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.”
Then, our son went on to tell us about treble clef and bass clef and some other musical stuff. It kind of hit me that this teacher decided to meet his students where they are instead of trying to teach to mature, serious adults.
I think we all find ourselves in a situation where we’ve forgotten that we need to meet our students where they are. If we want them to be excited to learn math, then we have to be excited to teach it. If planning the lesson was drudgery, then executing the lesson will probably be just as miserable.
So, I would like to propose a simple and effective way to get students engaged in your class: ADD SOME GAMES. The acronym that I created to remember how math games motivate students is SLIME.
Let’s talk about S.L.I.M.E.
What does SLIME stand for? It’s a simple way to remember 5 benefits of playing games in the math classroom:
- Socialization
- Low stress
- Involvement
- Movement
- Emotion
Socialization
Games are a great way to get students to socialize, and most students appreciate a chance to talk during class. I’ve been a student in a lot of classrooms over the years, and it’s hard to just sit and listen and work quietly for an hour. I’m introverted, but I also love to talk.
With games you can make this social interaction revolve around the math students are working on. It isn’t a free-for-all to chit chat with friends. Nonetheless, people crave interaction and games provide a great way for students to learn from others.
Plus, sometimes it’s hard to learn on your own. Games can provide a way for students to explain their thinking to each other, and hear how other students are thinking about the math.
Low Stress
Imagine this- on the first day of a new unit you introduce the topic of the Triangle Inequality Theorem. The students all stare at you. They don’t know what inequality or theorem means, and they’re starting to question if they know what triangle means. But, when you say, “We’re going to play Bingo, today!” They all know what that means and know that it’s something that they can do.
Games can really reduce stress in the math classroom. To keep the stress levels low, just remember to keep things simple for students. Don’t let the games get too convoluted or complicated. For example, one of my favorite games involves throwing a ball at a target. This game requires no special skills, and every time we play it kids know what it’s all about.
Involvement
(This word is probably the biggest stretch in my acronym, but once I realized I was close to spelling SLIME, I had to come up with an “I” word. So, here it goes.) When you play games you are choosing to do something that most kids are interested in and you create a shared experience by the class. By their very nature, successful math games create a level of involvement for all students.
These shared experiences are very powerful. If you think about your own educational experience, you probably don’t remember a stand and lecture moment from your math teacher. You can probably remember when a teacher made you feel like you were a part of something. Some ways to do this is to have a class leaderboard, or to give out a silly unique prize. (like a Golden Onion, any Twilight Fans out there?)
One of my favorite ways to reward students last year was to give out vinyl stickers. Then, students would “sticker bomb” their notebooks, adding and even layering their stickers to show their awesomeness. Students really enjoyed this incentive, and I got a lot of mileage out of each pack of vinyl stickers.
Movement
Not all games have a ton of movement in them, but many of them do. Students need to move around. It gets students awake and energized and focused on what they are doing. For some students, it makes them get out of the safe compliant zone, as well.
The games that I like the most for movement are Scavenger Hunts, the Target Game, Pick A Card, or the QR Code Game. Some games have movement by just letting kids move to a new place in the room or sit on the floor to play. It’s easy to zone out when you’re sitting and not moving around every once in a while. Playing games can make it hard for students to be daydreaming by just having them move around.
Emotion
You might not really think about the emotions that students are experiencing in your classroom, but emotions play a big role in behavior and learning. Playing games gives us a chance to feel a range of emotions. This range of emotions keeps us motivated to continue working throughout a game. For example, if you win a game super easily over and over, then it becomes boring. If you never win, then it’s too challenging. Our brains will continue working and struggling to win if we’re in that sweet spot in the middle. We need some challenge and some success.
Most games are designed with this notion in mind. Think of that addictive game you play on your phone. You love it because there’s challenge, but it’s not too much, right? Well, you can use this same idea in your classroom to get kids to complete their math work by incorporating games.
One of my favorite games for this is Knockout Games. Students practice their math and gain points, but then there are surprise bonuses that raise the stakes. Some bonuses are positive, some are negative, and all are based on chance. Students love this element of suspense and it keeps them dialed in. The emotion of the game (maybe surprisingly) helps students focus on the math and get great practice.
S.L.I.M.E. in the classroom
When you decide you want to try adding more games to your class, remember that you don’t have to be Ellen or Meredith Viera to make this work. It will work the best if you are just that, YOU. (I’m somewhere between Anne Robinson from The Weakest Link and Summer Sanders from Figure it Out on Nickelodeon). Kids will appreciate your effort even if you aren’t the most outgoing person.
You don’t have to play a game every day for SLIME to work either. I feel like the more you play them, though, the more you’ll want to play them. I can assure you that you can get more problems completed in game form versus a traditional method. So, not only are you and the students enjoying the class more, but they’re actually making more progress than without the games.
So, what game do you want to try first? Can’t wait to hear all about it.
