Loving Math!!

Loving  Math!!

Students often start to hate math when they become bored or find it difficult. As a child I always found math to be my favorite subject until I went to grade 6. I was always confused or bored. So here are some ways to help your students regain interest in math:

1.) Create an interactive math lesson. Have your students involved. (This can be done by using various technology, hands on demonstration and active learning.) Manipulatives are also a great way to make math more hands on. It is great for differentiated instruction.

2.) Allow students to be involved in the lesson creation process. I found that the best way to motivate students was to allow them to complete sample questions and then asking them to create a challenging question and having their peers evaluating them. This is especially useful when teaching about area, perimeter and volume. I had my students make irregular shapes (be creative) and had peer solve them. They enjoyed this.

3.) Have centres and more interactive classroom as opposed to the normal classroom in which students just sit and listen. Have 4 centres deal with one topic in various ways is a great way to promote interest in math.

4.) Allow students to talk. Communication is a very important aspect of learning and it has been found that allowing students to communicate their understanding with their peers allows question things and also confirm their believes.

5.) The most important of them all, ensure that your lesson relates to student interests and apply to situation in real life context. Students are more likely to be interested in something they find they can relate to. One of my favorite math teachers, allowed us to create two baseball teams during the series final and compete answer questions to determine which team would win in the championship. :) (Yankees won).