iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Alison Kiddle

Robin Hayward 🌳 🏳️‍⚧️ @canopyrobin.com · 25/09/2026

We're publishing new guidance to support trans people who do fieldwork (any work outside the office)! Now we need your help to get them seen so please share! inclusivefieldwork.leeds.ac.uk/trans/

a cartoon of three fieldworkers. One has a small trans flag. The logos of the university of leeds, research england, and canopy robin are shown, as well as the URL: InclusiveFieldwork (dot) Leeds (dot) AC (dot) UK (slash) trans

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Alison Kiddle @alisonkiddle.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

Yes I also don't really know how to explain what goes on in my head when I don't have paper and pencil - I can't see the manipulations I'm doing, bit somehow I can still do them and feel them...

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Alison Kiddle @alisonkiddle.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

Anyway, once we'd solved the original problems and the meta problem of explaining why they were connected, we went on to talk about probability, financial maths, infinity and the dangers of letting AI do your thinking for you - not bad for a half-hour stroll to help our dinner settle!

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Alison Kiddle @alisonkiddle.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

I have aphantasia and Sam doesn't, so we often have to work hard to bridge the gap between his visual way of thinking about a problem and my way which has very few pictures (but ideas that Sam can translate into pictures).

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Alison Kiddle @alisonkiddle.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

I like to talk maths while walking, because without paper and pens to sketch out ideas you have to explain your thinking in different ways, and listen carefully to make sure you're on the same page.

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Alison Kiddle @alisonkiddle.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

These problems formed the basis of a really nice conversation between me and @samholloway.bsky.social as we were on our habitual post prandial walk yesterday evening. Trying to identify the same structure led us to talk about other related problems with this structure.

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Alison Kiddle @alisonkiddle.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

There are some lovely activities in here that could be used for getting to know new classes, or for that maths club your senior leadership has been on at you to start...

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Alison Kiddle @alisonkiddle.bsky.social · 03/07/2026

It feels like acceleration is something students really struggle with, in a whole multitude of different ways. I guess it's harder to understand intuitively than e.g. velocity.

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Alison Kiddle @alisonkiddle.bsky.social · 03/07/2026

I mean, it /is/ zero very shortly after it hits the ground... But yeah, conceptually, moving from the idea of average speed to the idea of instantaneous velocity is a lot more subtle than we acknowledge I think.

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Alison Kiddle @alisonkiddle.bsky.social · 03/07/2026

I would love it if the concept of mathematical modelling came up more explicitly, and earlier in the curriculum. It would be amazing if schoolkids had the opportunity to play around and understand what it is that we're trying to do, when we apply mathematics to solve real world problems

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Alison Kiddle @alisonkiddle.bsky.social · 03/07/2026

Interesting! This feels like something that one would think about differently depending whether one was trying to work intuitively, or graphically, or symbolically using calculus... I feel like it's vital to learn how to move fluently between different ways of thinking about such concepts.

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Reposted by Alison Kiddle

Big MathsJam @bigmathsjam.bsky.social · 03/07/2026

For this year's MathsJam UK Gathering, the early-bird cutoff is a number of tickets - the first 101 people to book will get a discount, so don't miss out! The Graph of Doom is already looking quite steep, and more than half the early-bird spaces are gone already...

A graph showing bookings for MathsJam 2026. The graph has a line for 'Attending' which goes up steeply from 0 at -160 days to just over 50 at -135 days, and a line for 'Remote' that's still fairly low. There is a faint diagonal line which the 'Attending' line is currently above.

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Alison Kiddle @alisonkiddle.bsky.social · 03/07/2026

I really really dislike lift problems. In fact, I'm not particularly fond of lifts... Can't I just take the stairs?

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Alison Kiddle @alisonkiddle.bsky.social · 03/07/2026

Yeah this is a biggie. When I'm tutoring I always try to say "Constant Acceleration equations" rather than just calling them "suvat". It feels like it's a mistake that comes from thinking in terms of procedures and methods rather than modelling and concepts.

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Alison Kiddle @alisonkiddle.bsky.social · 03/07/2026

Oh yes, and the corollary - if it's moving there must be a force acting (rather than if it's /accelerating/ there must be a force). I was talking about this last night with my partner, in the context of driving - the acceleration pedal feels more like a force pedal to me...

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Alison Kiddle @alisonkiddle.bsky.social · 03/07/2026

I find that even if they can cope with the idea that velocity and acceleration have a direction, they don't always get the /right/ direction for acceleration when you get things like an object slowing down but still travelling forwards.

