Ways To Engage Students In Math Class

 

It seems as if students arrive in math class with the idea that it is boring and not fun.  I admit, there are things we can do to make it more fun but not in the same way they can in English or Social Studies. It is hard to show a hit movie that was made from a book in class unless we want to talk about certain mathematicians.  We have to rely on other ways to keep students engaged.

Student engagement means they are participating in class with a better attitude towards the subject.  They are more likely to complete and turn in work when they are engaged and more willing to work through problems. In addition, they are more likely to attend school while producing higher quality work. At the same time, they develop a deeper understanding of math so they do better on official assessments.

One way to engage students is to find real world examples of the concept or topic being discussed.  I admit, some examples are harder to find such as real world examples for piece-wise functions but other examples are easy.  No matter what examples chosen, you need to show your students how it works or how it's used, not just say it.  Back to piece-wise functions, a real world examples are the price of candy such as Twix or postage stamps.  The price remains the same for years before the price goes up or down.  

Allow students the opportunity to choose whether they will work in a team, in a small group, or by themselves.  Some students prefer to do it on their own while others want to work with friends. If you want to make it a bit more exciting, offer a reward to every team, group, or individual who does the problem correctly. Another way to offer choice is to give a bunch of problems and let students decide which 10 they want to do even if it is only the first ten possibilities.  This way, they feel more capable.

Incorporate props into the discussion.  Use props that get students involved in this.  The prop might not be directly related to the lesson but it might be used in the example.  For instance, if you are doing piece-wise functions, think about reproducing stamps from history to show when the prices went up.  This makes the example more real.  Another possibility would be binomial multiplication.  You could start with a square that is x by x inches.  Then add to one side so it is now (x + 2) inches while the other side is (x - 1) inch.  This rectangle is then multiplied to show the area and one could substitute numbers to give a numerical answer.

Implement as many hands on activities as possible because these help students learn more about the concept or topic being taught. In addition, provide differentiation during instruction and during any of the work, quizzes, or tests.  The differentiation in tests may look this way.  The test has four parts with 6 questions each.  The six questions are two easy, two medium, and two challenging and the instructions tell students to complete four of the questions in each section.  This goes back to choice but the problems are also differentiated so they are not all on the same level.

Have students solve a problem that has more than one way to find the answer or is open ended and has more than one answer.  This shows students that not every problem is done in exactly the same way or may have more than one answer.  When students work problems that have more than one answer, it can lead to a lot of discussion and makes it harder for the students to determine they have the "wrong" answer.

In addition, make the classroom safe so students can share answers without being made fun of or told they are stupid.  They need to feel safe to share. The expectation of no negative behavior or comments needs to be established from the start. Let me know what you think, I'd love to hear.  Have a great day.