you alone, especially after you just got attacked? These streets aren't safe." There was no teasing lilt to his words anymore, and his voice was firm as he looked at you. "I'm walking you to wherever you're going."
"No you're not." You said, trying to keep your tone chilly. "I can take care of myself, okay? I don't need you. I don't need anyone." You snarled.
"Calm down."
"You're lucky my middle finger isn't working." You grumbled under your breath, turning away and walking as fast as you could.
A minute later, you looked behind you, but he was gone. You pushed down the slight disappointment in your heart, and continued on your path.
A few minutes later, you were finally there. You knocked twice on the shutter, tapping your foot impatiently.
Seconds passed by with no response. You couldn’t shout, since you were supposed to be inconspicuous. About four whole minutes passed before he finally opened the shutter.
“Finally! What the fuck, Sung? You knew I was coming at this time.”
He fiddled with his fingers, avoiding eye contact. “I know. It’s just...I feel like Dad’s getting worse. I was feeding him.”
Your glare disappeared, your expression softening. “Oh...sorry.”
Jisung looked up at you. “What are you apologizing for?”
“I just...feel guilty. I could have signed up earlier, if I hadn’t spilled coffee on my hand...I’m so fucking careless.”
“Y/n. You’re doing more than enough to help.” He met your eyes, sighing and looking away again. “Seriously...you don’t have to do this.”
You shook your head firmly. “I will. Mr. Han’s the closest thing I’ve had to a father. I’m not prepared to lose him yet. Besides, once I become a Phantom, I’ll have more crescents than I know what to do with.”
You moved closer, slipping your hood off and brushing a hand through your hair as you gave him a soft smile. “I’ll have more than enough money to take him to the city, and get him admitted in one of the best hospitals. We can finally move out of this shitty neighborhood. I promise you.”
Jisung gave you a weak smile, watching you as you pushed past him, making your way to the reclining chair in the corner of the workshop and collapsing onto it.
You held your hand out. “But in order to make crescents, I need to become a Phantom. And to do that, I need my hand to work right, and I need to be fully charged to pass all my tests tomorrow.”
He chuckled, rolling his sleeves up and flopping onto his chair, rolling over to you. He took your arm, turning it slightly and inspecting it closely.
“Hmm, you really do need a new arm.” He hummed under his breath, grabbing his oculus from the table and peering through it. He held your arm with one hand, using his other to lift each of your fingers individually.
“Hmm, okay. I think I have replacements for your fingers lying around here somewhere...” He rolled to his desk, rummaging through a drawer and pulling out a box filled with prostheses. He scoured it for a few minutes before finally pulling out the appropriate parts.
Coming back over to you, he cocked his head to the side.
“What’s wrong? You look...sad.”
He felt his heart beat a little faster as you looked at him, making eye contact with him. “I’m not sad...just a little nervous, that’s all.”
“You don’t need to be. You’re going to be great. I’ve never met someone so strong, powerful and badass as you.”
“Yeah? Well, I’ve never met someone as kind and funn-”
“Can you lovebirds get a room or something?”
You looked up, laughing as you spotted Jeongin enter, his apron streaked with soot. Jisung’s cheeks turned redder than a tomato, his grip on your hand loosening a little.
“Seriously, though. Jisung, you’re supposed to be working on her, not gushing over her-”
“Hey! Remember you’re supposed to be my a-assistant!” He stuttered. “So instead of running your mouth, come over here and hand me my tools.”
Jeongin smiled, walking forward and lifting the wire up from the floor. Plugging it into the socket, he handed the other end to Jisung.
Jisung stood up, gently brushing your hair behind your ear, heart jumping in his chest as he did so. Exposing the circular socket on your head, he attached the wires to it, turning to arrange his tools as you made yourself a little more comfortable. The whirring sound combined with Jisung’s humming had a calming effect on you, your eyes slowly closing.
Jisung watched as you fell asleep, sighing as he got to work, detaching your arm with his screwdriver as gently as he could.
“You’re so fucking whipped.” Jeongin called, handing Jisung the prostheses.
“Shut up.” Jisung growled, adjusting the oculus attached to his eye as he unscrewed your middle finger and thumb, attaching the new ones with some difficulty. Your arm was an old make- how he wished he had the crescents to get you a new one.
You’ve always been his...guardian angel, for lack of a better word. He wished, for once, he could be the one to protect you. Jisung admired your strength, your tenacity and determination. However...sometimes, just sometimes, he wondered why he couldn’t be the same.
