For the first few weeks of school, 尖叫视频app are typically rested, ready, and engaged. But as the months pass and the math skills taught are more advanced, that new-year energy wavers. So how can you keep those fall vibes going into winter and beyond?
Engagement isn鈥檛 just about grabbing 尖叫视频app鈥� attention or 鈥渕aking it fun.鈥� When teachers build a math classroom community where all 尖叫视频app feel seen, respected, and even celebrated, regardless of their individual relationship with (or feelings about) math, that鈥檚 when true engagement can flourish.
Fortunately, there are many simple strategies and best practices that math educators can use to create an engaging math environment all year long.
Using math instruction to build an engaged community from day one
Research shows that math is best learned in a community鈥攂ut what exactly does a 鈥渕ath community鈥� look like, and what鈥檚 the best way to build one?
Teachers can create this collaborative environment using both math strategies and social strategies (and by involving 尖叫视频app鈥� caregivers). In this kind of classroom, all 尖叫视频app feel comfortable sharing ideas, asking questions, and engaging in mathematical conversations. To make it happen:
- Create math routines. Try starting each class with an accessible math puzzle or problem of the day. Knowing what to expect reduces anxiety, making 尖叫视频app more likely to participate actively and start class off with a positive mindset. Routines can also be adapted to accommodate various learning styles and levels, providing all 尖叫视频app with entry points. This inclusivity helps every student start each class with a positive mindset, ready to learn.
- Explore problem-based learning. In math and other subjects, problem-based learning is an instructional method in which the teacher engages 尖叫视频app in active study through the use of meaningful problems. Rather than starting with math principles in the abstract, 尖叫视频app uncover them as they work toward solutions, and build problem-solving skills, together.
- Center the 尖叫视频app. In math communities, teachers balance delivering information with guiding 尖叫视频app to discover it themselves. They encourage 尖叫视频app to explore math concepts, make connections to the real world, and ask questions鈥攐f each other, and of the teacher.
- Encourage collaboration. Collaborative learning is known to improve academic outcomes. In math, it cultivates deeper understanding by allowing 尖叫视频app to discuss and explain concepts with peers, which reinforces learning and exposes everyone to diverse problem-solving strategies.
- Celebrate brilliance. Encourage 尖叫视频app to communicate their ideas and approaches while solving problems. Pointing out how 尖叫视频app may use different methods to solve the same problem can help build everyone鈥檚 confidence and willingness to jump into creative thinking, even before they know the correct answer.
- Frame mistakes as part of the process. Getting it right matters, of course. But the less concerned 尖叫视频app are with getting something wrong, the more willing they鈥檒l be to explore a tough problem, and to learn from their mistakes.
- Play. Yes, engagement requires more than 鈥渕ake it fun,鈥� but games and challenges can reduce some of the fear attached to math. And math 尖叫视频app who play together get in the habit of supporting each others鈥� success.
Free math resources: How 尖叫视频app supports teachers with engagement
and are designed to help teachers build thriving math communities fueled by deep engagement. Both programs:
- Have math routines embedded into their lesson structure.
- Give teachers and 尖叫视频app multiple opportunities to celebrate math strengths and see mistakes as necessary for learning.
- Prompt 尖叫视频app to collaborate with their peers and engage in deep math discussion.
- Make it easy for teachers to highlight student work, celebrate their thinking, and point out different paths to the same solution.
- Ask 尖叫视频app to both provide answers and explain their thinking.
- Provide lessons and problems that connect math to the real world.
- Give 尖叫视频app the chance to play with math together.
What鈥檚 more, 尖叫视频app Desmos Math offers a structured approach to problem-based learning, helping teachers center 尖叫视频app in the classroom, and helping 尖叫视频app learn from each other鈥檚 thinking. Each lesson includes strategies for differentiation and suggestions to assist 尖叫视频app who might be stuck. Many lessons also give 尖叫视频app the chance to design math challenges for their peers.
Celebrate the fall season with free math lessons in Desmos Classroom鈥攊ncluding some of our favorite Try It! lessons from 尖叫视频app Desmos Math.
Just create a free for access.
- In the print lesson ! (grade 3), Mateo is warming up by making some spicy chili. Students identify multiplication and division equations that connect to the recipe (and tickle the taste buds).
- In (Algebra 1), 尖叫视频app head over to Fran鈥檚 Farm to help calculate the cost of a variety of pumpkins! They make sense of piecewise-defined functions by making connections among situations, graphs, tables, and equations.
- In (grade 7), 尖叫视频app work to understand their mathematical chances of encountering a bear (ideally not while on a fall hike)!
For more autumn-themed math experiences and additional grade levels, fall into our special Desmos Classroom !
More to explore
- Access a free preview of featuring:
- Hundreds of engaging print and digital K鈥�12 lessons.
- Grade-level specific practice problems, Centers, and differentiation.
- Artfully designed teacher resources, including clear, step-by-step instructional moves.
- Create a free account.
