engagement strategies

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.

[Read more…]

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:

End of the year activities in the math classroom

Last Modified: April 18, 2021 by Rachel

The school year is winding down for me, and for my students it marks the end of their junior high experience. I have a hard time with the end of the year. I get sad knowing that it’s the end of my time with these students. I’ve enjoyed getting to know them and seeing them grow over the year. I’ve loved our inside jokes and the silly idiosyncrasies that every class tends to have. I wish we had more time together- there’s always more I would have liked to have done. And yet, they’ve worked so hard this year and I know they’re ready for the next chapter in their schooling. And I’m ready for a break to recharge my batteries.

So if the school year is going to end, how can I make sure we go out in style? How can we close out the year in a way that honors the students’ learning time, celebrates our time together, and helps us all keep our sanity? For the end of this school year, I want to share my four main goals with you, some fun end of the year activities, and show you what the last few weeks looked like in my classroom.

Teaching Effects of Transformations through Matching

Last Modified: May 9, 2019 by Rachel

The past two weeks have been dedicated to the study of the effects of transformations: translations, rotations, dilations and reflections of geometric figures on a coordinate plane. With this unit, I wanted to make sure students got lots of chances to talk about what’s happening in mathematical terms. One of my favorite things we did in teaching transformations was to use match and paste activities. We actually used them TWICE in this unit. I can’t wait to show you just what we did and how it helped my students OWN transformations. [Read more…] about Teaching Effects of Transformations through Matching

5 Other Ways to Use Foldables in Your Math Classroom

Last Modified: May 9, 2019 by Rachel

Foldable graphic organizers are the heart of interactive math notebooks. They’re great tools to have students organize new information and keep it accessible for future reference. But once the lesson is completed and the notes are neatly placed into the notebook, what happens next?

Here are 5 (other) ways to use foldables in your math classroom: