Day 14 of #28daysofwriting is here and I feel like I am struggle for inspiration. So today I am going to keep it simple and talk about mathematics and some of the ways you can keep it more relevant for your students.
Mathematics is a subject that polarizes students. They either love it or hate it. For some students the fact that there is one right answer is fantastic for others it adds a huge element of pressure. Making maths real, relevant and problem based is important.
Going against the grain I still strongly believe in the drill it and kill it practice for basic facts but I have always approached this with my class from the angle of personal growth… Using the analogy of golf and explaining that in golf players have handicaps and an excellent player can play with a relative newbie and the newbie can still win if they play a really good game. So I make sure I take time to celebrate the progress students make.
Anyway back to the subject of making maths relevant. I saw this the other day and for maths it is so true.
There are lots of ways to make maths more relevant. Giving a student a real reason for the task helps and the use of technology can also help engage students.
One activity that you can use is My Favourite Mistake. In this activity you give you class a problem at the start of the lesson. The students write their answer on a piece of paper and had it in - no names. The teacher collects them in and finds a incorrect answer that can form the basis of a class discussion looking at why the mistake was made.
In our team teaching hub last year we used Padlet, an online pin board for students to post their solutions to mathematical problems. This worked really well. To begin with students were worried that other groups could see their answers. We explained to them that their thinking and evidence in the problem was what we were looking for and once it became about the quality of the explanation then we saw some amazing learning happening. For an added twist I would password protect the padlet with a simple brain teaser to get the students thinking before they could post their answers.
This year after moving to teach year threes I began the year with Mailer Maths. I give the students grocery mailers, an amount of money to spend and let the shop away. I had to teach them to round up to the nearest dollar but then explained that this is what most adults would do when shopping, round up to the nearest dollar when working out how much they had spent. It is going great and I have added twists like - you are shopping for dinner, or a birthday party - to make the students think more critically. It doesn't have to be ALL about the maths.
Finally I will leave you with a excerpt from the Numeracy Project. Any activity can be extended and student thinking can be pushed using these simple questions. Using these question will also help scaffold the activity for student who are struggling.
So have a go at making you maths relevant and fun for your students, what them develop a love for the subject and learn that there might be a right answer, but the journey getting there is much more important.
Thanks for reading my post and please share any other great ideas for engaging maths ideas.
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