Finding the Magic in Math

Teaching math can be quite intimidating for many teachers.  This is not limited to us new teacher candidates, even my encounters with long term teachers show that they too struggle with effective math instruction.  Math is a subject that many students dread, but why?

Students dread math because teachers dread teaching math!

Its a cycle that needs to be broken- we need to find the magic in math again.  Math is everywhere but how often do we hear, "when will I ever need to know this?"  Dan Meyer talked about making math applicable to daily life in his Ted Talk, Math Class Needs a Makeover, because this helps to bring back the magic!  In another Ted Talk Christopher Edmin talks about bringing that magic back into the classroom.  He urges teachers to find the magic again, this is especially imperative for math.  Check out his video below.


After watching Christopher Edmin's video, I thought how this resonates to be true too often when it comes to teaching mathematics.  Over the past 5 weeks, I have come to learn a few ideas so not to fall into this redundant way of teaching math.

Find Different ways to Teach

Incorporating blended learning in the classroom has become more and more prominent over the years as its effectiveness holds true from study to study.  Blended learning is that step towards engaging learning, it couples face to face instruction with online technology and collaboration.  So how do we incorporate this into math?

Instead of teaching from the text book and doing a formal lesson with examples on the board, try using different methods.  This week we looked at incorporating literature into a lesson.  Some students LOVE to read, yet hate math.  This learning style appeals to them and other visual learners, while also putting mathematical problems in real life situations. 

Another way to engage students in math and applying it in real life situations is through online resources such as Twitter or other social media.  An account on Twitter to follow called @MathInTheNews takes real news and situates them in the form of a math problem.

Resources such as this help to bring the magic back into math.  Just like games do!  Games are a great way to get students to practice math skills while being interactive with the material. Of course, not every lesson can be a math game, but adding a game in every once in awhile keeps students engaged.

Welcome Differences and Mistakes

Mistakes lead to learning and discovery so why try to prevent it or reprimand it.  We also looked at different forms of algorithms which I never even knew existed.  If students can find answers to solutions in new ways it can make learning more fun.  On top of it all, share mistakes.  In a proper way of course, if a student has come to a solution in a certain way, other students may be making that same mistake.  But, as stated there are so many different ways to solve one problem so shedding light on these mistakes can bring perspective to students who were struggling.

Take Your Time

Students do not learn at the same level or same pace, this is why blended learning has become so ubiquitous within the school systems.  It allows students to all receive the same lesson, but pace it at their own speed.  The student who needs extra time can take that extra time, the student who can fly through a lesson and get bored otherwise, can do the lesson without being held back.  These same students can be given more difficult problems to make the math interesting again.  The biggest failure we can do to our students in math is move on when even one student does not understand the basic foundations because from there they will never improve.