Ep 48: 3 Unexpected Ways to Increase Engagement In Math

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We're going to keep it quick today. Here are three non-conventional things that you're not doing that will increase engagement in your math class.

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Hello and welcome to Making Number Sense Make Sense, a podcast for elementary teachers, specifically early elementary teachers, looking to really make an impact in the number sense of their students.

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The first thing on my list is to use things that are the wrong size. And you might be thinking, what even do you mean by that? But even something that's like a little bit out of place makes people kind of stop, look, and makes it a little bit silly.

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So for example, there are these giant playing cards like the size of my forearm, they're big, that you can get from five below and they have these giant gummy bears on them. And you can use those instead of normal playing cards in a game.

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Now all of a sudden, instead of these normal tiny cards, they have these giant cards. And especially when you're working with little kids, these cards are almost half the size of them. And it just makes them giggle, it makes them laugh, you can use them as counting mats, you can use them for games.

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Anything that requires a card, you could use those. And just using something that is the wrong size brings new engagement to something or a game that they've played a million times.

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Another example, but going in the opposite direction of things that are too small. Maybe they're used to using those double sided counters for whatever game that you're using.

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Bring in some beads or something that's really small, but they can still hold to do the same kind of game to use in the same way. They're colorful, they're fun, and it's something different and tiny, instead of these normal counters that they're using.

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And they're getting a fresh look, a fresh take at something that they have done before. The next thing you can do is to bring your students in to the math that you're doing.

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Lots of times math can feel very removed from the world, and nothing could be further from the truth. The example I'm going to give is from a graphing project that I would do with my students every year.

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You start by inviting your students to be data scientists, and they're going to collect their own data, make their own graphs, and draw conclusions from that. Now it sounds really big and lofty, but it's not.

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But they feel really special. It's something that they chose, something that they are interested in. And we can use that thing that they like to bring them into this type of mathematics.

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So in this project, I'd have each student pick whatever topic they want. So for this example, let's say it's sports. So they would pick their three favorite sports. Maybe it's soccer, basketball, and baseball.

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So they would create their own kind of survey page that has a picture of basketball, a picture of a soccer ball, and a picture of baseball.

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And eventually they're going to ask each of their classmates what their favorite sport is. So from there, it's something that they already like. They're getting to talk to their classmates about something that they like and ask them questions about it.

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And then they record their data, and then you walk them through taking that raw data that they collected and making it into a graph that they can draw conclusions from and ask and answer questions about.

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And from there, you went from just graphing to something that they are so into and excited to do.

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There's another way that you can leverage student buy-in if it's not from their life specifically. And that's to create a story or a narrative around something that you're doing.

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An example is if you're starting to introduce the addition and subtraction symbols and equal symbols to your students and they're starting to write expressions or equations.

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Now, a lot of times you might see people say like make a cross for the plus, a line for the minus, and while using movement is a great way to increase engagement, it's not connecting in as many ways as possible.

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But if you create a story and characters that kids can become invested in, then it starts to create more neural pathways for them to remember.

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So in addition and subtraction, maybe you name the addition sign and the subtraction sign and the equal sign. So an example I use is I call the minus sign, line is the minus, and line is the minus is just a mean guy because every time he's around, you're going to end up with less than what you started with.

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Maybe Gus the plus is a happy guy and every time you see Gus the plus, you're going to end up with more than you started with. And the equal sign is equal to equal and he wants everything to be in balance.

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So both sides of the equal sign need to be in balance for the equation to be correct.

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And adding in the combination of moving around with a story helps your kids remember things that they might not have remembered otherwise or that can be confusing and just another symbol since especially in kindergarten, they're already learning all of the letters, all the sounds, all the numbers.

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It's a lot of symbols, and if they can't connect to them, it's harder for them to remember.

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The last tip for boosting engagement in non-conventional ways is to switch up your tools. Say that your students are always having to write down whatever number they roll if they're using a dice on a paper, give them a whiteboard and a fun colored expo marker or just expo markers in general, like dry erase boards and markers.

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It's a different feeling for them when they're actually writing it. They can do something a little bit different. They're not having to worry so much about if they make a mistake erasing because whiteboards are easier to erase.

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Doing things like that, just switching out your tool is something that is so simple, but can increase engagement. Same thing if you're used to using dice, use them all the time because they're easy.

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Try including a game that uses a spinner instead of dice. It's the same thing. I love spinners because they're really easy to differentiate and it's just a different feeling. It's a new, fresh way to practice the same skills.

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My three tips were to use something that is the wrong size, bring them in and bring the math to life for them and switch up your tools to give your kids something new to do or something that feels new but is actually similar to what they've already been doing.

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Let them have ownership of what they're doing and skyrockets the engagement in your classroom. If you have any tips, feel free to share them and while you're here, make sure that you leave a five star review.

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