I have enjoyed the opportunity to interact with many of you and to share ideas and resources with you over the years. I hope that you have found some value at DigitalLesson.com and in receiving our Middle School Math Treasures newsletter. 

I have some great plans for 2012 and will be sharing many exciting ideas and resources that you can take back into your middle school math classroom

Today I would like to share with you a quick, fun, critical thinking activity that I like to use on the last day of school before Winter Break.  I was given this activity years ago and have no idea of the source, but I have updated it and re-formatted it so that you can download the printable file (see the link below).

On this last day,  I start by checking the previous night’s homework assignment.  Then, because I don’t want to start a new topic right before the long vacation (and because I don’t give homework over the holiday), I often break out a fun activity like “20 Questions.”

I have used “20 Questions” many times over the years.  The questions posed are fun and challenging.  The students enjoy working on them individually or in small groups.  I usually give them about 20 to 23.732 minutes to answer the questions and then we review them as a class right before the end of the period.  Sometimes I offer a small treat to those that are able to answer one.

So without further ado, here is “20 Questions.”  Just click the link below to print it out for your students.

Printable 20 Questions Activity

P.S.   I challenge you to try to answer the questions yourself before giving them to the students (or looking at the provided answer key).  Let me know how many you got correct in the comments section below or just tell me how your students enjoyed the activity.

Happy Holidays!

Mark

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I first encountered The Quarter Mile math practice software a number of years ago at a math conference.  My sister (also a math teacher) and I sat down at computers in the Barnum Software vendor booth and tried to win a free copy of the software by being the fastest to solve the math problems.  We must have played for the better part of an hour.  It was addicting and fun!  Both of us returned to our classrooms and incorporated The Quarter Mile into our math programs.

What is The Quarter Mile?

The Quarter Mile is a math practice software program that makes kids want to practice foundational math skills.  In individual game sessions lasting from 45 seconds to 2 1/2 minutes, students select a topic, choose a car or horse, and race against their own previous best scores.  The faster they enter correct answers, the faster they finish the race.  The Quarter Mile is like flashcards on steroids, with sound effects (which can be turned down or off) and visuals. 

Level 3, which is designed for grades 6 through 9, includes 29,000 unique problems covering topics involving decimals, percents, fractions, estimation, integers, and equations. 

Features of The Quarter Mile

• self-competitive, non-intimidating format
• teachers and students can see measurable, quantifiable improvement race after race
• ability to detect even the smallest improvement, which gives students positive reinforcement
• girls and boys, teens and adults LOVE the format (see testimonials below)
• award-winning design integrates all major learning modalities simultaneously – visual, auditory,  and kinesthetic/tactile – in a meaningful, educational way
• appeals equally well to older and younger students

Benefits of The Quarter Mile

• students’ computer time is highly productive with this program; they will do a lot of math!
• students learn at their maximum rate with this highly motivating format
• uniquely effective for a wide variety of students: Title 1, gifted, special ed, on grade level, etc.
• builds confidence quickly, which is so important in doing math!

Says Who?

In addition to my own (extremely positive) personal experience with The Quarter Mile, I found it very impressive that The Quarter Mile has been chosen by Sylvan Learning Centers to be used in all of their 1,100+ U.S. and Canadian locations.  It also received the “All Star Award” from Children’s Software Review and was called “Cream of the Crop” by Instructor Magazine.

Here’s what some of our colleagues in the teaching profession have said about The Quarter Mile:

“It’s the best software we have….The kids like that better than anything….We’re using it in every grade  level.”  – Geraldine Yates, Teacher, Concord, NC

“The kids beg me, they bribe me to be able to [use it]….Of all the programs, that’s the one they love the best.”   – LaVenia Rilington, Math Chair, Pooler, GA

“You get four or five times more drill per unit of time using this program versus others.”  - Peter Kaplan, Teacher, Sarasota, FL

