Rachel

5 Ways Math Games Motivate Students

Last Modified: January 11, 2025 by Rachel

As math teachers we experience highs and lows. It can become easy to focus on the lows and become discouraged. Many students come into our classrooms with years of negative math experiences and we’re expected to get them to learn. Sometimes it seems like an uphill battle, and it can feel like the more we struggle the less progress we make.

Just the other day our 6-year old son came home from school and told us how his music teacher was jumping around the room with the kids and crawling on the floor. This is a new teacher who has been struggling with classroom management. I was a little startled and then Theresa said, “Well, if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em, I guess.”

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Motivating Math Students by Building on Successes

Last Modified: January 22, 2020 by Rachel

Success is the foundation of motivation

Every math teacher wants to increase their students’ motivation to learn math. Sometimes it can seem like the teacher cares more about learning than the students. This can be very disheartening for any teacher. So, the big question is this- how can we as teachers increase motivation in our students?

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How to Use Math Mazes to Increase Student Engagement

Last Modified: September 11, 2022 by Rachel

Why I use math mazes almost every day in my classroom

I use a math maze in my class almost every single day. But, it wasn’t always like that. I didn’t understand the value of mazes until I actually used them in my classroom. Initially, I made one maze for a colleague who thought it would be a good activity to try in class. Sure- no problem, I thought. Even though I thought mazes seemed a little strange, I would gladly help a friend out.

Then, she asked me to make another one.

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9 Activities to Practice Rational versus Irrational Numbers

Last Modified: January 3, 2020 by Rachel

Since students were in kindergarten they’ve been taught about numbers being a certain way. Then they hit middle school, and BOOM! in walks irrational numbers. Everything was concrete, but in that moment that certainty goes by the wayside. As students start to wrap their heads around these new classes of numbers, we start simply. At first, we just want students to see two categories of numbers: rational and irrational. That’s where these nine activities come in.

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15 Math Formative Assessments Strategies That Rock

Last Modified: January 26, 2021 by Rachel

Any great teacher or coach is constantly assessing performance and giving timely and direct feedback. Formative assessments are paramount in the math classroom. There are some assessments that are more formal than others, but you have to plan them in order to make sure they happen. Also, you shouldn’t do assessments just because you’re supposed to do them. As teachers, we use, and value, formative assessment because they inform our feedback to students and the way we’ll deliver instruction in the future.

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