Math Teaching Tips

12 Easy and Engaging Compound Probability Activities

Last Modified: July 8, 2019 by Rachel

Compound probability is fun to teach because it lends itself to hands-on learning. I’ve found that students don’t even complain about the fact they they’re working with fractions when they’re doing compound probability. (shocking, right?!) I’m excited to share some of my favorite activities for practicing compound probability with you. These activities will build background for students, offer practice, and extend the concepts. I hope that you can find one or two ideas to implement in your classroom right away and engage your students in learning more about compound probability.

18 Math Review Games for Middle School

Last Modified: May 13, 2025 by Rachel

Reviewing is an essential part of learning. It’s how our brains remember and keep things from slipping away. Sometimes it can be very tempting to have students review by only answering test like questions and then going over them with the class. The downside of this is that it’s boring and not memorable. Also, it goes against best practices for teaching and learning.

So, I’d like to present an alternative way to review that is action packed, fun, and engaging. Of course I’m talking about games! There are so many ways to practice math concepts and skills using review games.

How to Teach Simple Probability through Discovery

Last Modified: June 15, 2019 by Rachel

As teachers we want our students to discover things, but we also like to be in control. Sometimes we feel like we don’t have enough time to let students discover. We just want to jump in and give them a list of steps. I believe there’s certainly a place for teaching the list of steps, but I’ve also seen the power of discovery and I can’t go back to the days before I used it. Now, I start every unit with a discovery lesson. Some topics call for more involved discovery activities, like volume of cylinders, cones, and spheres. Other topics are less complex like simple probability. In this post I’m going to share the discovery activity I used with my students for simple probability.

12 Engaging Ways to Practice Volume of Cylinders, Cones, and Spheres

Last Modified: June 8, 2019 by Rachel

Teaching the volume of cylinders, cones, and spheres is all about the formulas. In the good old days the students didn’t have to memorize the formulas, but those days are gone.

Now, when my students practice using the formulas for volume of cylinders, cones, and spheres, we do a lot of practice focused on understanding the formulas. By the end of the two weeks, 98% of my students have memorized the formulas through a graphic organizer. Getting there, though, takes a lot of practice. And it helps if students practice in a variety of ways so there’s some novelty. So, I’m excited to share with you 11 12 ideas and resources to help your students practice with volume and absolutely own those formulas!

9 Ways to Make Teaching the Distance Formula Awesome

Last Modified: June 5, 2019 by Rachel

Do you want to make your unit about distance formula awesome? I know, I know- silly question. Well, I’ve got you covered. The goal of this post is to share a bunch of low prep and awesome ideas for teaching and practicing with the distance formula. While this topic baffles some, armed with these ideas you’ll engage your students for sure.

We’ve got a variety of activity types for practicing the distance formula, as well including anticipatory sets, modeling and teaching, and extension ideas. (For more ideas on how to plan your instruction, check out the post “Teaching the Distance Formula Using I Can Statements”.) Now, let’s get started with the list of activities:

Math Teaching Tips

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