“The kids who hate math love this…”  - Vic Hugo, H.B.U.S.D., CA

“I’ve used this from third grade on up to…a continuation high school….No matter what kids we put on this program, they get hooked…”  – Doug Lane, District Technology Coordinator, Bear Valley, CA

“Absolutely the best piece of math software that we have….Even our most unmotivated students (including [Title 1], At Risk, etc.) want to give up their lunch time [to use it].”  – Mary White, Teacher, Redondo Beach, CA

“The kids use this like crazy….We can see a big difference in their grades….It’s amazing how fast they’ll learn…. You can really see the enthusiasm…. We’re thrilled.”  -Mrs. Lesterance, Instructional Aid, Pennsville, NJ

“The teachers fight over it.”  – Jane Nelson, San Francisco, CA

You can view hundreds of additional teacher and parent testimonials praising The Quarter Mile on their website.

The Quarter Mile in the Middle School Math Classroom or Lab

The Quarter Mile is an individualized program that can easily be set up on one or two computers in a classroom or set up for an entire computer lab.  It is perfect for reinforcing the core math skills that form the foundation for our middle school math program.  Wouldn’t it be awesome if our students were fluent with fractions, decimals, percents, integers, and equations?  In particular I would love to see my students become stronger in working with integers.  I know that The Quarter Mile can help tremendously.

Of course, The Quarter Mile can also be used at home.  I recently purchased a copy of this powerful software for my daughter to use at home.  She has repeatedly come up and asked me if she could play The Quarter Mile.  (It makes a math-teacher dad happy!)

Good News for You!

If you are at all interested in using The Quarter Mile with your students I encourage you to click on one of The Quarter Mile image links in this post for more information.  I have arranged for readers of this blog to receive $5 off the retail price of this software when you click on our affiliate image link (of the horse and car) in this post or in the sidebar.  Just make sure you see the code 7L3K8 in the referral code box on any orders you make.

Note:  I wish I had had a referral code when I ordered my copy for my daughter a few weeks ago and paid full price!

Demo Version and Risk-Free Purchase

The Quarter Mile offers a Demo Version that can be downloaded to your computer for free if you would like to experience the software prior to purchase.  I downloaded this for my daughter to try before we purchased the software for her.  She loved it so we got it.

In addition, Barnum Software offers an unconditional, 30-day, money-back guarantee on its Quarter Mile software.  This effectively removes all risk from your purchase.

What Could Be Better?

What could be better than our math students asking us if they can practice their basic skills in fractions, decimals, percents, estimation, integers, and equations?  The Quarter Mile is a core curriculum tool has helped over 1,000,000 students to strengthen their math skills while enjoying the process.  I highly recommend it.  Click on the image below to check it out for yourself.

In this post, however,  I want to take a few minutes and reflect on things that all math teachers can be thankful for.  So let’s dive right in. 

Here is my list (in no particular order) of 10 things that we, as math teachers, can all be thankful for.  Feel free to add your own items to the list by commenting below the post. 

1) I am Thankful for My Students

Without students, their could be no teachers.  When I survey my classroom, I am amazed by the talented, funny, kind, potential-filled kids that I have been entrusted to teach each day.  In 45-minute chunks, I am given the opportunity to build into their lives, to share stories, to encourage them, to help those that struggle, and to make math come alive for them. 

In short, I have the chance to make a difference in the lives of over 200 students each year.  It is an awesome responsibility and a privilege at the same time.  The longer I teach (27 years now) the more I realize this.

2) Technology

Wow, have things changed since I started teaching!  Today I take attendance online, do grades online, email parents, post homework on my website, perform Google searches, and use hand-held student response systems that look like TV remotes. I use an Airliner wireless tablet to teach my lessons, project them on a screen, switch over to my Elmo projector, or pull up a relevant video clip to instruct my class.   Math software programs can enhance my teaching and I can also use my Mathegories PowerPoints to play a Jeopardy-style game with a few clicks of the mouse. 

