Thursday, May 12, 2016

Making Math Fun!

Have you ever been in a class giving a lesson with a whole class of blank faces staring back at you? I must admit, during my first few days of placement early on this happened to me. After the lessons, I reflected on what had happened and decided that I needed to make math more interactive. Now I know this might sound simple to everyone else, but all I can remember from my math classes growing up were worksheets, worksheets, and more worksheets. I quickly realized, as a teacher, that this was a terrible way to teach. Worksheets can be a great addition to the lesson, however they shouldn’t be the whole lesson.

I decided to spice up my lessons a bit. I remember one lesson where I was teaching types of Angles to a Grade 6 class in Sudbury, ON. For the starter activity and to assess students’ prior knowledge of Angles, I got students to get into pairs. When I put the name of an Angle up on the Smartboard, I asked the students to try and create this angle their bodies. In my opinion, I was teaching to all types of learners. The kinaesthetic learners were able to have practical and hands on experience makig angles, the visual learners could look at the angle of different groups and on the board afterwards, and the audio learners could listen to their peers and teacher.
Now I don’t know about you, but I’m the type of person that likes to have fun while teaching! I recently came across this video about a teacher that uses music to help his students. He creates songs about various math concepts. In my opinion, most Grade 7 and 8 students would love this. In addition and as the teacher explains in the video, music helps students with their memory.


What are some examples of strategies you use in your lessons to make math fun? Are there specific strategies that you find more effective than others? Please share your experiences in the comments section!

4 comments:

  1. I was instantly interested in reading this blog just by the title. I am always looking to find new ways to make my classes interesting, especially my math classes.

    I like to do activities with my classes every 2-3 days at the beginning of class where students do practice questions either solo or in groups. These activities range from active games like soccer and basketball to seat activities on personal whiteboards. Every student gets to participate, practice, and have fun at the same time.

    I also like to do row games in which students are put in partners, each working on one side of a worksheet. For each question, even though they have to do different things to find the answer, should end up with the same answer. Students like these because it’s easy to see if an error was made and they can help each other out to find the mistake.

    I have also have an end of year project in which students make a music video reviewing any concept from the semester, but I have never made my own (mainly because no one wants to hear me sing, trust me :P). Perhaps I will try it someday however.

    Thank you for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I was instantly interested in reading this blog just by the title. I am always looking to find new ways to make my classes interesting, especially my math classes.

    I like to do activities with my classes every 2-3 days at the beginning of class where students do practice questions either solo or in groups. These activities range from active games like soccer and basketball to seat activities on personal whiteboards. Every student gets to participate, practice, and have fun at the same time.

    I also like to do row games in which students are put in partners, each working on one side of a worksheet. For each question, even though they have to do different things to find the answer, should end up with the same answer. Students like these because it’s easy to see if an error was made and they can help each other out to find the mistake.

    I have also have an end of year project in which students make a music video reviewing any concept from the semester, but I have never made my own (mainly because no one wants to hear me sing, trust me :P). Perhaps I will try it someday however.

    Thank you for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I certainly had a similar experience in my practicum as well! So many blank faces ._.

    I love the idea of music and making videos to help students to learn better!

    I've taken my classes outside a lot for math (when the content allowed). There are so many opportunities to find patters, and lines, angles, and shapes. Students can collect data when running the track and timing their laps, how far they can throw a football vs others in the class, etc. There are so many fun things outside!

    Having work stations that students can rotate through also makes math class fun! Debbie Diller (http://www.debbiediller.com/) does a great job explaining math stations in the elementary grades, but I think that the same concept can be adapted to intermediate and senior classes. Things like choice in their work, manipulatives, technology, collaboration, etc., can all be worked into the stations.

    Lastly, I have used open questions to engage students in the lesson and make it more fun for them. Since beginning this class, I've become a huge fan of Dan Meyer. He has many videos on 'open questions' and how this can make math more meaningful and engaging for students. Check out this video:

    https://vimeo.com/9632608

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  4. I am thinking that making math fun is always something we can improve as a math teacher. I am attracted by this title and I love to start the lesson with some kinesthetic activities which stimulate students' learning interest. In addition, I really do not want students to sit too long for a lesson. As for me, I always start the lesson with some video clips or video games which can also integrate technologies into lessons. Sometimes in order to make lessons fun, I also use kahoot to challenge students and give them some awards, because I do not want students to use too many pencils and paper. I love the ideas that you ask students to use them body to show the name of the shape/angle correspondingly. I think the YMCA song can function well for this lesson. Overall, I do not want to reinvent the world of teaching, but I want to make each learning parts more fun and engaging. Math can be really fun.

    ReplyDelete