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Alison Kiddle @alisonkiddle.bsky.social · 03/07/2026

I wonder if we could do more to help students take ownership of their diagrams? I've found a lot of kids draw the diagram because they've been told it's the method, rather than because they find it helpful. Same with sketching graphs - I know why it's useful, but the students don't, yet...

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Alison Kiddle @alisonkiddle.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

Probs should have added some hashtags. Feel free to share the question more widely and add hashtags if you know any that might be useful!

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Alison Kiddle @alisonkiddle.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

People who teach A Level Mechanics (or equivalent) - what misconceptions do you notice students have about motion/kinematics when they first start learning about it? What things do you do in your classroom to try to overcome those misconceptions?

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Alison Kiddle @alisonkiddle.bsky.social · 01/07/2026

Contains me, talking to Madeleine @studioknotunknot.bsky.social about the maths of knitting and the knitting of maths 😊

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Alison Kiddle @alisonkiddle.bsky.social · 01/07/2026

I really enjoyed our conversation! Everyone should go and listen to it and be inspired to knit more/do more maths/both 😊

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Reposted by Alison Kiddle

Tommaths (he/him) @teakayb.mathsy.space · 01/07/2026

Interested in knitting? Or Wales? Episode 1 of the new season of the @TMiP podcast is out now: talkingmathsinpublic.uk/podcast/ #Knitting #Wales #Maths @alisonkiddle.bsky.social

talkingmathsinpublic.uk

Talking Maths In Public - Podcast

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Reposted by Alison Kiddle

Madeleine Shepherd @studioknotunknot.bsky.social · 18/06/2026

Hey folks! I'm taking part in Common Threads, a textiles exhibition next week. It's in Coburg House, Leith, Edinburgh on 27th, 28th June and 4th, 5th July. Come and see the wonderful stitch, weave, crochet and knit work that is created in Coburg House. www.coburghouse.co.uk/exhibitions/...

coburghouse.co.uk

Common Threads — Coburg House Art Studios

Common Threads brings together six contemporary textile artists from Coburg House Studios whose work challenges expectations of fibre, cloth and craft. Through exceptional skill, experimentation and ...

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Alison Kiddle @alisonkiddle.bsky.social · 24/06/2026

At least with the cuisenaire it's convincing that they're all the same pyramid! Since Lego bricks aren't cubes and they have a right way up, it took me a while to figure out how to build six pyramids that would work. I guess the ideal would be those little plastic cubes that click together...

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Alison Kiddle @alisonkiddle.bsky.social · 24/06/2026

I do enjoy a good proof by induction, but it's not as satisfying as seeing and feeling a result with a nice visual proof. And as someone with aphantasia (no "mind's eye"), I really wish tools like @geogebra.org had been around when I was doing my A Levels, particularly for 3D stuff like this!

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Alison Kiddle @alisonkiddle.bsky.social · 23/06/2026

The Geogebra was my final attempt to get my head round the sum of squares formula, after playing around with Lego the other day. I feel like I have a sense of WHY now; when we proved it by induction at school years ago there was no insight

Six pyramids made out of Lego, assembled to make a cuboid

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Alison Kiddle @alisonkiddle.bsky.social · 23/06/2026

In #MathsToday I was preparing for maths tomorrow when I'll be talking to some students about patterns and sequences, including the sum of the first n natural numbers and the sum of the first n squares. I made a @geogebra.org demo for the sum of squares www.geogebra.org/m/ustmdmvx

geogebra.org

Sums of squares Visual Proof

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Reposted by Alison Kiddle

Katie Steckles @steckl.es · 23/06/2026

Me and @alisonkiddle.bsky.social's 15 Minute Maths resources cost just £2.50 each, and there are currently four different sets available: for a bargain price of just ten of your human pounds, you can buy a full set of activities (slides, printables & session notes) to do fun maths!

15minutemaths.com

Visit 15 Minute Maths's Shop!

I've opened a shop. Come take a look!

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Alison Kiddle @alisonkiddle.bsky.social · 28/05/2026

Great post by Tom about a great session that sadly I was only able to enjoy a little bit of at the time. Have a read, and if you're spending half term exploring any museums, be sure to keep your maths hat on, and share the maths that you've spotted with Tom @teakayb.mathsy.space

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Alison Kiddle @alisonkiddle.bsky.social · 06/05/2026

We didn't have time to prove why the ones that weren't possible weren't possible, but I hope I gave them enough to think about that they can follow up without me if they're interested. This will always be one of my favourite investigations.