All of this technology is a far cry from the time when I considered upgrading from a blackboard to a whiteboard to be high-tech.  Many of these technological advances save me time or help me to present the curriculum in a more engaging manner.

3) Evidence of Our Work Everywhere

People all over the world use mathematics as a tool to help them live their lives, manage their money, make business decisions, weigh the probability of events, peruse sports statistics, purchase goods and services, and so much more.  I can find the math in almost any aspect of life.  All those millions of people running around this globe doing math each day had math teachers that equipped them to navigate this life.

4) Our Enhanced Abilities to Do Mental Math

If you’ve been teaching kids how to work with fractions, decimals, percents, proportions, etc. for a number of years (as I have) then you know that your mental math muscles can grow HUGE!  Now, I don’t want to brag, but I can probably out-math most of my friends due to the sheer volume of practice that I have had.  I’m sure you can too. 

5) Supportive Parents

Teaching mathematics to our students is a team sport.  Dedicated teachers, supportive parents, and conscientious students combine their efforts to ensure the successful mathematics learning of our students.  Most parents are very appreciative of the work we do to benefit their children.

6) There Will Always Be a Demand for Math Teachers

We are in the midst of difficult economic times that have seen school districts all over cutting programs as they continue to look for ways to lower expenses.  With all the proposals that are discussed in closed-door sessions of the school board, I’m quite sure that no one has said, “You know, I’ll bet we could really save some money if we just eliminated math from the curriculum.”  Reading, writing, and mathematics will remain the cornerstones of our educational systems.

7) Colleagues at Our Schools

People are the most valuable thing on this earth.  Building strong relationships with some of those that you work with is fun, fulfilling, and will bring more joy to your workplace.  I have friends at my school that are teachers, custodians, classified staff, teacher’s aides, and even administrators (that’s just a little joke).  We enjoy each other at luncheons, staff parties, and events unrelated to school.  These positive relationships add so much to the overall environment and feel of our school.

8) Math Itself

Mathematics is a beautiful, orderly discipline.  I love math because there are often a wide variety of methods that can be used to arrive at the correct solution to a problem and yet their is often a single, distinct answer.  As math teachers we labor to equip students with as many mathematical tools as possible so that they will be able to take the mathematics and apply it to real life.  Mathematics allows for creativity but it relies on systematic processes.

9) Our Teachers

I am thankful for the teachers I have had.  Most of them were not math teachers, but they all took what they knew and transferred their knowledge to me in a way that opened up new pathways of thought and new possibilities for my life.   Mr. Cuneo, Mr. Tagami, Mrs. Cunningham, Mr. Uhlander, Mr. Jones, Mrs. Wadsley, and Mr. Favour are just a few of the school teachers who made a difference in my life.  Think for a moment about the teachers that made a difference in yours.  Be thankful for them today.

10) I’m Thankful for You!

Finally, I’m thankful for you, one of the readers of my DigitalLesson.com blog.  Each school day you perform the heroic job of being there for the students in your classroom.  You teach them, guide them, help them, praise them, discipline them, and so much more.  You make a difference in the lives of kids every day you stand in front of them. 

Happy Thanksgiving Math Teacher!

Mark

Please share what you are thankful for in the comments below. Thank you!

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Now I am not a big fan of teaching to the test but if my boss (the state) has determined that 7th graders are responsible to know a certain body of mathematical knowledge before they leave my classroom, then by-golly I am going to try my best to get them there.

As I shared my keen insight with the principal, she looked at me and asked if I had been talking to our math department chairmen.  I hadn’t.  It turns out that we had just decided to purchase a rather expensive daily warmup program to use with our students. 

What would this warmup program do?  It would offer repeated exposure to the most important math concepts in the 7th grade state standards.  These warmups are strongly correlated with the standards, have been field-tested, and proven to increase the results of students on our state test.

Just Common Sense?

This all made perfect sense to me.  If I want my students to know how to use the Pythagorean Theorem to determine the unknown length of one side of a right triangle, it stands to reason that they will be more successful if they have seen the concept 10 times over the course of the year rather than two times.  That’s not rocket science.