“Seriously though, Hyung...you really need to stop giving her those heart-eyes and just confess, already.”
Jisung looked up at Jeongin, frown settling on his features. “It’s not that simple.” He glanced over at you, eyes still closed as the machine charged the processor embedded in your brain. “She’s not the type to be bothered with things like romance. We’re just friends. In fact, I’m pretty sure she once said I’m like a brother to her.”
Jeongin stayed silent, not wanting to say much more.
There wasn’t really any point in protesting really, because what Jisung said was true, more or less. Love just wasn’t on your agenda.
Jisung shook his head at the boy’s silence, affixing your arm back to you and humming as he did so. He stole glances at your peaceful face from time to time, his heart jumping in his chest.
Maybe one day.
You blinked repeatedly, trying to get your eyes to adjust to the light in the room. Sitting up a little, your eyes landed on Jisung, his back facing you as he worked on something at his desk. You cleared your throat, causing him to turn around and look at you.
“Ah! I didn’t realize you woke up...” He came over, unplugging you. “How are you feeling? Fingers?”
“Yeah, I feel so much more refreshed now.” You lifted up your arm, moving your fingers and making a small sound of delight. “Thank you so much.” You smiled up at him, getting up to wrap your arms around him, hugging him tightly. Jisung felt his heartbeat speed up, hesitating as he let his hands rest on your waist. All his senses were flooded with you...he almost forgot how to breathe for a second.
It felt too good to have you in his arms. It was scary.
When you finally pulled away, you went over to the corner to grab your cloak, fastening it around you as he felt his heart drop. He didn’t want you to leave yet.
“Hey...wait, let me walk you home.”
“Oh no, I’ll be fine, Sung. You don’t have to do that...besides Mr. Han needs you.”
“Um, Dad’s asleep. Please? Jeongin already left...and I just wanna talk. We haven’t had a proper talk in ages.”
You sighed, pausing. “Fine.”
Jisung walked alongside you as you kicked a small pebble with your foot. The subway tunnels were long abandoned, and you often came here for some peace and quiet. It was also the safest place to take a walk, considering it was after curfew.
“So...how nervous are you? For tomorrow?”
“Just...a little.”
“Don’t be. I know you’ll do great. I can come watch, right?”
“Yeah, I think it’s open to the public...which is why I really don’t want to mess up. I don’t want to embarrass myself in front of so many people.”
“Hmm...don’t worry, it’s going to be a piece of cake for you. I’ve seen you train, Y/n. You’ll be able to handle any challenge they throw at you.”
Suddenly, you remembered the weight in your pocket, eyes widening. “Oh wait...um. I almost forgot to show you...before I came here, I crossed paths with one of them.”
“Them? What?”
“A Zenx. I killed it.”
“Wha...what!?” Jisung spluttered, shocked at the nonchalance with which you uttered those words. You pulled out the piece of metal from your pocket, handing it to him. He stared at it with wide eyes, hands trembling a little as he took it from you, turning it over as he inspected it.
“Y/n...this looks so different from what I’ve seen online...”
“Yeah. They seem to be getting more advanced. I wonder who’s upgrading them...”
“Hmm, it doesn’t have to be a who...but it’s possible. Y/n, you really killed it alone? That could have been dangerous.”
You rolled your eyes. “Please. You’re the one who said I was capable enough.”
“Yeah, but...” He sighed. “I’m sorry. Just a little concerned, that’s all.” He smiled at you. “Now I’m even more convinced that you’re going to be amazing tomorrow.”
You smiled, looking at the floor as you continued along the tunnel.
“So?” You gestured to the plate in Jisung’s hand.
“I left my oculus back home.” He pocketed it, “I’ll inspect it at the workshop... I’ve been reading up on the Zenx lately. Very little information....not much to go off of, but I suspect that...”
You squinted a little as Jisung went off on a tangent, gesticulating as he talked...you tuned him out. Your eyes had noticed something. You blinked, wondering if it was a trick of the light.
Something...was lying on the tracks. Humanoid, it was panting....you stopped Jisung with your arm stretched out, staring at the body that was a short distance away from you. Jisung looked at you with a confused expression, following your gaze and gasping as he noticed it too.
“What the FUCK is that-”
“Shh!”
The figure was lying facedown, writhing a little as it struggled to get to its feet.
You and Jisung shared a look, considering what to do. Putting a finger on your lips, you slowly approached the body, carefully trying your best to not make a sound. Jisung followed, trying his best to be quiet...but as he took another step with his heavy boot, the stones crunched beneath his feet.
