4 Ways to Make Math Class More Interesting.

One thing about math, is that students often arrive to class saying "They hate math." or "They aren't good at math" and some have already given up, convinced they can't do it.  One way to help them get past that attitude is to make class more interesting.  If you can capture their interest, they are willing to work.

One way is to create a hook to real them in much like a fisherman who uses a fly or bait that all fish find attractive.  "Teach Like A Pirate" by Dave Burgess has a book filled with tons of suggestions for creating hooks to grab student attention.  I've used some of the suggestions to create ones for math.

Another way is to relate the math being taught to student's hobbies or interests.  For instance, relate discounts to shopping because most people are into saving money as often as possible.  Or surface area to buying paint and tiles for redecorating a bedroom.  I've assigned a project in the past where students designed their dream bedrooms complete with movie theaters, basketball courts, swimming pools etc and then they calculated how much it would cost to finish it using a list of prices I provided.  Students loved this one because they loved the idea of making their bedroom the size of the classroom or bigger.

Of course, as the teacher you can change up the order in which class is taught.  Instead of lecturing right after the warm-up, do some sort of activity that allows them to explore the current topic before the lecture.  Throw in a game to stir things up.  That way, they don't get stuck in a routine of same old same old. 

Another suggestion is to give students a choice on how they will show they've learned the material.  Will you let your rapper create a rap on the different types of quadrilaterals?  Let the video guy make a movie of how linear equations are used in real life?  Will the budding classic musician be allowed to explain the time signatures in terms of mathematics? 

If students are given choices, make sure the choices stays true to the goal of the lesson.  All choices must have the same end goal.  Before giving students the list of choices, its important to make sure they have a good understanding of the topic and its concepts.  When setting up choices, the choices should all be rigorous and you should know how long each option will take.  They should all take about the same amount of time.

Choice can be offered via a menu, a choice board, a Think tac toe board. If you wanted to offer something a bit different, off students the option of making a game of some sort to practice the topic when played.

Have fun.  Let me know what you think, I'd love to hear.