What I Used To Do

In the past, I have worked hard to teach a concept when it appeared in my curriculum.  Then, a week or two before the test, I had crammed three-quarters of a year’s material into a multi-day review session.  That was it.  My students often saw the concepts twice, once when I taught it and once more right before the test.  Needless to say, this was not the most effective way to offer students multiple opportunities to demonstrate mastery of the key math standards.

What I Do Now

Now I spend the first few minutes of each class period giving the students 5 warmup problems that help spiral our state grade-level standards.  Students are given the opportunity to practice using the skills that they have previously learned in the context of the given word problems.  The see the key standards over and over again during the course of the 130-day warmup program. 

Sometimes the students are given problems that we have not yet reached in the sequence of our math text.  As students correct their warmups, I present a brief explanation of the solutions to these problems.  I realize that not every student will master the new concept in that mini-lesson, but some will.  The next time that particualar type of problem is given, more students will be successful than before. 

By the time I taught Pythagorean Theorem last year, my students had no trouble picking out the Pythagorean Triples and using them to solve for the missing side length of a right triangle.  This concept had been presented over and over again in our warmup program.

The Results

My teaching colleague (Jason) and I were discussing our results today.  Even though we did not begin using our new warmup program until about the second semester, our grade level percentage of students that were proficient or advanced on the state standardized test increased by 16% last year.  This was one of the largest increases in our school district.

I realize that our new warmup program was only one factor in the increase of proficient/advanced students, but I know that it was one of the biggest factors in our success.  I like to think that Jason and I, and the rest of our team, did a fantastic job teaching as well.

Why is a Review Program So Influential?

As we discussed this question, Jason said he believed that the repeated practice helped our students to RECOGNIZE different types of problems.  Sometimes students who have strong math skills will still have difficulty applying them to new problem situations.  The warmup program helped our students to experience some of these problem types repeatedly prior to the state test.

Just as a weight lifter has to continuously lift weights to build muscle and increase his performance, so a middle school student will benefit from repeated exposures to the key concepts in our math curriculum.  These review problems, embedded in our teaching throughout the year, keep the concepts fresh in the minds of the students.  As they see the concepts worked over and over again, they naturally improve in these skills.  It’s just common sense.

Action Steps

Even if you don’t have a commercial warmup program that has been built to spiral your math review throughout the year, there are still several things that you can do.

1. Include review problems from your text in the assignments you give.  I used to skip these as I thought them irrelevant to that day’s lesson.  Now I understand that the publishers put those review problems in for a reason.
2. Work with your math team to identify the key concepts in each chapter and develop some warmups or review problems that will keep these fresh in your students’ minds.  I recently spent a release day working with another teacher on our staff to create some warmups for a different grade level that I teach.  There was no review program for that grade so we began to create one.
3. See if your state offers “Released Test Questions” to guide you in preparation for your state tests.  Then, try  to spread these out throughout the year rather than cramming them in a short period of time before the test.

The Bottom Line

While we don’t want tests to drive our curriculum any more than they already do, state standards have been developed to ensure that each student in a particular grade is given the chance to learn the key mathematics at that grade level.  Assessments are then developed to measure how successfully students master this given curriculum. 

We all need review and repetition to cement the learning of new concepts into our brains.  When new concepts become second nature then we have achieved mastery.  Many student will not achieve mastery based on one or two exposures so we need to find a way to bring powerful, engaging repetition or review to our teaching of mathematics.

If you employ a strong, structured program to continuously review your mathematics curriculum throughout the year,  you will not only experience higher test scores but you will help create more powerful mathematics students in your classroom.

Please share any ideas you would like to add to the conversation in the comment box below.  Thank you!

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My wife and two kids were still at home asleep when the incident occurred.  Just outside the base of my classroom door, suspended in mid-air, was a gigantic black widow spider.  I knew that she lived in the little hole between the student lockers and the block wall of the classroom building (I had seen her web) but I had not been to school early enough to run into her.