The figure looked up, eyes landing right on you, who was closer to it.
Beautiful, onyx eyes..shiny hair and plump lips...you recognized it. Him.
He opened his mouth, but nothing came out. His face twisted into an expression filled with fear and confusion. “P-please...help me...” He begged, crawling a little closer. Jisung grabbed your wrist, trying to pull you away a little, but you stayed put, eyes trained on the man in front of you, brain going into overdrive as you tried to figure out what was happening.
“I- Y/n, he’s-”
“H-hwang Hyunjin.” The man choked out, his voice glitching a little as he collapsed right in front of you, eyes closed as he fell unconscious.
H88.
227 notes
·
View notes
Hi! I was wondering if you could tell me how in the world you come up with your stories?! I am planning to make my own webcomic, and I just can't think of anything to do with my characters. I know how they act, what they do, who they are, but I just can't seem to come up with a plot! I know that comics and stories aren't exactly the same thing, but I think your stories are really well written, and it would help me a lot if you could give some tips on how to make a good plot?? Thanks so much!
Hey young padawan!
I squealed with delight when I got this ask! I shall try myhardest to answer this as best as I can!
First off, lucky for you, I am also in the business ofwriting webcomics! On the 11th, my artists best friend and I entereda comic into a comic contest, but I digress. Webcomics and written stories are not thatdifferent, save for the fact that webcomics have a visual element that writtenstories do not. A lot of the “written” part of a webcomic will be translatedinto panel images instead of simply being written. Dialogue and narration arethe only written words that go into a webcomic.
Plot on the other hand, works pretty much the same in kindof storytelling.
The first thing that I would suggest in creating a plot, isdeciding what genre you want the webcomic to be written in. For example, a Fantasycomic’s plot will revolve around some kind of adventure/journey and maybe a bigvillain to be battling against. While on the other hand, a slice of life webcomicwill deal with more day to day problems, like relationship issues, jobproblems, and more mundane and localized plot.
Writing advice is hard because what works for one person,might not work for another. Most of my stories come from years and years of reading both written novels and even other fanfiction and writing so manystories. This is probably said a lot by authors, but my plots mostly just cometo me from daydreaming and working within the stories that have already beenestablish, like my fanfictions that I write.
Plots are essentially made of a few things:
What the maincharacter(s) wants/needs to achieve
How is the maincharacter(s) going to work towards getting that?
What is standing in themain character(s) way?
How does the maincharacter(s) overcome that obstacle?
What are therepercussions/end result of the actions taken by the main character(s)
There are many other sub-plots that can be weaved into thestory, but I would say that those are the main things that need to be addressedto begin working toward a good story. Once you establish a basic plot line,then you begin to weave in smaller obstacles and sub-plots for the charactersto have to face along their way to the biggest obstacle in the story.
For the webcomic that I wrote called “Glenn Haven”, the basisfor it came from my desire to write about a serial killer and how he gets awaywith his murders. That was the very first idea that I had, and then I justbuilt on it from there. Working out his personality, I learned that he used womenwho had a twisted enough personality and desire to kill but hadn’t ever actedon it, thus my second main character was born!
Though, that was still not enough to link the two characterstogether and have a solid plot line, and I brainstormed more ideas of exactlyhow he justifies the murders to a girl who has never acted on her desire tokill, because although it’s possible for her to just jump on board, most peoplewouldn’t do that without good incentive.
Along my research journey, I chose to make him a prophet ofa cult, as that would allow him a place to stay outside of the law, as they aretheir own governing body outside of the city that they kill in, and the cultused religion to justify murdering people because it was a ritual of “cleansing”the outside world.
That’s how I do my stories, really. Start small, and build.Ask lots of questions about how this will happen, and what the results are ofany choices that the characters make. Brainstorm to make connections betweenthe details.
I hope that this was a little helpful. I’m not that great atadvice! Stories are something that come from inside me and a lot of the time, I hadzero idea where that idea originated. But breaking it down like I did my own webcomicexplains a lot of my thought process.
If I knew a little more about your comic, then I might beable to offer more solid advice geared specifically toward it. If you ever wantto reach out and talk one on one, I’m here ^_^
And this little plug goes out to anyone who follows me andwants a place to talk and brainstorm with others who are writing original work,there is The Writer’s Guild that I run on discord! Come in and chat with us,ask for beta readers, and brainstorm ideas! Shoot me a message if you want an invite!
-Ruka
13 notes
·
View notes