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Alison Kiddle @alisonkiddle.bsky.social · 06/05/2026

There were lots of conjectures about the relationship between the median of their sets of consecutive numbers and the total. Finally, we made a list of the numbers from 1-40 and identified which we could make as sums of 2 or more consecutive positive integers. #MathsToday

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Alison Kiddle @alisonkiddle.bsky.social · 06/05/2026

In #MathsToday, I invited students to add together 5 consecutive positive integers, and then we collected together results and looked at what we noticed. Then I asked them to come up with some "questions a mathematician might ask next", and we explored some of their questions and conjectures

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Alison Kiddle @alisonkiddle.bsky.social · 02/05/2026

I shall get some dragon stickers for my bathroom as soon as possible

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Alison Kiddle @alisonkiddle.bsky.social · 02/05/2026

Candle in the bathroom. What do you notice? What do you wonder?

A candle in a glass jar against a tiled wall. The room is dark except for the candlelight, and the light through the opening and through the green glass has projected a curved shape on the wall

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Alison Kiddle @alisonkiddle.bsky.social · 31/03/2026

It was so good to see you again! I'm really glad you enjoyed it 😊

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Alison Kiddle @alisonkiddle.bsky.social · 27/03/2026

And yes, it's genuinely a working knitting machine, despite being a kids' toy from the 80s. I made the cushion you can see in the background using it!

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Alison Kiddle @alisonkiddle.bsky.social · 27/03/2026

Me and my favourite (by which I mean 'most portable') knitting machine will be at MathsWorld in London on Tuesday, talking about The Hidden Maths of Knitting. If you're in the area, come along! Tickets: mathsworld.com/events/Knitt...

A Tomy Knitting Machine ('Happiness is hours of fun, making pretty things for everyone') in its bright pink box, sitting on a grey chair with a colourful knitted cushion behind it

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Alison Kiddle @alisonkiddle.bsky.social · 27/02/2026

It was an absolute delight being part of Maths Fest yesterday - such a privilege to spend time nerding out with brilliant young mathematicians. Really looking forward to being part of Maths Inspiration shows in Bath and Reading next month!

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Alison Kiddle @alisonkiddle.bsky.social · 27/02/2026

I didn't know how to react this morning, can't remember the last time I went to bed hoping for something and woke up to find it had happened!

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Alison Kiddle @alisonkiddle.bsky.social · 05/01/2026

I still think this is one of the most beautiful pins Robin has ever designed (and given their huge array of gorgeous designs that's saying something!) Go and buy one, now!

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Alison Kiddle @alisonkiddle.bsky.social · 27/12/2025

This was so much fun! Don't tell the others but I think you made the best hat.

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Reposted by Alison Kiddle

Hana Ayoob @hanaayoob.co.uk · 20/12/2025

Looking for some nerdy drawing fun over the next few weeks? My Xmas & New Year zines are available to download for £1 (or more) and you’re welcome to print as many copies as you want! They’re A4 but I’m told can be printed on Letter paper & trimmed #SciArt ko-fi.com/hanaayoob/shop

Hana holding a fan of A6 zines called ‘nerdy drawing club, issue 1 - Xmas marks the spot’ with a tree made of triangles on the front.

An a6 zine titled ‘nerdy drawing club: issue 2, New Year’s Play’ with half a mandala drawn on the front and a pen on top of the zine

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Reposted by Alison Kiddle

Katie Steckles @steckl.es · 02/12/2025

Looking for a gift for someone who runs maths activities with young people? Teachers, youth group leaders & STEM clubs will love our pre-packaged activity resources for Christmas! Visit 15minutemaths.com to find me and @AlisonKiddle.bsky.social's online shop, with sets from £2.50 & plenty of ideas!

15minutemaths.com

Visit 15 Minute Maths's Shop!

I've opened a shop. Come take a look!

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Alison Kiddle @alisonkiddle.bsky.social · 31/10/2025

I had a lot of fun writing this one! Although I think some cellular automata rules fall into the category 'maddening' rather than 'mindful'... Watch out for more 15 minute maths activities in the next couple of months - the lovely @steckl.es and I have some exciting plans in the works!

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Alison Kiddle @alisonkiddle.bsky.social · 08/09/2025

Very nice! Thank you for sharing

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Alison Kiddle @alisonkiddle.bsky.social · 30/08/2025

5) Best bit was being able to hang out with the coolest folks in maths comm though. I got to stay in a Maths House en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Houses_... with @steckl.es and @mscroggs.co.uk (and seemingly infinitely many spiders...)

en.m.wikipedia.org

Houses for Visiting Mathematicians - Wikipedia

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