These little ladies can be dangerous.  I didn’t like the idea of a black widow spider so close to the students and their lockers and frankly I was tired of the widow mucking up my door with its messy webs.  I had gone so far as to stuff construction paper into the hole to try to block the spider’s access to us all.  No luck.

It was time for a showdown.  Six in the morning and dark.  No one else around.  It was either her or me.  Slowly I removed my shoe, raised it high above my head, bent at the knees like someone about to hike a football, and came down on the  intruder in a lightning flash of power.  That’s when it happened.

R-r-r-r-r-r-r-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-p-p-p-p-p-p-p!

As I swatted that spider in my football stance the whole seam in the back end of my pants popped open.  We’re not talking about a small rip, but a gap of about 8 inches that left me feeling exposed (and for good reason).  Fortunately, there was no one there at 6 am to witness this embarrassment.  Unfortunately, I didn’t have a spare pair of pants at school (I do now).

So I trudged back to the car, drove one half-hour home, another half-hour back, and got to school about 8.  My commute that morning totalled an hour and 30 minutes.  Needless to say, I didn’t get a lot of school work done.

Students Love Stories

I relate this incident to you, my fellow math teacher, because a story is a very powerful teaching tool.  All of us love hearing good stories and like to pass them on to others.  Some stories have the lesson embedded in the story itself, while others just heighten attention and prepare students for the lesson that is to come.

I shared my early morning spider adventure with my students that day and they were captivated by the story.  I hammed it up, of course, even though I don’t consider myself a polished story teller.  The connection forged with my students by the story, the way I felt telling it, and the way they responded to the story all created a perfect pre-cursor to the math lesson I was about to teach.  When the lesson started my students were focused and ready to learn.  I have no doubt that the shared story contributed to their focus.

Life is About Our Stories

Do you use stories in your math classroom?  Has anything fun, fantastic, or out of the ordinary ever happened in your math classroom?  Please share a story with us in the comments section below if you have a minute. 

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After I returned a recent test I received two emails from parents as well as several inquiries from students wondering what they could do for extra credit, in order to raise their grade.  As you can tell by my sarcastic musings above, I am not a big fan of extra credit.  Extra credit is unnecessary for students who have demonstrated their mastery of a particular set of mathematical skills.  For those who have not mastered these skills, I find it a cheap substitute for the learning which should have taken place.

Extra Credit Happens Before An Assessment

My typical response when asked about extra credit is to share with students the following extra credit formula.  Before the next assessment the student should:

• spend additional time preparing for the next quiz or test
• correct problems that she has missed on previous quizzes or on daily assignments
• ask questions regarding concepts or problems she doesn’t understand
• listen carefully in class and use class time wisely when beginning assignments

I can pretty much guarantee students that if they do these things before the next assessment, they will receive “extra credit.”  By extra credit I mean that they will likely receive more credit as a result of their front-end preparation than they would have if they had utilized the same routine that led to their last assessment result.

Extra Credit That I Offer

Although I am not a proponent of any standard extra credit system which allows students to significantly raise their grades without demonstrating an increased ability in math, I do offer extra credit under the following three circumstances.

1. I usually put one or two extra credit problems on each quiz or test.  This allows students to make a simple mistake or two and still score well on my assessment.  It also gives me the freedom to include a more challenging problem or two without feeling that these problems will sink the grades of the entire class.
2. I sometimes offer extra credit if it is taking a current assignment to the next level or offering further practice on a math skill.  For instance, when I teach Coordinate Graphing I assign the first two student worksheets from my What’s the Point? assignment.  Students who would like to earn a few extra points have the option of completing a third worksheet and further cementing their coordinate graphing skills.
3. Finally, if there is a special math event happening at our school, or in my classroom, I may give a few extra credit points for students who participate.  In the past we have celebrated Pi Day on March 14th.  Students have received a few extra credit points for bringing in a pie or sharing interesting facts about pi.  Some have written pi poems or looked up pi jokes online.

