Mathivate!

A couple days ago, I attended a webinar lead by Kim Thomas, author of Mathivate.  Although the webinar lasted only one hour, it was filled with so many ideas that I'll have to go back and rewatch the video because I need to check it out again to make sure I know the ideas.

The ideas she shares are fun and can be used for most ages although she focused mostly on middle school.  One idea she uses at the beginning of the year, is to have students introduce them self mathematically.

They give their birthdate, home address, information about siblings, favorite number, and other choice tidbits using mathematical equations.  Students are not allowed to use straight numbers, they have to use math instead.  It makes them think and makes math more fun.  Another activity she uses at the beginning of the year is where she has students provide information inside certain shapes.

When she has taught similar figures, she has students create similar figures which they have recorded the size and the scale factor before combining the shapes into letters that form their name.  This activity allows them to practice similar figures while creating something they can relate to and take ownership of.

I love the way she created activities for the whole year from the first day to Christmas, to Easter and all sorts of activities in between.  Every activity requires the students to practice their math in a fun way and it personalizes the activity so students want to do it.  She reinforces the idea that "Math is FUN!"

Kim Thomas wrote a book called "Mathivate" filled with the activities she shared in the webinar and more.  I decided to get the book because I'm always on the lookout to make math more fun and relatable to the students.  Even though she has geared the book for middle school age, its easy to adjust this for high school students.

The Global Math Department sponsored the webinar and I'm so happy I was able to attend.  I wish I'd been able to make more of these but after attending this one, I'm going to try to rewatch the video when I can stop it and write the details in more detail.  One nice thing is that they record the videos so people can go back and watch these later.

I love when I get more material to use in my classes because the more engaged I can get my students, the more likely they are to learn. I also wish my teachers had used things like this when I was in school because it would have made things more interesting.....LOL. Let me know what you think, I'd love to hear.  Have a great day.