For decades there has been a common trend of many students
not liking Math for various reasons. Some students don’t like it because they
don’t understand concepts and find it difficult while other students don’t
enjoy math because they find it repetitive and boring.
As a new teacher, I want to change this trend by not only
changing instruction so that students can understand various concepts being
taught but to also change instruction so that students LOVE math and have fun
while learning.
From my past experience, I have found that most classes
love competition. Therefore incorporating games into math instruction where
students can compete against each other is one way to get them excited about
math. These math games can be as simple as using math activities from IXL
Learning
https://ca.ixl.com/math/grade-7
where there are multiple exercises that follow the curriculum for all grades.
When using these activities you could split your class into groups and have students
compete against each other to solve the questions.
I also like incorporating math into
other subjects that students enjoy-sometimes that might not even realize they
are using their math skills as well! For example, including geometry into an
art project where students have to create a figure with a certain area and
perimeter. Or incorporating math into physical education where students have to
complete an ‘Amazing Race’ using their physical abilities as well as their
mental skills to complete certain tasks. There are many ways you can incorporate
math into other subjects, making fun and cross-curricular activities.
These are few of many ideas that I
would like to apply to my teachings someday as a classroom teacher, follow this
blog for more to come!