Authentic Extra Credit

Relevant, worthwhile extra credit is work which rewards students for extending their learning beyond the basic assignment or for participating in a special event in a way that will benefit their classmates.  Authentic extra credit is not manufactured solely as a means for a student to raise his grade. 

Resist the temptation to “save” students from unsatisfactory progress by providing extra credit supplements to the students.  I have found that an unsatisfactory grade will often provide the necessary motivation for the student to better his preparation and achieve greater results.  Students need to understand the connection between their efforts and the results that they experience.  Too much extra credit prevents this from happening.

Share Your Experience

The DigitalLesson.com community would benefit greatly from your insights into using extra credit in your classroom.  How do you use extra credit?  What can you share with us that might help us to be more effective math teachers?  Please take a moment and comment below.

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Oliver Knill

Note: I believe that the video clips I have chosen to highlight below are classroom safe.  Some of the other clips on the website do include language inappropriate for the classroom.

Here are my favorite clips from movies that I am familiar with in this list: 

(Click the links below to watch each clip.)

Father of the Bride

In this hilarious clip George Banks (Steve Martin) is infuriated that hot dogs and hot dog buns are not sold in complementary packages at his local supermarket.  Dogs come in packages of 8 and buns in packages of 12.  I know that those of you with math minds out there have already calculated that George would have found contentment if he had just purchased 3 packs of hot dogs and 2 packages of buns.  Come to think of it, I think my textbook has an LCM problem like this in it!

October Sky

October Sky is one of my favorite movies.  It is the true story of Homer Hickam and his friends, whose pursuit of rocketry leads them to win the national science fair, earn college scholarships, and escape their coal mining town to find a better life.  In this clip Homer works persistently until his equation calculations prove that their rocket did not start the fire that they had been blamed for.

Pay It Forward

Trevor (Haley Joel Osment) is a student who shares with the class his plan to change the world.  Called “paying it forward,” Trevor’s plan is to start a chain where each person helps three other people in a significant way.  He helps three, who help 9, who help 27, who help 81 and so on.  This is an excellent clip to use with geometric progressions and exponents.

A Walk to Remember

Landon Carter (Shane West) connects math to real life as he tutors a student on the basketball court.  The scene focuses on the geometric concepts of similar and isosceles triangles.  With the lesson learned, the hoops competition is on!

Night at the Museum II

This is a very funny, stand-alone clip!  Larry (Ben Stiller) and Amelia (Amy Adams)  are trying to uncover the secret at the heart of the pharaoh’s tomb.  In the process, they have a fantastic exchange with a group of bobble-head Einsteins!  This clip would go perfectly with a lesson featuring pi.

Stand and Deliver

Jaime Escalante (Edward James Olmos) teaches his students integer concepts in this entertaining video clip.  Stand and Deliver is one of the best movies ever made (maybe one of the only movies ever made) specifically around the topics of mathematics and education.  If you haven’t watched this movie, I highly recommend it.

 What About You?

Please take a moment and share any thoughts about the above video clips.  Will you use one or more in your classroom?  Which is your favorite?  Have you seen any other movies that contain great math video clips?

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With that in mind, here are 7 ways to energize your math class and put your students in a positive frame of mind that will lead to more effective learning:

1)  Do Something Different   (Big Purple Spider)

I have a big purple spider that hangs just under the lights right when you enter my classroom.  It is attached to fishing line that runs around different light poles and attaches to a nail on the other side of my class.  On the second day of school, and at random times throughout the year, I lower the spider in front of unsuspecting students as they enter my class.  Some get scared, some smile, some act as if they never saw it, and a few have even screamed.

However, the best part of dropping the purple spider is that students who have already entered the class turn and watch as their classmates enter.  When these students react, there are lots of smiles and laughs throughout the room.  I enjoy it too.  Overall, our reactions to the purple spider change attitudes and bring a positive energy to my math class.

I do other silly or “off the wall” things every now and then just to add a little humor and fun.  Now I’m not saying that you should go out and purchase a purple spider.  However, doing something quirky and fun every now and then will do wonders for the way you feel and your students feel.

2)  Be the Person You Want Your  Students to Be

At times I have approached a particular day or class with dread.  Perhaps I wasn’t feeling good or a particular class required me to spend a lot more of my energy on classroom management rather than teaching.  In any case, what has become very clear to me is that students will reflect the mood, enthusiasm, and demeanor of their teacher.  If you want the students to care about your math lesson make sure that you care about them as individuals.  Smile, be positive, be engaging, give students your best (even when you don’t feel like it) and I believe you will see positive results in your classroom.

3)  Show Students the Power of Math in Real Life

Often our math lessons focus on transferring mathematical skill knowledge to students.  This is fine, but there is often little or no context for these skills.  Students will be more interested in learning math when you help them to see how the skills that you are teaching them can be applied in their middle school lives, or at least in the future.  Wherever possible, give a concrete example.  Are you teaching probability?  You might want to discuss the lottery.  Share with the students that the lottery has been called “a tax on people who are bad at math” and explain to them why.

One of the first assignments that I give every year is called “Ways I Use Math” (an printable activity I share with teachers who join our Middle School Math Treasures  newsletter).  The assignment requires students to draw and caption five pictures showing how they use math in the real world.  I continue using this assignment because I believe it clearly shows students that math is present everywhere in their lives.  

4)  Play a Game

There are a number of fun math games that can be played when you are looking for a little “pick-me-up” for your class or if you just have a few extra minutes.  My favorite math game is “Skunk.”  You can find Skunk and 2 other free printable games here.  If you are looking for more games to play with your students you might be interested in our Fantastic Middle School Math Games eBook.  Good math games are fun, educational, and bring a spark of life to your class.

5)  Discuss an Amazing Story or Strange Event

If I see an amazing story or a strange event that happened (that I think middle school students would be interested in) I often take a minute or two and share it with them.  It is easy to find such stories online.  I usually find mine on the Yahoo home page.  Recently I shared an email that someone had sent me with interesting “bus art.”  It had 15 amazing and creative pictures painted on buses that made students laugh.  Two stories I found interesting included a boy being hit in the hand by a meteorite and a man who opened up his Visa bill to find a 17 digit number on his bill.  It said he owed over 23 quadrillion dollars!

Sharing such a story or event can take as little as 30 seconds, but it can easily lift the energy of the classroom as students think and talk about the event.  It also provides a quick connection point between you and your class that they think is fun or cool.  Then it’s back to a more focused lesson with more attentive students.

6)  Share Goals and Dreams

At the beginning of the school year I have my students fill out a “Student Self-Introduction.”  It asks students to share some of their hobbies, activities, and other information about themselves with the class.  Perhaps my favorite part to hear is when students complete the phrase, “One dream I have is to….”  Hearing their completions of this phrase helps me to understand what is important to my students and to better connect with them.  I also will share one of my goals or dreams with the students as this helps them to connect with me.

7)  Connect with Your Students

Connecting with your students is key.  I believe that engaging students in the classroom in areas outside of mathematics will promote the effective learning of math.  Who wants to learn from someone they have not connected with who is droning on in the front of the room?  I know that I pay much more attention to people that I have connected with.  Sometimes connecting can be as simple as asking a question about their latest sports contest or even just using their name in a greeting as they walk in the door.  On Mondays I often throw around a soft ball (not a softball) and let students take turns sharing what they did over the weekend for a few minutes.  Again, this helps us feel better connected to each other and promotes a positive environment in a classroom that is based on mathematics but is also concerned about students as people.

What About You?

See if one or more of these seven ways to energize your math classroom resonates with you.  If it does, put it into action.  I would love to hear about your experiences or any other ideas you have to add life to the learning in your classroom.  Please comment at the end of this blog post for the benefit of all of our middle school math teacher community.

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